Research Reveals Esports Paid Out $700 Million in Winnings

According to a recent study by BroadbandChoices, competitive electronic esports paid out $700 million across various titles until now. The study also suggests that the gaming industry generated $135 billion in 2018.

The aggregated $700 million distributed as esports prize winnings is disproportionately divided across various esports title chronologically:

• Dota 2 – $219,095,635
• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive – $87,119,453
• Fortnite – $84,420,164
• League of Legends – $73,091,646
• Starcraft II: $32,137,196
• PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS: $21,747,809.48
• Overwatch: $21,352,202.01
• Hearthstone: $19,208,088.36
• Heroes of the Storm: $18,141,257.92
• Counter-Strike: $13,484,561.80

With no surprise, Dota 2 tops the chart all props to its apex event – The International. The International’s prize pool is crowd-funded and it has the highest of prize pool across titles. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has retained its second position due to frequent top tier events and heavy engagement due to it’s an open-circuit approach to the esport side of the game.

Epic Games’ initiative to turn Fortnite into a respectable esport although being a battle royale title, the developer infused heavy prize money into the Fortnite World Cup while League of Legends World Cup also comprises of the huge prize pool.

The highest-earning esport athlete chart is stacked with a bunch of Dota 2’s The International winners. OG’s Dota 2 squad tops the chart after winning back-to-back TIs. 16-year-old Bugha secures 12th position after winning the solo finals of Fortnite World Cup 2019. Highest earning esports athletes list stacked up by Dota 2 players is as follows:

• N0tail (Johan Sundstein) – $6,890,591
• JerAx (Jesse Vainikka) – $6,470,000
• Ana (Anathan Pham) – $6,000,411
• Ceb (Sébastien Debs) – $5,489,233
• Topson (Topias Taavitsainen) – $5,414,446
• KuroKy (Kuro Takhasomi) – $5,128,788
• Miracle- (Amer Al-Barkawi – $4,692,418
• MinD ContRoL (Ivan Ivanov) – $4,483,493
• GH (Maroun Merhej) – $4,086,426
• SumaiL (Sumail Hassan) – $3,591,225

The study further reveals that there is a staggering 5309% difference between top 25 male and female athletes’ earnings. The average age of top 25 players is 24 years according to the study.