Some people view video games as a waste of time. Typically, they will tell the player to find a more useful hobby to do. Imagine the shock on the faces of critics when they realize that people earn a lot from games. Players can win thousands or millions of dollars if they pursue the game professionally. According to Cyber Athletiks, professional gamers earn between $1 and $000 per month. You might be wondering who some of the richest players are. Here is a list of the 5 richest players in the world in 000.
20. Saahil Arora Net Worth ($3 Million)
By the time he retired in 2020, he had amassed a lot of wealth as a Dota 2 player. He started his playing career in 2011. In 2013, he came out 9th at the 2013 International. However, he has steadily improved since coming out 3rd at the 2014 International and 1st at the 2015 International. He joined a team called Evil Geniuses who won the Manila. Masters tournament in May 2017.
19. Kuro Salehi ($3,5 million)
Kuro is considered one of the best players in Dota 2 as he would regularly be ranked in the top five. His playing prowess may be due to his exposure to competitive play as a four-year-old in basketball. Later, he focused on Nintendo games before finally settling on Dota 2. He would be sure to win money in every tournament he participated in. For example, he won an undisclosed sum of money before he turned 18.
18. Amer Barqawi ($4,8 million)
Amer is a professional Dota 2 player who plays for Nigma Galaxy. First, he joined Balkan Bears in 2015 but was removed after four months. Without a team, he decided to focus on pub games. It slowly gained recognition on the European scene after climbing the rankings on the pub game matchmaking leaderboards. Due to his pub game wins, he was invited by N0tail to join a team called (monkey) Business, which later changed its name to OG. Under OG, he was able to win the major tournament in Frankfurt. In 2016 he won other tournaments like DreamLeague Season 5 and ESL Frankfurt. Thus, his gains come from winning.
17. KSI ($5 million)
These days, KSI barely plays video games on his YouTube channel. Instead, he shoots reaction videos, but he plays occasionally. His career took off when he filmed himself playing FIFA games. With his notoriety in video games, he decided to diversify his content by becoming a rapper, boxer and comedian. With his influence, he periodically runs charity streams to curb suicides.
16. Sebastien “Ceb” Debs ($5,4 million)
People considered him a hopeless Dota 2 player when he started playing. Despite being a terrible player, people considered him creative based on how he would approach the game. As a result, he was appointed OG coach. He was able to help OG win four times in Valve Major games. Later, he returned to the scene as a player. This time his game improved and he won the 2018 and 2019 international games.
15. Germán Garmendia ($5,5 million)
He has 2 YouTube channels: JuegaGerman and HolaSoyGerman. Together, he has at least 80 million subscribers. However, it was alleged that he got his subscribers through underbooting. Despite the accusation, many people continued to watch his humorous videos that he uses in his videos. The player became so famous that he was chosen for the Spanish version of the movie Ice Age.
14. Anathan “Ana” Pham ($6 million)
Anathan is considered one of the most mechanically skilled Dota 2 players. He started out as a pub gamer and then rose to fame when OG spotted him. Anathan has enjoyed great success under the tutelage of N0tail and Tal Azik. At that time, he pocketed 2 Valve Majors. He became a seasoned Dota 2 player two years after his conservatorship. In Dota 2 tournaments, he would win $6 million. Due to continued winning streaks, he dropped out of college to focus on games.
13. W2S ($6,5 million)
W2S is a YouTube channel run by Harry Lewis. His obsession with FIFA prompted him to start this channel. On this channel, he comments on FIFA matches. If you don't like football games, he has another channel called W2Splays, where he plays games other than football. In the UK, W2S was considered the most subscribed channel, so most of its revenue comes from views on its videos.
12. Jesse Vainikka ($6,5 million)
Jesse is one of the best players in position 4 in Dota 2. His massive net worth comes from prize pool rewards earned in Dota 2 tournaments at International 2018 and 2019. Gaming was not his only source of income. For example, he unveiled his merchandise website called jerax.gg. Initially, Jesse was on a weak team in Dota 2. However, his performance improved after joining a Korean team. This team was able to win MPGL season 7 games. He had an impressive winning streak and shocked his fans when he announced his retirement from Dota 2 in 2020. However, he returned to the competitive scene when he joined an organization called Evil Geniuses in 2021.
11. Fernanfloo ($6,8 million)
It is revered for its comedic survival horror game gameplay. As a result, he has at least 40 million YouTube subscribers. From YouTube, he reportedly earns around $1,7 million per year. Instead of relying on YouTube, he decided to join Twitch as well. Joining Twitch turned out to be a good decision as his annual income skyrocketed.
10. Johan “N0tail” Sundstein ($7,8 million)
If you are an avid Dota 2 player, chances are you know this player. He is often considered one of the greatest players in Dota 2. According to Liquipedia, he has the highest tournament earnings in Dota 2. His breakthrough in the game started at the age of 15 when he met Jascha “NoVa” Markuse and Tal “Fly” Aizik. They started playing together and became an unsponsored side project of Fnatic manager Danijel "StreeT" Remus. At that time, they were playing Heroes of Newerth. Almost immediately they won tournaments. Since the Heroes of Newerth gaming community wasn't that active, he moved on to Dota 2, where he started earning millions through tournaments.
9. Timothy John Betar “TimTheTatman” ($12 million)
Timothy is best known as a Fortnite player, but he also plays Overwatch, World of Warcraft, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. His gaming career took off when he joined Twitch in 2012, where he amassed over 7 million followers. Additionally, he has a YouTube channel that has over 4,3 million subscribers. To further capitalize on YouTube views, he collaborated with famous gamers like Ninja, Nick Mercs, and CouRage. In addition to earning money playing online, he has participated in events like E3 2018 and entered into a partnership agreement with Complexity Gaming, of which he is a part owner and content creator.
8. Seán McLoughlin “Jacksepticeye” ($16 million)
He is known for his vlogs and his comedy series "Let's Play". Before pursuing a YouTube gaming career, he was a drummer for a band called “Raised to the Ground”. His videos receive 15,1 billion views and he has 28,2 million subscribers, making him one of the most subscribed Irish YouTubers. When he launched his YouTube channel in 2007, he remained inactive until 2012. His breakthrough came in 2012 when he was mentioned in a PewDiePie video. The video was a shouting contest hosted by PewDiePie. Since PewDiePie was already a big deal at that time, Jacksepticeye's popularity grew thanks to the video. When he realized how popular he had become, he started actively uploading videos and even managed to collaborate with other gamers.
7. Michael Grzesiek “Shroud” ($20 million)
Shroud rose to fame playing first-person shooters and royalty games like Valorant, Apex Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and Escape from Tarkov. He plays on Twitch and YouTube, and his gaming videos receive around 1 billion views. Most people think he's as good as Tyler Belvins because they often compete with each other. In 2016, his breakthrough came when he helped Team Cloud9 win the ESL Pro League Season 4 matches. The following year, his team came out second in the game. He retired from gaming events and decided to focus on gaming on Twitch full time. Using his earnings from Twitch, he acquired a $9,4 million mansion in California.
6. Arsement of Preston Blaine ($20 million)
Preston is a YouTube gamer who mainly plays Minecraft, Call of Duty, and Fortnite. Unlike most YouTube gamers with one channel, it has two game channels: PrestonPlayz and TBNRfrags. The former has at least 11 million subscribers, while the latter has at least 2 million subscribers. Due to reliance on two channels to earn money, he became the highest paid YouTuber in the world in 2019, earning $14 million. The following year, he earned $19 million. Besides playing on YouTube, it operates Minecraft servers. For Minecraft users to have access to the platform, they have to pay.
5. Evan Fong ($25 million)
He has a YouTube channel called VanossGaming, which has at least 21 million subscribers. On average, his videos receive over 8 billion views. The games he plays are Grand Theft Auto V and Call of Duty: World at War. In most of his videos, he accompanies his friends. Sometimes they'll talk about the game, but they'll have random conversations about anything most of the time. In 2014 and 2016, he was nominated for the Game Award for Trending Gamer and the Shorty Award for Tech and Innovation: Gaming Awards, respectively. Due to his awards, he dropped out of college to focus on gaming on YouTube. On average, he earns at least $12 million a year.
4. Mark Fischbach “Markiplier” ($35 million)
Of the players discussed so far, Mark is professionally diverse. Besides performing on YouTube, he is an actor, director, writer and producer. His YouTube channel has over 30 million subscribers and his videos typically receive 17 billion views. He is famous for his hilarious gameplay commentary. Mark mainly plays horror and action games. Thanks to the game, he earns between 10 and 20 million dollars a year.
