The Power of ESports
Similar to professional sportsmen and women, esports players have the potential to earn high winnings from gaming. With competitions around the world, in a variety of different gaming formats, players can take home huge earnings for doing what they love–battling it out in their favorite games.
Some prizes are even more than bingo jackpots, whilst other winnings are enough to make you want to give up your day job and become a full-time gamer. The first esports tournaments took place back in 1997, and thanks to the popularity and crowdfunding, these competitions just got bigger and better.
Read on to find out some of the biggest gaming wins of the 21st century. After this, you’ll want to stop the 9-to-5 hustle and begin a gamers’ hustle instead.
The biggest wins of this century
1. The 2019 Fortnite World Cup
Established by Epic Games, the Fortnite World Cup, set in New York City, is attended by people from all over the world. In 2019, the finals featured one of the biggest prize pools in all of esports history – a whopping $30.4 million! The Fortnite World Cup was split into two different events, one for solo players, and a separate one for two-player teams, or duos. Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf earned $3 million in the solo finals, while David “aqua” W and Emil “Nyhrox” Bergquist Pedersen shared $3 million after winning the duo finals. For all you Fortnite fanatics out there, this is the competition you want to be in!
2. The 2021 Honor of Kings World Champion Cup
Hosted in Beijing, the 2021 Honor of Kings World Champion Cup saw 12 top class Honor of Kings teams battle it out for the number one spot in the globe at this game. Up for the taking was a purse of $7.7 million, and after a lot of back and forth action in the group stages, QG Happy emerged victorious, beating Gank Gaming in the grand finale.
3. PUBG Global Invitational
The first ever PUBG Global Invitational took place back in 2021 in Shanghai. Despite some of it taking place online, the competition was entered by people from all walks of life right across the globe. With $7.1 million up for grabs, the Susquehanna Soniqs were the eventual winners, walking away with a hefty $1,296,189 in prize money.
4. The 2018 League of Legends World Championship
League of Legends, otherwise known as LoL, is a game beloved by many. Riot Games created this competition to allow fans from all over the globe to compete for the top prize, which in this particular year was $6.4 million, making it the largest prize money in the game’s history. After a fierce competition, China’s Invictus Gaming took home $2.4 million after defeating European team Fnatic 3-0 in the final. So for all of you who just play LoL for fun with friends, why not get a team together? At the very least it will be heaps of fun!
5. The 2020 Call of Duty League Championship
Due to the pandemic, the competition for this particular year was held online. There was no stopping the Call of Duty League! Despite the online circumstances, the prize winnings were something worth fighting for, and the largest in the tournament’s history. Winners could go home with $4.6 million! After a narrow victory, Atlanta FaZe lost to Dallas Empire in the grand finals. The Dallas Empire team took home a grand prize of $1.5 million.
6. PUBG Global Championship 2021
Another tournament brought to you by PUBG Corporation, the PUBG Global Championship had a top prize of $4.4 million for the winners. With teams from Asia, the Americas, and Europe all competing, this was a very tough championship to win. In the event it was the Chinese team, NewHappy, who emerged victorious, taking home a cool $1,378,265. This was another achievement for them to add to the many wins they had that year, as they were on a winning streak of acing tournament after tournament. Runners up were Norwegian team Heroic, who took home winnings of $666,209.
7. The Dota 2 Asia Championship
The Dota 2 Asia Championships 2015, also known as DAC 2015 and The Oriental, is a tournament organized by Perfect World and MarsTV. It’s almost like a warmup for the eventual Dota 2 Major circuit, but it’s still worth entering as the prize money is $3 million. Taking place in Shanghai, the North American team Evil Geniuses took home the crown. This final was one of the most one-sided grand finals in the tournament’s history, as they beat Chinese team Vinci Gaming by 3-0.