The esports industry is growing extremely fast, and is expected to cost over $ 1,500,000,000 by end of 2020.
Esports are recognized by more and more people around the world for sports, because just like football and boxing, they require intensive training, skills and strategies. All professional players and teams spend a lot of time training – the goal is to become better in their sport, to be ready for all possible situations and to be able to beat their opponents.
Of course, each game requires different skills – some games require just strategic skills, others require speed and reflexes, and some require both. For team games such as Dota 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, where teams consist of 5 people, it is extremely important to properly communicate between players, which is achieved only with a lot of sweat and strong nerves.
Esports are paid a lot, and a recent example of this is a player who became a millionaire after winning first place at the prestigious Dota 2 The International 7 tournament.
 
Here are the top 5 highest paid games in e-sports:
 
1. Dota 2 – a total of $ 126,040,094 paid out of 772 tournaments
The golden first place is for Valve’s most successful game – Dota 2, which boasts an enviable total prize pool of just over $ 126 million from 772 tournaments. The goal in the game is identical to League of Legends, with a huge difference in the more complex mechanics of the game.
2. League of Legends – A total payout of $ 43,635,753 from the 1906 tournament
In second place with a total prize pool of over 43 million dollars is the well-known League of Legends, which is a strategic team game in which there are two teams of 5 heroes, with the goal of one team to destroy the base of the other through development the characters and control the map. There are many strategies for playing League of Legends but you can find some of the most profitable at Betindex.
3. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO) – Total $ 38,108,827 paid out of 2,611 tournaments
The most successful game in the series is CS: GO, in which the goal is the same as Counter-Strike. Unlike its predecessors, the game offers a lot of different mechanics, better graphics and a lot of different mods, which is why the game is so successful. In the discipline CS: GO 2611 tournaments have been held so far, and the total paid prize fund is over 38 million dollars, which deservedly takes the bronze third place.
4. StarCraft II – A total of $ 23,422,946 paid out of 4,463 tournaments
StarCraft II (SC2) is a real-time strategy in which two or more players compete against each other, with the goal of gathering resources, developing their base, and destroying their opponent’s base. The game has had 4,463 tournaments with a total prize pool of over 23 million, which gives it a solid fourth place in the ranking of the highest paid e-sports.
5. Counter-Strike – A total of $ 10,800,813 paid out of 578 tournaments
One of the biggest classics in gaming, better known as CS 1.6, is a shooter game in which there are 2 teams – terrorists and police, and the goal of each team is to eliminate the other, to achieve its task – terrorists planting the bomb and protecting it until it explodes, and for the police not to allow the terrorists to plant the bomb, or to defuse it if it is planted, or for the police to rescue the hostages taken by the terrorists. In total, almost $ 11 million has been paid to professional teams and players, placing the game in 5th place as the highest paid e-sport.

By Zoltan Tundik

Zoltán Tűndik-Kiszner-Szilágyi is the Co-Founder, Co-Owner and Head of Business at Hipther Agency, parent brand of WireUp, European Gaming, PICANTE, and Gaming Americas. Zoltán is a self-taught publisher and events organizer who has developed several brands and services that have increased the notoriety of his company within several multi-billion industries. Among the developed brands and services you can find online news portals that cover several tech industries, gaming, blockchain, fintech, artificial intelligence, and more. In parallel, the company has built a portfolio of annually organized boutique-style conferences in Europe and North America. All the events organized by his company focus on bringing a wealth of information about the latest innovation in several industries such as Entertainment, Technology, Gaming and Gambling, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Fintech, Quantum Technology, Legal Cannabis, Health and Lifestyle, VR/AR, eSports and many more.