Top 20 Highest Earning Counter-Strike Players of All Time (2023)

One of the most beloved first-person shooters in the world, Counter-Strike, enjoys a large dedicated playerbase and an even bigger history as they continue to serve its community with the latest edition of the title, Counter-Strike 2 (CS2).

On the competitive side of things, which spans a grand narrative of its own spanning more than a decade, several teams have risen to the top, players have showcased their skills, and bucketloads of prize money have been won.

With the current season having concluded and 2023 coming to an end in less than a week, it is a great time to check who are the highest-earning Counter-Strike players of all time based on total prize money earned to date.

Richest Counter-Strike Players in History (2023)

Numerous professional Counter-Strike tournaments have been played since Valve allowed third-party tournament organizers to conduct such competitions. Over the years, more than $160 Million USD has been handed out to teams and players through these events.

This is enough to give everyone a good idea of how much top Counter-Strike players can earn by competing in the top-tier circuit.

Here is an updated list of the 20 richest Counter-Strike players in history based on prize money, as per Esports Earnings. This excludes player salaries, sponsorships, and other forms of remuneration.

Top 20 Highest Earning Counter-Strike Players

20. TACO

• Name: Epitácio de Melo

• Prize Money: $1,095,886.48

• Current Team: Legacy (Inactive)

• Nationality: Brazil

19. Boombl4

• Name: Kirill Sergeyevich Mikhailov

• Prize Money: $1,132,071.87

• Current Team: Cloud9

• Nationality: Russia

18. FalleN

• Name: Gabriel Toledo

• Prize Money: $1,175,586.54

• Current Team: FURIA Esports

• Nationality: Brazil

17. ELiGE

• Name: Jonathan Jablonowski

• Prize Money: $1,179,846.02

• Current Team: Complexity Gaming

• Nationality: United States

16. ropz

• Name: Robin Kool

• Prize Money: $1,181,527.41

• Current Team: FaZe Clan

• Nationality: Estonia

15. Stewie2k

• Name: Jakey Yip

• Prize Money: $1,186,573.20

• Current Team: Retired

• Nationality: United States

14. Perfecto

• Name: Ilya Zalutskiy

• Prize Money: $1,189,304.11

• Current Team: Cloud9

• Nationality: Russia

13. NAF

• Name: Keith Markovic

• Prize Money: $1,228,382.06

• Current Team: Team Liquid

• Nationality: Canada

12. apEX

• Name: Dan Madesclaire

• Prize Money: $1,298,119.05

• Current Team: Team Vitality

• Nationality: France

11. NiKo

• Name: Nikola Kovač

• Prize Money: $1,300,569.23

• Current Team: G2 Esports

• Nationality: Bosnia and Herzegovina

10. rain

• Name: Håvard Nygaard

• Prize Money: $1,444,216.24

• Current Team: FaZe Clan

• Nationality: Norway

9. Twistzz

• Name: Russel Van Dulken

• Prize Money: $1,546,793.10

• Current Team: Team Liquid

• Nationality: Canada

8. electroNic

• Name: Denis Sharipov

• Prize Money: $1,591,392.00

• Current Team: Cloud9

• Nationality: Russia

7. karrigan

• Name: Finn Andersen

• Prize Money: $1,869,042.41

• Current Team: FaZe Clan

• Nationality: Deenmark-Germany

6. s1mple

• Name: Oleksandr Kostyljev

• Prize Money: $1,751,688.65

• Current Team: NAVI (Inactive)

• Nationality: Ukraine

5. gla1ve

• Name: Lukas Rossander

• Prize Money: $1,869,042.41

• Current Team: ENCE

• Nationality: Denmark

4. Magisk

• Name: Emil Reif

• Prize Money: $1,881,123.63

• Current Team: Team Falcons

• Nationality: Denmark

3. dev1ce

• Name: Nicolai Reedtz

• Prize Money: $1,981,531.54

• Current Team: Astralis

• Nationality: Denmark

2. Xyp9x

• Name: Andreas Højsleth

• Prize Money: $2,001,285.06

• Current Team: Astralis (Inactive)

• Nationality: Denmark

1. dupreeh

• Name: Peter Rasmussen

• Prize Money: $2,181,164.40

• Current Team: Heroic

• Nationality: Denmark

A few interesting takeaways from the above list are as follows.

• Half of the players are from Europe and even within that demographic six are from Denmark, holding a place within the top seven, s1mple being the only one from Ukraine at sixth position.

• North America also has a considerable representation with four players from the region, two each from the United States and Canada.

• Russia comes next with three players from the country at the 8^th, 14^th, and 19^th positions. Also, they are currently all part of the same CS2 team, Cloud9.

• Overall, 24 players in Counter-Strike have earned more than a million in prize money alone.

The above figures only include the prize money won by Counter-Strike players in their respective careers to date. These might change drastically if their salaries, sponsorships, and other forms of remuneration are added to their current tournament earnings.

Also, that is an almost impossible task considering that accurate data regarding such things is not publicly available. This is why earning through prize money is considered to be the best and most transparent method of evaluating money-related matters when it comes to professional players.