Over the last two decades, esports athletes have received some outlandish salaries. While the overall size of a prize pool does not determine an event’s prestige, it is certainly one of the key criteria players use to decide whether or not to attend.
Dennis “Thresh” Fong won Quake developer John Carmac’s red Ferrari 328 as the first esports award in 1997. Johan “Toxjq” Quick earned a Rolex from the WSVG Quake 4 tournament in 2006. Those were obviously impressive at the time, but today’s prize pools are high enough that players can frequently retire after winning them.
The popularity of crowdsourcing has contributed significantly to the increase in prize money. To expand the size of the overall prize pool, developers have begun to offer unique in-game products to their massive player bases.
Valve, the creators of Dota 2 and CS:GO, is currently the most successful corporation to use the approach. Its flagship Dota 2 event, The International, has grown exponentially over the last eight years of competition.
Here are the industry’s largest prize pools. However, because Dota 2 and League of Legends make up the majority of the top 10, we’ve separated the list into two categories: overall greatest prize pools per event highest prize pools in esports history.
Overall prize pools per tournament series.
1. The International 9 – $34.3 million
For the ninth year in a row, Valve’s annual Dota 2 world championship has shattered the record for esports prize pools. Since 2013, it has been the most successful example of crowdfunded prize pools in esports history, offering $1.6 million in 2011 and 2012.
2. $30.4 million for the 2019 Fortnite World Cup Finals
Epic Games’ first Fortnite World Cup Finals has one of the largest prize pools in esports history. The first tournament was divided into two main events. Aqua and Nyhrox earned $1.5 million each in the solo finals while Bugha won the championship with a hefty sum of $3 million.
3. $6.4 million for the 2018 League of Legends World Championship
For the first time in 2017, Riot Games allowed League of Legends supporters to raise the overall prize pool of the event by purchasing in-game items. A year later, the prize pool was upped to $6.4 million, making it the most expensive event in the game’s history.
After defeating Europe’s Fnatic 3-0 in the grand finals, China’s Invictus Gaming took home $2.4 million of the prize pool.
4. The Call of Duty League Championship in 2020 – $4.6 million
Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the majority of the Call of Duty League’s debut season was played online. Regardless, the league’s playoff stage contained one of the biggest prize pools in esports history. Following a tight victory in the winner’s bracket, the Dallas Empire annihilated Atlanta FaZe in the grand finals and took home $1.5 million for winning CDL Champs 2020.
5. The Honor of Kings World Champion Cup – $4.6 million in 2020
Hosted by China, the Honor of Kings World Champion Cup, which took place in Shanghai and Beijing, pitted 12 of the greatest Honor of Kings teams against one another for the top spot. Turnso Gaming emerged victorious after a back-and-forth group stage, narrowly defeating Dynamite Gaming in the grand finals.
6. The 2019 PUBG Global Championship will be worth $4 million
The prize pool for the last event of the 2019 professional PUBG season was one of the largest in esports history. The Korean squad Gen.G won the 2019 PUBG Global Championship, earning $2,239,808 in prize money. During the 2019 season, the squad had a run of back-to-back victories, winning event after tournament. The Global Championship was the icing on the cake.
7. Clubs Standings – $4 million in the Fortnite Fall Skirmish Series
Fortnite’s popularity has skyrocketed in recent years. Epic unveiled $100 million for esports tournament prize pools in the first year of competitive play to correlate with the popularity of the popular battle royale. A significant portion of that money was distributed through the Fall Skirmish Series – Club Standings.
8. $3.5 million for the Overwatch League 2019 playoffs
The Overwatch league’s overall prize pool climbed to $3.5 million after the second round of playoffs. The San Francisco Shock won the championship at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, defeating the Vancouver Titans.
9. $3 million for the Dota 2 Asia Championship
The 2015 Dota 2 Asia Championship, which served as a prelude for the ultimate Dota 2 Major circuit, had a prize pool of $3,057,000, which narrowly edged out the Valve Majors by $57,000. The event, which took place in Shanghai, China, saw Evil Geniuses’ newly recruited squad win the championship in one of the most one-sided grand finals in Dota 2 history. Vici Gaming was defeated 3-0.
10. The Valve Majors in Dota 2 – $3 million
Although the Dota 2 Majors’ overall format has altered drastically since its inception in November 2015, the first two years of the majors featured a $3 million prize pool each event.
Aside from The International, the events were the largest competitions on the Dota 2 competitive circuit due to their high prize pools. Out of all the teams who have competed in the majors, OG have been the tournament series masters, winning four of the six Dota 2 Majors.
Overall largest prize pools.
- The International 9 – $34.3 million.
- $30.4 million for the 2019 Fortnite World Cup Finals.
- The International 8 – $25.5 million.
- The International 7 – $24.7 million.
- The International 6 – $20.7 million.
- The International 5 – $18.4 million.
- The International 4 – $10.9 million.
- $6.4 million for the 2018 League of Legends World Championship.
- $5 million for the 2016 Lol (League of Legends) World Championship.
- $4.9 million for the 2017 League of Legends World Championship.
The International 10 will take place in August 2021, with a $40 million prize pool, the highest on this list. Because of the global epidemic, the competition was postponed till 2020.
