The Biggest Earning in Esports

RECENT SURVEY SHOWS THAT ESPORTS HAS DISHED OUT OVER $700 MILLION IN PRIZE WINNINGS

We’re in the money… or at least a bunch of pro gamers are. BroadbandChoices conducted a study revealing that the total prize winnings given out over the course of recent history for esports tournaments amounted to $700 million. The top five esports by prize total are as follows:

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

Dota 2 sits at the top due to the crowdfunded International tournament structure; CS:GO comes in a distant second thanks to an open circuit and deep production pockets. Overwatch comes in 7th more so due to the closed tournament ecosystem hosted by Blizzard, outranked by a more liberal (and older) Starcraft II scene. The top five earners in esports are all Dota 2 players:

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

The industry generated $135 billion in 2018 according to the same study.

ESPORTS VENUE TO OPEN AT THE MALL OF GEORGIA

Allied Esports, the entertainment company behind the HyperX Esports Arena in Las Vegas, recently announced another property opening in 2020 at the Mall of Georgia. The company is creating an esports venue in the Atlanta metropolitan area to address a perceived lack of resources for an otherwise vibrant Southeastern esports scene.

The 13,000 square foot property will cover two floors, providing production equipment, playing spaces, as well as retail and food/beverage options.

Jud Hannigan said, “We’ve long felt that the gaming and esports communities in the Southeast, especially the greater Atlanta metropolitan area, are vibrant and growing and believe we have a location at Mall of Georgia that will serve as a dynamic hub for esports experiences in the region.”

BLIZZARD TEAMS UP WITH ESL TO BUILD A $200K WARCRAFT 3 REFORGED ESPORTS CIRCUIT

Do you wax nostalgic for the good ol’ Warcraft 3 days? You can wax off soon enough because Warcraft 3 Reforged is coming out, and Blizzard will be teaming up with ESL to build an esports scene around it. With a $200k prize pool and three years of partnership planned out, it’s clear that the title will see enough activity to sustain interest for some time.

The first ESL Warcraft III Pro Tour season will consist of four top-tier tournaments, three hosted at DreamHack and one separate ESL tournament. The best pro tour players of the tour will compete for the Warcraft III World Championship. Everything will be tracked on the upcoming ESL Pro Tour Ranking.

There will also be smaller prize pool community events (ESL Open Cups) for amateurs to compete in along the way, so start exercising your RTS skills!

NEW ESPORTS CENTER TO OPEN IN LINCOLNSHIRE, ENGLAND SOON

Another esports facility will grace the esports world in Lincolnshire, England in just a few weeks. Arcade Warehouse will be the first facility in the region to offer players the ability to play with or against each other in a live setting. Owner Caton Airey started his own tech company, PCSCuk Technology Centre, selling computers and gadgets in 2012 and will now be expanding to a new venture.

As a native of the area, Airey said that Arcade Warehouse will keep people local: “I have three kids, and whenever we want to go on a family day out we usually find ourselves leaving the town – which is a shame. This is a great town, and we just want to bring something that it doesn’t really have.

Arcade Warehouse will also have retro/arcade games, as well as games for kids.