- Player earnings in CS:GO depend on a lot of direct and indirect factors like salary, tournament prize money, sponsorships, and more.
- So far, a total of 11 CS:GO players from across the world have earned more than $1 million USD in tournament prize money.
- Here are the top 10 highest earning professional CS:GO players in the world, strictly based on tournament prize money won.
To be one of the highest-earning CS:GO players in the world being in a good esports organization or team is not enough. There are various factors that determine how much a particular CS:GO player earns like, tournament winnings, general salary, performance-based incentives, sponsorships, and other such direct or indirect factors. In recent years, esports has become a huge thing and CS:GO is one of the leading competitive titles in the world, with tournaments featuring massive prize pools and attracting a large number of audience. Let’s take a look at some of the highest-earning professional players and see how much they have earned so far.
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Top 10 Richest CS:GO Players In The World
There is not a hint of doubt that players from the Danish roster of Astralis will not be the ones swooping the top spots on this list. The 5 Danish players have been dominating the competitive circuit for years now, while also reportedly drawing a handsome annual salary.
Their list of achievements includes a hattrick of wins at the last 3 CS:GO Majors - FACEIT Major: London 2018, IEM Katowice Major 2019, StarLadder Berlin Major 2019. These tournaments alone fetched them a total of $1,500,000 USD, followed by an additional guaranteed $1 million for winning the inaugural season of the Intel Grand Slam in 2018.
But in the last few years, many CS:GO players have breached the $1 million mark. A total of 11 CS:GO players are currently millionaires, only considering the amount which they have earned by competing in various tournaments. It is not an industry-standard in esports yet to reveal player salaries, the amount they earn through sponsorships, and information about any other sources of their income, except for tournament winnings which are by default transparent. So strictly based on this one metric alone, here are the top 10 highest-earning professional CS:GO players in the world:
Position | Player Name | Nationality | Earning (Prize Money) |
1st | Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen | Denmark | $1,899,156.07 |
2nd | Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth | Denmark | $1,875,455.23 |
3rd | Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz | Denmark | $1,863,656.54 |
4th | Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander | Denmark | $1,728,517.41 |
5th | Emil "Magisk" Reif | Denmark | $1,492,615.30 |
6th | Jakey "Stewie2k" Yip | USA | $1,136,040.00 |
7th | Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo | Brazil | $1,088,638.92 |
8th | Epitácio "TACO" de Melo | Brazil | $1,064,658.27 |
9th | Fernando "fer" Alvarenga | Brazil | $1,063,038.92 |
10th | Keith "NAF" Markovic | Canada | $1,031,465.66 |
Source: Esportsearnings.com | Player earnings based on prize money only.
A Few Interesting Facts
Here are a few interesting facts mostly based on the table provided above. Keep in mind that all the facts are based on statistics which have been drawn based on CS:GO player tournament prize pool earnings.
- The Astralis trio of Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz, Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen, and Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth, were the first 3 CS:GO players in the world to ever break the $1 million threshold in prize money won via competing in tournaments.
- Team Liquid’s entry fragger Jacky "Stewie2K" Yip was the first-ever CS:GO player from North America to become a millionaire via prize money won in Dec 2019.
- The most recent player to achieve this milestone was another Team Liquid player Keith "NAF" Markovic. He was the 11th CS:GO player in the world to cross the $1 million barrier and currently stands 10th on the rank list having earned a handsome $1,031,465.66 USD.
- The Astralis players are the only ones from Europe in the top twelve highest-earning CS:GO players. FaZe Clan’s captain Finn "karrigan" Andersen is the next player from that region in 13th place.
- Retired CS:GO player and former Team Liquid member Nicholas "nitr0" Cannella, despite switching over to Valorant in August 2020 is still ranked as the 14th highest-earning CS:GO player, considering only prize money won.
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