Biggest winnings in eSports
It is well known that there is a lot of money to be made in big sport. When eSports appeared, no one could have imagined that some of its varieties, in a fairly short time after their emergence, would boast of such prize funds that many prestigious and decades-long international tournaments in traditional sports could never dream of.
The International 2019 – $34,330,069
This DOTA 2 tournament held in 2019 holds the absolute record for the size of the prize pool to date. The winner of the tournament, Team OG, received $15.6 million, that is, $3.1 million per player.
It is quite possible that the record for this tournament in terms of prize money will soon be broken. It is rumored that the upcoming The International on Dota 2 may draw $40 million.
Fortnite world cup finals 2019 (SOLO) – $15,287,500
The competition was hosted by Epic Games, the developer of the game. Players competed for more than $15 million in prize money, of which $3 million went to the winner. The winner was 16-year-old American Kyle Bugha Girsdorf.
LoL 2018 world championship – $6,450,000
Competitions in this type of eSports attract a huge number of people first and foremost for their spectacle. But the prize money in the tournaments is also quite impressive. The record $6.4 million in prize money at the 2018 World Championship, held in South Korea, was one of the top events of the year. It was one of the main events of the year in that country: it attracted hundreds of thousands of spectators, and a specially written anthem for the competition was recorded by South Korean pop superstars.
PUBG global championship 2019 – $4,080,000
In terms of prize money, this eSports discipline is, of course, inferior to a number of others. But the prize pools of the World Championships are impressive all the same. The biggest of them all, at over $4 million, was played in 2019. Moreover, the winners were entitled to half of the prize money – $2 million. It was taken home by the team from South Korea.
Overwatch league (season 2 playoffs) – $3 500 000
This type of eSports is most popular in USA and Asia. The prize pools are formed from the contributions of the participating teams’ sponsors. The largest amount was awarded at the 2019 World Cup. The American team San Francisco Shock won then. The winner was awarded $1,100,000.
Six Invitational 2020 – $3,000,000
Rainbow Six tournaments are run by the game’s developer, Ubisoft, and they don’t scrimp. The million dollar winner is usually drawn between gamers from Russia and the United States. The last tournament was held just before the start of the coronavirus pandemic. That time the US team won and the result of Russians, who are usually very successful in these competitions, became a sensation – 9th place.
Smite world championship 2015 – $2 612 259
The 2015 tournament for this multiplayer game was the first and only World Championship in this cyber sports discipline. However, the event made history thanks to an impressive prize pool of over $2.5 million. Of which the winner was entitled to 1.3 million. They were taken away by the team from the United States. From then on, only local tournaments were held in this discipline.
