A few years ago, many people had no idea what cybersport was. But now there is only so much talk about this industry, in particular about the money that revolves around it. With the rise in popularity of esports, it’s important to also consider responsible gambling when engaging in any betting activities. Of course, the size of the prize money depends entirely on the scale of tournaments, the popularity of the discipline, and the skill level of the players.
THE INTERNATIONAL 2019 — $34 330 069
On 15-25 August 2019, the tournament with the largest prize pool in the history of cybersports so far took place. 18 teams raffled off just over $34 million. First place and 15.6 million went to European team OG. According to esportsearnings, each of the five main roster players received about 3.1 million to their personal accounts.
At the time it seemed that it would be difficult to exceed this amount, but time makes its own adjustments.
FORTNITE WORLD CUP FINALS 2019 (SOLO) — $15 287 500
In the same year, the developers from Epic Games held their Fortnite Battle Royale World Championship. In the solo discipline, just over $15 million was played, and the winner of the main prize ($3 million) was 16-year-old American Kyle Bugha Giersdorf.
LOL 2018 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP — $6 450 000
The League of Legends World Championship is always a colourful show and big money. In 2018, 24 teams raffled off $6.4 million. The main matches of the tournament were held in four Korean cities, gathering hundreds of thousands of fans in the stands. The organizers did their best – they made a stunning opening (as they always do) and also released a special championship anthem, with famous artists taking part in the recording.
Invictus Gaming became the winner of this battle and took away 2.4 million dollars.
PUBG GLOBAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2019 — $4 080 000
The once most popular battle royal can’t compete with Fortnite in terms of prize money, but it has its rich champions too. In November 2019, Korean team Gen.G Esports earned $2 million after winning the PUBG World Cup.
OVERWATCH LEAGUE (SEASON 2 PLAYOFFS) – $3,500,000
The Overwatch franchise league failed to become popular worldwide, but the public in the US and Asia actively follows the championship. The game has big investors willing to buy out League slots for their teams for millions of dollars so that their wards can then fight for other millions.
The winner of the 2019 Million Dollar Roundup for Season 2 was the San Francisco Shock. The team, which consisted of Koreans, Americans and a Swede, received $1,100,000.
HONOR OF KINGS WORLD CHAMPION CUP 2019 — $2 363 660
Honor of Kings is a purely Asian theme, unpopular in Russia. Another multiplayer game is very successful in China – they try to promote it at all more or less significant cybersport events.
And in 2019, it was even dedicated a separate world championship, where they raffled off $2.3 million. The winner was the Chinese team eStar Pro.
SIX INVITATIONAL 2020 — $3 000 000
As of late, Rainbow Six is also a major player in the lucrative cyber sports market. Every year Ubisoft holds a key tournament, the Six Invitational, where the best teams in the world play for big money.
Six Invitational 2020 managed to hold it in February this year. The tournament was one of the last live events before the global pandemic.
