There is a lot of money to be earned in gaming, and these are the richest online gamers in 2023 and how they’ve done it.
Making it big as a professional gamer is a highly rewarding and lucrative career path. These hardworking players earn money through various methods like tournament winnings or sponsorship deals. We’ll delve into the profiles of the 20 richest online gamers, whose exceptional achievements and substantial fortunes have propelled them to the pinnacle of success. From monumental triumphs in competitive gaming to unparalleled displays of talent, these individuals have left an indelible mark on the gaming landscape.
This list is only the player’s current estimated worth, it does not take into account recent contracts or unknowable factors that are not public. Keep reading below the graphic to learn how they earned it.
Full List of 20 Richest Online Gamers
1dao ($1 million)
Aside from Fly, Zhong “1dao” Letian is an Arena of Valor player that plays under the Team Wolves. 1dao is an excellent side or bottom lane player in the team that loves using either Gong Sunli or Lady Sun. 1dao competed in the 2021 Honor of Kings World Champion Cup alongside Fly, winning the championship with the prize money of $3 million for their team.
Fly ($1.4 Million)
Peng Yunfei or Fly, is a Chinese professional Arena of Valor player and one of the best Hua Mulan users in the game. He also loves to play Guan Yu on several occasions. Because of his remarkable play as Hua Mulan, Tencent Games gave him an official skin for his favorite hero. Aside from that, Fly won 1st place with his teammates under Team Wolves, taking home $3,251,668 in the process.
Faker ($1.5 Million)
Lee Sang-hyeok, better known as Faker, is considered one of the important players in the League of Legends industry. This South-Korean professional player is treated as a god for his incredible skills and play in every competition he has competed. On top of that, Faker’s notable win when he bagged the championship during his debut in professional League gaming under the team SKT T1.
Xyp9x (1.9 million)
Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth is a Danish professional CS: GO player that plays for team Astralis. Xyp9x is well-known in the CS: GO community because of his remarkable clutches that are fascinating enough to see. Because of his high-success clutches throughout his career, Xyp9x gained the nickname Clutch Minister. As such, Xyp9x’s biggest win is taking home $500,000 by winning 1st place in the Intel Extreme Masters Season XIII – Katowice Major 2019 against ENCE eSports.
Dupreeh ($2.1 Million)
Peter “Dupreeh” Rasmussen is a Danish professional CS: GO player as the entry fragger for Team Vitality esports. Dupreeh’s skills in the game are unmatched, as he became the most important player of the team securing five consecutive major wins that any team has never done before. Because of that outstanding victories, Dupreeh is considered one of the richest gamers in the world.
Pokimane ($3 million)
Pokimane is one of the most popular Twitch streamers on the platform showing her vibrant personality in each of her gaming live streams. She also built her following on Instagram and Youtube, uploading fun videos from her streams. Pokimane loves playing League of Legends, Valorant, and Minecraft with her fellow Twitch streamers. Because of her success, Pokimane won a Legacy Award in the Streamer Awards.
Bugha ($3.5 million)
Bugha is a professional Fortnite player based in Pennsylvania that loves playing Valorant and CS: GO. The 21-year-old pro player is one of the best Fortnite players winning several tournaments in his career. Bugha’s greatest feat is when he won his first competition in the Fortnite World Cup Finals – Solo match, where he took 1st place with 59 points and took home $3,000,000 in 2019.
KuroKy ($4 Million)
Kuro Takhasomi, also known as KuroKy is a German-born professional Dota 2 player and is considered one of the top-earning players in Dota 2, earning an estimated $4 Million during his time as a player. In addition, after four years of being in Team Liquid, KuroKy formed his team called Nigma. One of the biggest victories that KuroKy achieved is when he won The Internationals 2017 under Team Liquid.
Nickmercs ($4 Million)
Nickmercs is a professional Call of Duty player that plays for FaZe clan. Nickmercs also streams Fortnite and PUBG on Youtube and Twitch whenever he is not competing, earning him 6.5 million followers on Twitch and 4 million subscribers on Youtube. As such, Nickmercs’s unbelievable aim and gameplay bagged $100,000 from the Warzone Toronto tournament as they cut down team Team Rated in the event.
Sumail ($4 Million)
Sumail, or Sumail Hassan, is another professional Dota 2 player that started as a nobody in the game. Later on, Sumail proved himself as one of the greatest Dota 2 players in the world. His most memorable game is where he started with a low-performing Storm Spirit that later on snowballed and led his team to victory, establishing EG’s threat to the competitive scene.
Topson ($5 Million)
Topias Taavisainen, also known as Topson, is a Finnish Dota 2 pro player that made his mark as a midlaner with a unique hero pool. He started competing at Dota 2 tournaments in 2017 and his high-ranking placement on the game’s leaderboard made him the official mid-laner of OG in 2018. Topson also participated in The Internationals 2018 and 2019, in which made his team bagged two consecutive wins with N0tail, ana, and JerAx.
Ana ($6 Million)
Anathan Pham or Ana as his Dota 2 IGN is a professional Dota 2 player that played alongside N0tail, JerAx, and Topson as the newly reformed OG team that competed in the TI 2018. Ana first joined the competitive scene when he moved from Melbourne to Shanghai back in 2015 to pursue his decision. Ana’s magnificent feat is when they defeated LGD gaming by a 3-2 score to grab that shiny trophy.
Dr DisRespect ($6 million)
Herschel Beahm IV is a streamer on Youtube and Twitch known as Dr. DisRespect. He is one of the most controversial and entertaining videos that made him trending in the gaming industry. He is well-known for playing battle royale games such as PUBG, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Rouge Company. Thus, Dr. DisRespect gained a total of 4 million followers and subscribers from both social media platforms, winning him a Streamer of the Year in 2019. He’s also rumored to be getting a huge contract from Kick, and likely has earned a lot more than this in his streaming contracts that are not public.
JerAx ($6.5 Million)
JerAx is one of the most prominent Dota 2 players in the Dota 2 community. Like N0tail, JerAx started as a Heroes of Newerth professional player before joining Dota 2 competitions back in 2013 after his military service in the Finnish Navy. JerAx’s impressive support plays gained the reputation as the best support player in the world. One of JerAx’s biggest wins is conquering The Internationals 2018 together with N0tail. And in 2022, he became the coach of Team Liquid which competed in last year’s TI22.
N0tail ($7 Million)
Johan Sundstein or N0tail, is a professional Dota 2 player that plays under the team OG Squad. N0tail began his esports career at the age of 15 in the Heroes of Newerth competitions. Because of the game’s sudden backdrop, N0tail is now one of the elite Dota 2 players that shows incredible skill every time he competes. Because of his talent in the game, N0tail is the first Danish player to ever won two consecutive wins on both The Internationals 8 and 9 winning $27 Million from the prize pool.
xQcOW ($9 Million)
XQcOW is a Canadian streamer and a former Overwatch professional player that is known for his chaotic but fun streams and next-level gameplay. XQC started playing a very long time ago and as you can see from his streams, he loves playing Apex Legends and Overwatch. From his pro-playing career, XQC was awarded MVP in the 2017 Overwatch World Cup.
He also recently signed a two year deal with Kick that could pay him up to $100 million with incentives.
TimTheTatman ($10 million)
TimTheTatman is one of the famous streamers on Twitch building the platform since 2012, gaining 7 million followers because of the impressive gameplay he showcased on his every stream. This NY-based Twitch streamer is an absolute beast when it comes to taking down enemies on his Call of Duty and PUBG, which he gained success with because of it. Because of his popularity, TimTheTatman has collaborated with Chipotle to have his food item served in every chain.
Shroud ($20 Million)
Michael Grzesiek better known as Shroud is a professional player and one of the richest gamers across the world. Shroud first made the scene in competitive gaming by competing against strong players in CS:GO and later joined the Valorant competitive scene, showing his skills and impressive aim that was admired by many FPS players. Although Shroud didn’t win any major CS: GO competitions before his career, his Valorant streams made him an absurd amount of $12.5 Million.
Ninja ($40 Million)
Richard Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is a famous Twitch/Youtube streamer and a professional Fortnite player. Ninja is one of the wealthiest online gamers in the world as he set a record for 2720 wins and he has been in the top 3 squads on several occasions because of his sheer talent in playing battle royale games such as PUBG and Fortnite, in which he enjoys playing. As such, Ninja took first place in the E3 Party Royale Celebrity Pro-Am SIG together with the artist Marshmellow taking home $1,000,000.
PewDiePie ($60 Million)
Of course, every player out there knows this lovable and fun gamer PewDiePie. His story from Rags to Riches is one of the most interesting stories in gaming history. Felix Kjellberg, better known as PewDiePie rose to fame in 2010 because of his entertaining gameplay in Minecraft and several games that he found amusing. Not only that, his popularity grew abundantly as he now pokes fun at memes, anime, movies, and many more. Because of this, PewDiePie gained 111 million subscribers to his Youtube Channel.
