Top 10 Richest Players in Esports
Top 10 Richest Players in Esports
Who are the highest paid esports players?
- Johann Sundstein
- Jesse Vinica
- Anathan Fam
- Sebastian Debs
- Topias Taavitsainen
- Koro Takhasumi
- Amer Al-Barkawi
- Ivan Ivanov
- Maroun Merhej
- Lacy Vorbalainin
1. Johann Sundstein
Johan Sundstein is the richest esports player in the world. The Danish player started playing games professionally in 2010 when he was 17 years old. He rose to fame for the first time while playing Heroes of Newarth. However, he had the most success once he switched focus to Dota 2.
Throughout his esports career, he has collected $6,915,222.80 from games making him the richest player in esports. His biggest win ever comes from his winning over 3 million at The International 2019. He won over 2 million in this tournament the previous year as well. Both of these victories were in Dota 2.
2. Jesse Vanessa
In second place is Jesse Vainika from Finland. He has been playing since 2013 and mainly plays Dota 2, but has also been involved in VALORANT. Vainikka has actually decided to retire in 2020 at the age of 28 after a very successful gaming career.
Vainikka earned $6,470,548.78 from the 65 tournaments he competed in from 2013 to 2020. Similar to Sundstein, his biggest earnings came from wins at The International 2019 and The International 2018 in Dota 2 where he raised over $3 million and $2 million on straight. Vainikka and Sundstein both played for Team OG during those wins.
3. Anathan Fam
Anathan Pham is another high-income Esports player. The Australian of origin started playing games in 2016 when he was 16 years old. Despite being one of the younger players in the top ten, Pham has proven to be one of the best Dota 2 players.
In just 24 tournaments, Pham won just over $6 million. Like other players before him, he was a member of Team OG when they won The International 2019 and 2018. In addition to this big win, he also won $200,000 for Boston Major in 2016 and Kiev Major in 2017.
4. Sebastian Debs
The fourth richest player in esports is Sebastian Debs. Debs is from France and has been playing games professionally since 2011 when he was 19 years old. Throughout his career, he played with many teams like Alliance and Sigma but most of his success came with Team OG.
Sébastian Debs is another member of the team that won the International Dota 2 competition in 2019 and 2018. In addition to this historic win, Debs is also coaching the members of the OG team. Together, Debs won a total of $5,505,197.41 from 2011 to 2020.
5. Topias Taavitsainen
Another player who started young is Topias Taavitsainen. This Finnish esports player started playing this game when he was eight years old. However, he did not compete professionally for the first time until 2014 when he was 16 years old. He didn’t return to the professional scene until 2017, but he quickly made a name for himself over the next three years.
Taavistainen also won the International Dota 2 competition in 2019 and 2018 with Team OG. In addition to being one of the richest esports players after winning $5.4 million from games, he is also known for his unique playing style.
6. Koro Takhasomi
Kuro Takhasomi also started playing professional games when he was at the age of 16 in 2008. Although this German Esports player is considered one of the best Dota 2 players, he also earned money while playing games in Artifact and Defense of the Ancients.
Although most of his gains came when he was a part of Team Liquid. He was actually the captain when Team Dota 2 won over $2 million at The International 2017. He also won nearly $1 million the following year when his team came in second in the same competition.
7. Amer Al-Barkawi
The seventh highest paid esports player is Amer Al-Barkawi from Jordan. He has been playing games since 2015 when he was 17 years old. He focused on playing Dota 2 professionally and his commitment paid off. Barquay has played with multiple teams like Team OG, Liquid and most recently Nigma.
Amer El-Barkawi participated in 61 tournaments, but the most successful of them were the international tournaments. He was on the winning team in 2017 when he won over $2 million. He also ranked second in 2019, fourth in 2018, and between ninth and twelfth in 2016.
8. Ivan Ivanov
Another successful player in esports is Ivan Ivanov. The Bulgarian player, also known by his player ID “MinD_ContRol”, has participated in 70 tournaments since his first game in 2014. He has been part of teams such as Team Liquid, Ninjas in Pajamas and Nigma.
Most of Ivanov’s success came from his time with Team Liquid where he competed and won prize money during the International Dota 2 competitions from 2016-2019. He also scored a big win when he finished first in China Dota 2 Supermajor 2018. After all these tournaments, he won over $4.5 million.
9. Maroun Merhej
Maroun Merhej is another Dota 2 Esports player from Lebanon. He also likes to use his player ID name GH; This is an abbreviation for “Go Home”. Merhej has won prize money from games since 2015 and has participated in 48 tournaments since then.
His big break in the gaming scene came when he won the 2014 MSI BEAT IT Middle East Qualifiers. Next, he joined Team Liquid where he helped them win the Dota 2 International Tournament. This, among other wins, has allowed him to win $4,171,919.04 over the course of his career so far.
10. Lasse Urpalainen
The last player on our list is another Finnish Dota 2 Esports player. Lasse Urpalainen has been competing in tournaments since 2014 and has had great success. Over the course of his career, he participated in more than 70 tournaments and took first place in 27 of them.
Urpalinen, like the other players on this list, owes his success to The International Dota 2 tournaments. He won with Team Liquid in 2017 and was also placed in 2018 and 2016. He also won other Dota 2 tournaments such as The Shanghai Major 2016 and several EPICENTER tournaments.
Instructions
Why all the richest Dota 2 gamers?
All of the top ten players in esports are Dota 2 players. This is no accident. Dota 2 is easily one of the most popular esports games in the industry. It also offers the largest amount of prize money through its TI or The International tournaments that give out more than $30 million. Since the prize money is much larger than other games, the winners of these tournaments end up being the highest paid players.
What other high-income games besides Dota 2?
In addition to Dota 2, there are other games that are more popular in the esports industry as a whole. Games like CS: GO, League of Legends, Call of Duty, Fortnight, and Rainbow Six Siege all offer similar, if not greater, prize money and audience size to Dota 2. All this game’s prize money and audience sizes are increasing equally. More as the esports industry continues to expand every year.
How much do most esports players earn?
The esports industry has grown rapidly over the years which has made player salaries more lucrative. Although their salaries mostly depend on how well they perform in tournaments, some players earn between $3,000 and $5,000 per month in popular gaming areas. Players can also get more money based on prize money, sponsorship, streaming, and tickets to major competitions.
Why are there no high paid players?
With the increasing popularity of esports, the pay gap is becoming more and more pronounced. In the list of the top 100 paid players, no female appeared on the list. The highest-paid woman, Sasha Hosten, earned just over $370,000. Part of the problem is that many women do not compete in high-income games like Dota 2. This issue is becoming more common in the industry and more people are fighting to encourage women to play.
