Gorgc Estimates Salaries of Top SEA & WEU Dota 2 Teams

During a recent livestream on Twitch, Janne "Gorgc" Stefanovski talked about the costs of maintaining a professional Dota 2 team upon seeing Fnatic’s temporary departure from the professional scene. Following Fnatic’s relegation into Division II, the organization decided to temporarily exit the Dota 2 Pro Circuit (DPC) after careful consideration of the title's sustainability and future for the organization.

It’s not the first time that organizations had departed from the scene in general, as well-known teams such as Cloud9 and most recently, T1 had departed from the Dota 2 scene due to financial reasons.

“It’s going to be expensive maintaining a roster like Fnatic” - Gorgc on estimating salaries

During a regular livestream browsing through the Dota 2 subreddit, Gorgc stumbled upon Fnatic’s announcement on their decision to temporarily withdraw from the Dota 2 scene due to financial reasons.

Despite being saddened by the news, he went on to talk about the maintenance of professional Dota 2 teams, whose costs are generally kept hidden from the public eye. Gorgc estimated the cost of maintaining a Dota 2 team in the Southeast Asia (SEA) region based on his experience.

“I do not know what the average salary in SEA is, but it is still going to be expensive keeping a team like Fnatic. Because of the bootcamp, equipment, base salary and daily expenses, it has to be at least around $4,000 - $5,000 USD minimum, " he said.

He then went on to disclose the average salary of a player within a Western Europe (WEU) team, saying that a player within a top tier team would earn a minimum of $10,000 USD.

“In Europe, it’s like you can count on it. If you are in a top team[like Tundra Esports or Team Liquid], you are going to pay like $10,000 USD per player minimum, something like that-ish. But overall I do not know the average salary in the SEA region.” he added.

While salaries are rarely discussed in the community, former Team Liquid midlaner turned livestreamer Maximilian "qojqva" Bröcker previously discussed on the issue by noting that Dota 2 athletes tend to earn less than CS:GO (Counter Strike:Global Offensive) and League of Legends players.