Esports is currently the big buzzword around the world, with traditional
sports prize pools and viewership numbers dwarfed in comparison to competitive
video games. However, not all video games are created equal. If you plan to
take your video game habit pro, these are the gaming titles you would ideally
want to focus on, because they tend to pay out the biggest winnings.
Dota 2
Each year Dota 2 hosts The International (TI). TI is predominantly
funded by the community that plays the game, through in-game purchases that
then contribute to the prize pool. The International 2019 saw a historic prize
pool of more than $34 million. Yup, 34 million dollhairs! What?! The final
prize pool amount was confirmed only hours before the two teams left in the
competition battled it out, coming in at a cool $34 292 599.
The winning team,
OG, took home the first prize purse which was $15 603 133. There are 5 players
in a Dota 2 team and if they were allowed to pocket all the prize money, that
would mean each player walked away with about $3.1 million. That is more than
R47 million. First prize isn’t the only attractive one, second-placed Team
Liquid claimed $4 458 038 which works out to around $892 000 per player. So
roughly R13 million for second place? Who wouldn’t take it?
Fortnite
Popular gaming title Fortnite made mainstream media earlier this year
when 16-year-old Kyle Giersdorf took home $3 025 900 for winning the 2019
Fortnite World Championship. That’s more than Tiger Woods won for winning the
2019 Masters and more than 2019 Wimbledon winner, Novak Djokovic secured. The
popular Battle Royale title has become a worldwide phenomenon, with Bloomberg
reporting that the game has more than 200 million players worldwide across PC,
console and mobile.
What about South Africa?
Is it time to throw your life into Dota or play more Fortnite? Don’t get
too excited just yet. The current biggest prize pool for a solo title recorded
in South Africa was the 2018 VS Gaming Fifa Gaming Tournament, which was
alleged to be the second biggest Fifa tournament in the world, at the time. The
total prize pool was R1.5 million with competitions happening on both Xbox and
Playstation 4. The individual first-place finishers on each console pocketed a
sweet R400 000.
The PlayStation winner, Thabo “Yvng Savage” Moloi, was a
relatively unknown player at the time and only 16 years old. Since then Yvng
Savage has signed to a professional gaming organisation called Goliath Gaming
and has his sights set on global domination. South African Fortnite player from
Bravado Gaming, 15-year-old Kareem “Listed Squeaker” Khan told media in June
2019 that he had won an estimated R90 000 in six months playing the title
locally.
However, do not quit your day job. Many South African esports players
complain of late prize money pay-outs, having to wait months to see their money
and sometimes watching as the tournament organisers shut down before paying out
what is owed. In a fledgeling industry still playing catch up with the
international scene, you will not be able to make gaming a full-time career in
South Africa …. yet.
Article by Sam Wright | Tech Girl
Image courtesy of Epic Games
|
SOCIAL SHARE
Did you know registered members receive MeBucks for sharing an article. You can use MeBucks gained from sharing to buy products.
LOGIN or REGISTER to get MeBucksImportant: You only reciveve MeBucks for the first share of an article.