If you are not already in the video game industry, it will surprise you quite a bit how big the esports industry is now. It's amazing how many people are already making their living playing games.
It's important to note that esports is not just a niche hobby that could be outdated news by next year. Interest in esports has reached critical mass, which has led to the existence of a large number of high-paying tournaments. Many of them have their own TV broadcasts, in addition to live streaming via Twitch on their tablet or phone.
What are the big names in esports? How much money do they make and which games are the most popular?
The most profitable game to date is Dota and its varieties. Dota2 in particular seems to be the esports game where most of the money is concentrated right now. Dota 2 is a Massively Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game played in teams of five, with each team occupying and defending their own base on the map. Each player controls his own "hero" with unique abilities and style of play.
Income in esports depends on the team and the players. In the top teams, each player earns a minimum of $ 12,500 in a 28-match season. However, players on winning teams and well-sponsored teams often earn significantly more.
So, here are the top 10 esports teams by revenue:
1. Team Liquid
- Total Prize Pool: $ 24,448,847
- Total tournaments played: 1430
Best games:
- Dota - $ 17,336,099
- Counter-Strike - $ 1,772,175
- StarCraft - $ 1,361,490.23.
Top players and their earnings:
- Kuro Takhasomi (KuroKy) - $ 3,449,672
- Ivan Ivanov (MinD_ContRoL) - $ 3 433 172
- Lasse Urpalainen (Matumbaman) - $ 3,428,672
Team Liquid started out as a gaming community website. In 2010, they sponsored the Dutch StarCraft: Brood War team. They formed their first professional team when they started playing StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty in 2010. They recruited their first Dota2 player in 2012.
In 2016, Team Liquid became part of aXiomatic, the entertainment and sports management company. In 2017, the Walt Disney Company selected Team Liquid to participate in the Disney Accelerator program.
Team Liquid has won various tournaments in various games throughout its life. However, her biggest success was her victory at The International 2017 (TI17), which earned them $ 10,862,683.
2. Evil Geniuses
- Total Prize Pool: $ 20,751,172
- Total tournaments played: 737
Best games:
- Dota 2X - $ 17,870,742
- StarCraft / StarCraft 2 - $ 798,548
- Call of Duty - $ 781,050
Top players and their earnings:
- Sumail Hasan (SumaiL) - $ 3,265,914
- Saahil Arora (UNIVERSAL) - $ 2,919,231
- Peter Daguerre (ppd) - $ 2,599.54
Evil Geniuses, also known as EG, is a predominantly North American esports organization based in San Francisco. Alexander Garfield originally founded the Canadian Counter-Strike team in 1999.
Their most successful player, Sumail Hassan, started his Dota career in Pakistan. Sumail's father got a job in the US and Sumail joined Evil Geniuses in January 2015. A month later, the team won the Dota Asia Championships.
Evil Geniuses is a subsidiary of GoodGame Agency, owned by Amazon's Twitch division.
3. Team OG
- Total Prize Pool: $ 17,563,028
- Total tournaments played: 50
Best games:
- Dota 2 - $ 17,562,067
- Super Smash Bros - $ 960
Top players and their earnings:
- Johan SundsteinX (N0tail) - $ 3,507,429
- Jesse Vainikka (JerAx) - $ 2,905,424
- Anathan Fam (Ana) - $ 2,825.74
The European Team OG started out as a Monkey Business team that rebranded in October 2015. They specialize mostly in Dota 2. Their breakthrough came at Frankfurt Major 2015, where they defeated Evil Geniuses, CDEC Gaming and Team Secret.
As far as our roster is concerned, they are still newcomers, which makes their winnings in just 50 tournaments especially impressive.
Team OG also won Manila Major 2016, making them the first team in Dota 2 history to win two major tournaments. Team OG won five of the first ten tournaments it entered.
4. Newbee
- Total Prize Pool: $ 12,820,195
- Total tournaments played: 130
Best games:
- Dota 2 - 12 438 302 $
- Dota 2 (Newbee Young) - 112,208 $
- Hearthstone - $ 109,076.
Top players and their earnings:
- Zhi Hu (KaKa) - $ 1,352,240
- Damien Chok (kpii) - $ 1,351,665
- Zhang Pan (Mu) - $ 1,319,624
Newbee is a Chinese esports team. She takes part in a wider range of games than many other teams. They have Dota 2, Hearthstone and League of Legends players.
The team became famous for their victory at The International 2014 (TI14). This resulted in a winnings of $ 5 million, which put them in the Guinness Book of Records for the highest prize money at the time.
5. Fnatic
- Total Prize Pool: $ 11,908,332
- Total tournaments played: 788
Best games:
- CS: GO - 3531627 $
- Dota 2 - 3,089,323 $
- League of Legends - $ 1,816,891
Top players and their earnings:
- Robin Rennqvist (flusha) - $ 687,864
- Jesper Vexell (JW) - $ 679,188
- Freddie Johansson (KRiMZ) - $ 661,480
Fnatic is based in London, although many of its top players are Swedes. Fnatic has assembled dedicated teams for a variety of games including Dota 2, Hearthstone, and League of Legends.
Sam and Anne Matthews (son and mother) founded Fnatic in 2004 as they saw the potential of esports. They decided to create a team of good players from all over the world. Their League of Legends team won the first League of Legends World Championship in 2011. She holds the record for the most split League of Legends Championship Series titles in the EU LCS.
Many consider their Counter-Strike team to be one of the best ever, having won three major CS: GO tournaments.
6. Virtus.pro
- Total Prize Pool: $ 11,745,195
- Total tournaments played: 438
Best games:
- Dota 2 - $ 7,688,777
- CS: GO - 2,871,882 $
- Counter-Strike - $ 333,199
Top players and their earnings:
- Roman Kushnarev (RAMZES666) - $ 1168604
- Pavel Khvastunov (9pasha) - $ 1,147,446
- Vladimir Minenko (No [o] ne) - $ 1,140,246
Virtus.pro is a Russian esports team created in 2003. Since then, she has won over 100 gold, 170 silver and 220 bronze medals in various esports tournaments.
She created a series of teams for different games. Virtus.pro has over 50 players. These include a women's team that they added in September 2012.
7. Wings Gaming
- Total Prize Pool: $ 9,718,637
- Total tournaments played: 22
Best games:
- Dota 2 - 9,712,413 $
- 2CS: GO - $ 6224
Top players and their earnings:
- Zhang Ruida (Faith_bian) - $ 1,942,562
- Zhou Yang (bLink) - $ 1,942,462
- Li Peng (Iceice) - $ 1,942,462.
While Wings Gaming still ranks seventh among esports teams, they have been somewhere in the bottom two years in terms of prize money.
Wings Gaming was a Chinese professional Dota 2 team. A group of Chinese pub stars formed the team in 2014.
The team performed very well in a number of tournaments from 2015 to 2016, deciding to show themselves as one of the leading teams in China. They became champions of The International 2016 (TI16), winning $ 9.1 million.
They were nominated for the Best Non-Olympic Athletes category in China's Top 10 Laureus Sport Awards, the first esports team to do so.
However, the success was short-lived. Disputes between the team's management and its players over how the TI16 prize money should be used resulted in cash flow difficulties. The players were not paid salaries, and as a result, the players went. They eventually moved on to Team Random.
8. Vici Gaming
- Total Prize Pool: $ 9,391,057
- Total tournaments played: 255
Best games:
- Dota 2 - 5,700,876 $
- Dota 2 (VGJ.Storm) - 1015 $ 432.57
- Dota 2 (VGJ.Thunder) - 851,202 $
Top players and their earnings:
- Lu, Chao (Fenrir) - $ 1,176,283.
- Xu, Lingsen (fu) - $ 1,034,239
- Xie, Junhao (super) - $ 894,309
Vici Gaming started its activities in October 2012. They selected experienced players who held high positions in the Chinese Dota rankings at the time. They initially focused on the original Dota, but have since expanded to Dota 2. The team finished second at The International 2014.
They also have teams playing other games including League of Legends, StarCraft II, WarCraft III, FIFA, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
9. LGD Gaming
- Total Prize Pool: $ 8,721,579
- Total tournaments played: 122
Best games:
- Dota 2 (China) - 5,204,365 $
- Dota 2 (LGD Forever Young) - $ 2943724
- League of Legends - $ 368,876
Top players and their earnings:
- Yao, Zhengzheng (Yao) - $ 1,176,225
- Liang, Fa Ming (DDC) - $ 839,884
- Lei, Zengrong (MMY!) - $ 751,563
LGD Gaming is a Chinese multi-game team sponsored by Guizhou Laogandie Food. The team's base is located in Hangzhou, China.
It has separate teams of players playing Dota and League of Legends. The first Dota team grew out of the For The Dream team, which LGD sponsored in 2009. This team finished third at The International 2012.
LGD then created another Dota team called LGD.int. The company disbanded in 2014, but LGD put together a new team, which they named LGD CDEC, later renamed CDEC Gaming.
In April 2018, LGD teamed up with French giants Paris Saint-Germain to form a team called PSG.LGD.
10. SK Telecom T1
- Total Prize Pool: $ 8,572,612
- Total tournaments played: 212
Best games:
- League of Legends (SKT T1) - 5,291,107 $
- League of Legends (SKT T1 K) - $ 1275,132
- StarCraft 2 - $ 1,165,932
Top players and their earnings:
- Lee, Sang Hyuk (Faker) - $ 1,175,068
- Lee, Jae Wan (Wolf) - $ 908,949
- Bae, Jun Sik (Bang) - 907 269 $
SK Telecom T1 (SKT) is a Korean esports team owned and named after the South Korean telecommunications company SK Telecom. SK Telecom founded the team in 2002. The team has players from StarCraft: Brood War, StarCraft II, and League of Legends.
SK Telecom T1 has won the League of Legends World Championship three times: in 2013, 2015 and 2016.
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