This is how much esports 2018 prize money is and it is utterly ridiculous.
The esports business is absolutely massive and it’s only getting bigger. Competitive gaming has been around for three decades. However, it’s only in the last ten years there has been a boom. There are a plethora of accessible ways to view competitive gaming now thanks to Twitch, YouTube and Facebook streaming; esports is more accessible than ever.
With that has come even more prize money. Just look at what is going on with the Fortnite Summer Skirmish events; $1m has been given out for eight weeks, setting many players up for life with the prize money. Then there is the Overwatch League, with more than $3.5m dished out across the entirety of the inaugural season.
However, nothing comes close to the International Dota 2 Championships, with them dishing out a whopping $20.8m in the 2017 tournament.
Esports prize money is crazy
eSports prize money totals awarded worldwide from 2010-2017 from esports
So, how much has esports prize money gone up in recent years? Well, according to data provided by Unibet, Gamico made this handy chart. Total prize money has gone up $101m in just eight years!
We’re likely to see this just keep increasing, especially with both PUBG and Fortnite to push to a proper esports league and with Overwatch getting bigger and better. We might just see a team finally beat out Team Liquid for the top place as the highest earning side of all time, but who will it be?