Competitive Gaming getting more popular |
As mentioned in an earlier post, the payouts in Esports has been growing. The largest tournament prize pool thus far is a whooping $24.6 million USD. Many players have come and gone but some has stayed over the past few years and managed to win some of these tournaments - immediately becoming millionaires. The following is a list of the top 10 highest paid gamer in the world with all of them playing Dota 2 as a professional player. This does not come as a surprise as 9 of the top 10 eSports prize pool tournaments are Dota 2 tournaments.
Let us take a look at the top 10 highest paid gamer in the world:
1. Kuro Takhasomi (KuroKy)
Kuroky first participated in competitive Dota 2 back in 2011 at The International 2011 where he was unsuccessful. Over the years, he has moved from team to team, for instance, he was with Virtus.pro, Mousesports, Natus Vincere, Team Secret and eventually Team Liquid where he would finally lift the championship trophy after attending every International and land his team $10.8 million USD.
Game: Dota 2
Age: 24
Country: Germany
Total Earnings: $3.3 million USD
2. Amer Barqawi (Miracle)
Miracle first joined Balkan Bears in the beginning of 2015, but was removed four months later. He later became a pub star by climbing the matchmaking ranking ladder up to #1 and was subsequently invited by N0tail to form a team which was later known as OG. He then departed OG following the conclusion of The International 2016 and joined Team Liquid, where he would eventually win The International 2017.
Game: Dota 2
Age: 20
Country: Jordan, Poland
Total Earnings: $2.9 million USD
3. Saahil Arora (UNiVeRsE)
UNiVeRsE was part of the Online Kingdom Squad that placed 7th at The International 2011. He would later join Evil Geniuses(EG) and be crowned The International 2015 champions. Although he later went to Team Secret, he quickly made his return to EG.
Game: Dota 2
Age: 27
Country: United States
Total Earnings: $2.9 million USD
4. Lasse Urpalainen (Matumbaman)
Matumbaman became well known after winning the Assembly Summer 2014 LAN tournament. He would later be recruited by Kuroky and the team was signed by Liquid, where he played under the banner and eventually win The International 2017.
Game: Dota 2
Age: 22
Country: Finland
Total Earnings: $2.7 million USD
5. Ivan Ivanov (MinD_ContRoL)
MinD_ContRoL began his career in 2014 where his team showed some promising results but was not good enough. The post TI5 shuffle would put him together with Kuroky and later signed by Liquid, moving on to win The International 2017.
Game: Dota 2
Age: 22
Country: Bulgaria
Total Earnings: $2.7 million USD
6. Peter Dager (ppd)
First playing in Heroes of Newerth, PPD would later transition to Dota 2 near the end of 2013. In March 2014, he made his debut with EG and was well recognised at the international level. His team was the favourites to win The International 2014 but fell short of it. He would later win DAC 2015 and The International 2015 and then becoming CEO of EG. He subsequently left the organisation and returned as a player in the competitive scene.
Game: Dota 2
Age: 25
Country: United States
Total Earnings: $2.6 million USD
7. Sumail Hassan (SumaiL)
SumaiL started playing Dota when he was 8 years old. He would later be recognised by UNiVeRsE and was picked up by EG. As EG picked up steam, he would be the youngest player to ever surpass $1 million USD in eSports winnings.
Game: Dota 2
Age: 18
Country: Pakistan
Total Earnings: $2.6 million USD
8. Clinton Loomis (Fear)
Fear was one of the most respected American Dota player who led a team called "PluG Pullers Inc.", who were one of the very first Dota teams to get sponsored. He would later transition to Dota 2 and be with EG since 2011.
Game: Dota 2
Age: 29
Country: United States
Total Earnings: $2.3 million USD
9. Maroun Merhej (GH)
GH was originally part of Wired Gaming. He gained notoriety for reaching over 9000 MMR in the Dota 2 matchmaking leaderboards and subsequently played as a stand-in for Team Liquid in DreamLeague Season 6 where he won the tournament. He then joined Team Liquid full time on January 2nd, 2017.
Game: Dota 2
Age: -
Country: Lebanon
Total Earnings: $2.3 million USD
10. Li Peng (iceice)
iceice was brought into the professional scene by xiao8 as part of team Big God. He would later move to Wings Gaming and win The International 2016.
Game: Dota 2
Age: 22
Country: China
Total Earnings: $1.9 million USD
As it stands right now in 2017, the highest paid gamer is Kuroky at $3.3 million USD. The second highest paid gamer is Miracle at $2.9 million USD. The third highest paid gamer is UNiVeRsE at $2.9 million USD. The forth highest paid gamer is Matumbaman at $2.7 million USD. The fifth highest paid gamer is MinD_ContRoL at $2.7 million USD. The sixth highest paid gamer is ppd at $2.6 million USD. The seventh highest paid gamer is SumaiL at $2.6 million USD. The eighth highest paid gamer is Fear at $2.3 million USD. The ninth highest paid gamer is GH at $2.3 million USD and finally the tenth highest paid gamer is iceice at $1.9 million USD.
It is interesting to note that these 10 highest paid gamers have competed at the highest levels in the professional Dota 2 scene, in particular, The International, and are themselves champions in various editions of the tournament.
Ready to be part of the highest paid gamer list yet?