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Esports earnings: Top 25 Highest Paid Players in 2020 So Far

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 > Five teenagers, including a 15-year-old, among the best
> Two chess players make the list
> No League of Legends players in top 25

2020 has hit a lot of industries very hard – but not esports.

The lockdown has brought huge growth in viewers to professional gaming as millions flock to watch the world’s best players in action.

This new level of interest will only help the industry grow, along with the pay packets of the gamers themselves.

But, how much do they earn?

New research by esports bookmakers Unikrn shows just how much the top 25 players have been winning in tournament prize money so far this year.

In 2019, there was a total prize pool of $227m shared between over 25,000 players playing in 5,000 tournaments.

Six months into 2020 and there’s still been $32.5m in prize money – despite the cancellation and postponement of many events.

Of that pot, the highest earning player has taken home $300,000 so far.

Brazilian Paulo Damo Da Rosa, known as PVDDR, won Magic: The Gathering Arena’s, Magic World Championship XXVI in February – pocketing the huge fee in one lump sum.

The five members of Spacestation Gaming’s Rainbow Six Siege team  – Bosco, Rampy, Thinkingnade, Fultz and Canadian – also feature in the top 10.

Their victories in this year’s Six Invitational 2020 and Pro League Season 11 have earned them $210,000 each.

With a combined age of 47, teenagers Wolfiez, Furious and JannisZ are in the top 16 for their big Fortnite wins.

The UK’s Wolfiez, 16, has taken home $130,000 so far this year from two tournaments coming second in both FNCS Invitationals: Europe last month.

JannisZ, 15, from Germany, won one of those tournaments, while American 16-year-old Furious secured victory in the FNCS Grand Finals in North America – both earning $120,000+.

Among the top 25, Chess24 stars Hikaru Nakamura and grandmaster Magnus Carlsen have also taken home over $100,000 each in prize money.

STATISTICS

The average age of the top 25 earning players so far in 2020 is 24 years old.

So far this year, the top country for earning prize money is the United States with players making over $6million between 1,870 of them.

However, the best average prize winner per country belongs to Jordan.

Six players earned an average of $33,000 each – made up mostly by Doha 2 players Yapzor and Miracle-, who claimed $175,000 of the total $200,000.

Bear in mind all of these earnings do not include their sponsorships, bonuses or salaries – some of which are rumoured to be around the $500,000 mark.

So there will be players easily taking home close to $1,000,000 a year.

The highest earning esports player of all-time is Danish Dota 2 player Johan Sundstein.

Going by player ID N0tail, the 26-year-old has amassed $6.9m in prize money from 117 tournaments and been a winner at the International 2018 and 2019.

Ryan Jurado, esports analyst with the industry juggernaut Unikrn, said: “As impressive as the prize earnings are in esports, they’re just the tip of the iceberg.

“In reality, thousands of players around the world make additional income by building their brand and fan bases with non-competition activities such as gaming streams, earn income with sponsorship deals and receive a salary to play as part of an organized team.

“Amazon’s Twitch alone has 22,000 partnered streamers, most of whom are playing games and earning cash outside of tournaments. When you add in Microsoft’s Mixr, Google’s YouTube, Facebook, plus non-American platforms like Huya, plus thousands of yearly video game tournaments, the number of players making some form of income by gaming is likely well over 100,000 worldwide. For most, this is a paying hobby rather than a career, but some players do reach multi-millionaire status before they even graduate high school.”

Top 25 Highest Paid Esports Players in 2020 (By Prize Money)
Real name Player name Game Nationality Age Prize Money 2020 Tournaments Prize Money (Overall)
Paulo Damo da Rosa PVDDR Magic: The Gathering Arena Brazil 32 $300,000.00 1 $337,800.00
Troy Jaroslawski Canadian Rainbow Six Siege Canada 23 $210,000.00 2 $317,628.57
Dylan Bosco Bosco Rainbow Six Siege United States 25 $210,000.00 2 $275,750.00
Nathanial Duvall Rampy Rainbow Six Siege United States $210,000.00 2 $261,060.00
Javier Escamila Thinkingnade Rainbow Six Siege El Salvador 21 $210,000.00 2 $261,030.00
Alec Fultz Fultz Rainbow Six Siege American $210,000.00 2 $238,966.67
Lee, Byung Ryul Rogue Starcraft II Korea 26 $155,128.20 9 $832,543.20
Marcio Carvalho Marcio Carvalho Magic The Gathering Arena Portugal 34 $150,000.00 1 $214,900.00
Jaden Ashman Wolfiez Fortnite UK 16 $130,000.00 2 $1,300,026.67
Lasse Urpalainen Matumbaman Dota 2 Finland 25 $122,413.40 7 $3,684,194.44
Clement Ivanov Puppey Dota 2 Estonia 30 $122,413.40 7 $2,783,899.63
Ludwig Wåhlberg Zai Dota 2 Sweden 22 $122,413.40 7 $2,443,054.42
Yazied Jaradat YapzOr Dota 2 Jordan 25 $122,413.40 7 $1,452,524.07
Michał Jankowski Nisha Dota 2 Poland 19 $122,413.40 7 $852,679.11
Furious Fortnite United States 16 $121,500.00 3 $122,400.00
JannisZ Fortnite Germany 15 $120,000.00 1 $131,362.42
Asger Larsen AcilioN CS:GO Denmark 23 $117,688.05 6 $205,471.35
Lucas Andersen Bubzki CS:GO Denmark 21 $113,800.00 5 $186,770.86
Frederik Gyldstrand acoR CS:GO Denmark 22 $113,800.00 5 $183,034.72
Rasmus Beck sjuush CS:GO Denmark 21 $113,800.00 5 $178,613.09
Fredrik Jørgensen roejJ CS:GO Denmark $113,800.00 5 $167,242.03
Hikaru Nakamura Hikaru Chess24 Japan 32 $102,632.19 10 $148,117.61
Sven Magnus Carlsen DrNykterstein Chess24 Norway 29 $101,170.48 7 $130,928.92
Seth Manfield Seth Manfield Magic: The Gathering Arena United States 29 $100,000.00 1 $141,900.00
David Wang Aqua Fortnite Austria 18 $98,750.00 4 $1,868,341.23

 

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–
Top 10 Highest Earning Countries in 2020 (By Prize Money)
Country Prize Money Players Average per
United States $6,340,646.89 1870 $3,390.72
China $2,918,944.04 340 $8,585.13
Brazil $2,161,506.14 401 $5,390.29
Korea, Republic of $2,067,293.52 455 $4,543.50
France $1,516,403.65 419 $3,619.10
Russian Federation $1,495,117.67 440 $3,397.99
Denmark $1,472,041.31 173 $8,508.91
Germany $1,262,670.52 483 $2,614.22
United Kingdom $1,255,641.62 333 $3,770.70
Canada $1,170,591.49 308 $3,800.62

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Highest Earning Players of All Time (By Prize Money)

Real name Player name Game Nationality Age Prize Money Overall Tournaments
Johan Sundstein N0tail Dota 2 Denmark 26 $6,895,040.18 117
Jesse Vainikka JerAx Dota 2 Finland 28 $6,470,000.02 65
Anathan Pham ana Dota 2 Australia 20 $6,000,411.96 24
Sébastien Debs Ceb Dota 2 France 28 $5,501,233.01 54
Topias Taavitsainen Topson Dota 2 Finland 22 $5,415,046.17 21
Kuro Takhasomi KuroKy Dota 2 Germany 27 $5,177,764.81 110
Amer Al-Barkawi Miracle- Dota 2 Jordan 22 $4,743,118.88 57
Ivan Ivanov MinD_ContRoL Dota 2 Bulgaria 25 $4,534,193.36 67
Maroun Merhej GH Dota 2 Lebanon 24 $4,137,126.44 44
Lasse Urpalainen Matumbaman Dota 2 Finland 25 $3,674,181.04 69

**Stats taken from www.esportsearnings.com and do not include salaries, bonuses or sponsorships

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S8UL qualifies for Esports World Cup 2026 Free Fire after FFMIC runner-up finish

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S8UL Esports has qualified for the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026 in Free Fire, adding a sixth title to its confirmed lineup for the event. The organisation said its Free Fire MAX roster secured the berth after finishing second at the Free Fire MAX India Cup (FFMIC) 2026 Spring.

S8UL’s recently acquired roster—Naitik Sharma (Troll), Prince Saini (Prinxz), Jay Verma (Bunny), Harshit Nain (Jack07), and Abhishek Gupta (Stiven)—earned one of three invitations allocated to Indian representatives at EWC 2026. Free Fire at EWC 2026 is scheduled for July 15 to 18 in Paris, France, featuring 24 teams and a USD 1 million prize pool (approximately INR 9.4 crore), according to the company.

FFMIC 2026 Spring ran a multi-stage format from City Qualifiers and In-Game Qualifiers through to Group Stage, Knockout Stage, Point Rush and Champion Rush. S8UL said the roster posted 186 points in Knockout Stage Week 1 to place sixth, then carried momentum into the final phase. In Champion Rush, the team entered with three Headstart Points from Point Rush and finished second overall after scoring 131 points and two Booyahs across eight matches. The result also delivered INR 17 lakh in prize money, S8UL said.

Prince Saini aka Prinxz, captain of S8UL’s Free Fire Max roster said, “What makes this team special is the chemistry we’ve developed over time. We have a shared understanding of how we want to approach the game, and that allows us to stay composed and adapt quickly in different situations. Qualifying for the Esports World Cup is an important milestone for us, and doing so as part of S8UL makes the opportunity even more exciting. We are looking forward to representing the organization on the global stage and showing what this roster can achieve against some of the best teams in the world.”

S8UL Co-founder and CEO Animesh Agarwal aka 8Bit Thug linked the qualification to the wider Indian mobile esports ecosystem, saying, “Free Fire MAX has been one of the driving forces behind the growth of mobile esports in India, helping create a highly competitive ecosystem and a pipeline of talented players. When those players get the opportunity to compete at an event like the Esports World Cup, it is not just a milestone for the team but also a reflection of how far the Indian scene has come. Facing the world’s best teams provides invaluable experience and helps raise the overall standard of competition back home. At S8UL, we remain committed to identifying and supporting Indian talent, and we are proud to see our Free Fire MAX roster earn the chance to represent both the organization and the country on one of esports’ biggest stages,”. The organisation added it is also confirmed for EWC 2026 in Apex Legends, Chess, Fortnite, Honor of Kings and Trackmania, and remains in contention in EA SPORTS FC, Fatal Fury, Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8. EWC 2026 runs July 6 to August 23 with a stated total prize pool of USD 75 million (~INR 714 crore).

The post S8UL qualifies for Esports World Cup 2026 Free Fire after FFMIC runner-up finish appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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G2 drops limited-edition One Piece streetwear capsule on June 25

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The esports organisation’s second anime apparel collaboration will be sold exclusively via g2esports.com/shop.

G2 is launching a limited-edition G2 | One Piece capsule collection on June 25, with the drop available exclusively through the organisation’s online store at g2esports.com/shop.

The collection is inspired by One Piece’s Gear 5 Monkey D. Luffy and includes hoodies, zip-ups, t-shirts, caps, sleeves, and tote bags. According to G2, the items use a black-and-white palette and feature a minimalist embroidered logo alongside a custom G2 | One Piece Jolly Roger that combines the G2 samurai emblem with Luffy’s straw hat.

“At G2, we’re continuing to push the culture and fashion of esports beyond competition alone, and this One Piece collection is a natural extension of that,” says Sabrina Ratih, COO of G2 Esports. “We wanted to create a capsule that continues to elevate the esports fashion space – understated, premium, and stylish enough for everyday wear, while still carrying the spirit of adventure, ambition, and individuality that defines One Piece and G2 alike. Every piece is designed to bridge the gap between fandom and everyday style, and continuing our mission to redefine what esports fashion can be.”

G2 described the drop as its second anime collaboration, following a previous apparel collaboration with Solo Leveling. The company positioned the release as part of its broader effort to connect esports, anime, and streetwear.

One Piece debuted in 1999 and remains one of the largest anime franchises globally. G2 cited over 600 million manga copies sold and more than 1,160 episodes for the series.

The post G2 drops limited-edition One Piece streetwear capsule on June 25 appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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Study: 400m Gen Z esports fans say brand activations drive purchases

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EFG, Hero Esports and Niko Partners survey 8,000 fans across eight markets; 74% report ads and brand presence influence buying.

ESL FACEIT Group (EFG), Hero Esports and Niko Partners have released a multi-country Gen Z esports study claiming around 400 million Gen Z consumers (20%) regularly engage with esports. The findings were published on 25th June 2026 in Cannes, France, in a white paper titled The Esports Generation: Who They Are & Why They Spend.

The report is based on survey data from 8,000 Gen Z esports fans aged 13-30 across eight markets. It positions esports as a high-attention channel for brands: 85% of respondents said they notice branding in esports, while 74% self-reported that advertising and brand participation in gaming spaces influences their purchasing behaviour. The study also reports that 66% have bought a product following a collaboration or co-branding partnership with an esports team, game or player.

On consumption and fandom touchpoints, the study found 71% regularly watch gaming content, including 66% who watch gaming livestreams and 33% who watch or listen to gaming podcasts. It also points to offline reach: 21% said they regularly attend gaming conventions and esports events, with the average respondent attending at least one in-person event in the past nine months.

The white paper also breaks out claimed purchase categories linked to esports collaborations over the past year, led by food and beverage (33%), electronics (33%) and fashion (32%). Beyond core categories, it reports 28% bought esports-related collectibles, 17% purchased makeup, beauty, or skincare products, and 10% bought from partnered brands in other categories.

Niccolo Maisto, CEO at ESL FACEIT Group said: “Esports has evolved into one of the most effective channels for companies looking to connect with Gen Z audiences at scale. What makes it unique is not just its reach, but the depth of engagement and trust that exists between fans, players, teams, and events. This research shows that esports fans are highly invested participants, not passive viewers, creating an opportunity for brands that show up authentically and build meaningful and lasting connections with this key audience.”

Danny Tang, Co-Founder and CEO of Hero Esports said: “This whitepaper confirms what we at Hero Esports have long believed: esports has evolved into a global cultural and economic force. The data shows an audience that is young, diverse, and deeply engaged. For brands, the message is clear—esports is no longer a niche market; it is the premier platform to connect with the next generation of consumers. We are proud to partner with Niko Partners and EFG to provide this blueprint for understanding and succeeding in this dynamic industry.”

Lisa Hanson, CEO at Niko Partners said: “Our data shows that, much like fans of other sports, Gen Z esports fans are incredibly passionate and have formed strong bonds within their communities. However, their media and consumer affinities extend well beyond gaming and esports, with our research revealing naturally connected interest areas that create valuable overlapping opportunities for brands and partners that show up authentically in this ecosystem.”

The post Study: 400m Gen Z esports fans say brand activations drive purchases appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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