Game Developer Conference (GDC 2019) Preview Previous Post
Top-5 Free Games to go into Esports.
Esports is getting more popular every year. Twenty years ago there was only one major event for gamers. It was Quakecon. Ten years ago already was three main championships: WCG, ESWC and Intel Masters. But prize-pools were low, and only Quake, Counter-Strike, Fifa with Starcraft were only games with tournaments. Today's situation is very different. We have almost a hundred games with tournaments, million dollars prize-pools and thousands of viewers on Twitch following main events.
Many of young gamers wanted to go into Esports and became like Aleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev (CS:GO), Amer "Miracle-" Al-Barkawi (Dota 2), Lee "Faker" Sang Hyeok (LoL) and other great gamers. Among cyber sports disciplines a lot of free games. Here is the top-7 free videogame with the highest prize money so that you could choose which game is better to start your career.
DotA 2
| Year | Total Prize Money |
| 2018 | $41,395,452.23 |
| 2019 (so far) | $2,175,803.13 |
DotA 2 is like the symbol of the Esports. It was released in the day of The International finale - the first esport tournament with $1 million prize pool. From that day until now Dota 2 continues to stand out tournaments with the biggest prize. 2018's The International had $25,532,177 prize poll and $11 million to the winner. Only this tournament makes DotA 2 a desirable game to become a professional gamer.
Top-5 most earning gamers in DotA 2
| Gamer | Total Prize Money Earned |
| KuroKy (Kuro Takhasomi, Germany) | $4,162,203.61 |
| N0tail (Johan Sundstein, Denmark) | $3,740,903.98 |
| Miracle- (Amer Al-Barkawi, Jordan) | $3,728,337.28 |
| MinD_ContRoL (Ivan Ivanov, Bulgaria) | $3,519,411.76 |
| Matumbaman (Lasse Urpalainen, Finland) | $3,503,116.04 |
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
| Year | Total Prize Money |
| 2018 | $22,651,392.39 |
| 2019 (so far) | $949,533.12 |
From the end of 2018 CS:GO is absolutely free, so we have all rights to add it into the list. Counter-Strike was one of the games on the first World Cyber Games back in 2001. It changed, but still one of the main esports games. Like DotA 2 this game was made by Valve, but it doesn't have tournaments like The International. There are Major events with $1,000,000 prize pool and a lot of tournaments with a prize pool somewhere between $100,000 and $500,000. Top-10 CS:GO teams is earning from $300,000 to $3,000,000 prizes. If you like shooters and play in teams, then CS:GO is one of the games you should try to become a pro.
Top-5 most earning gamers in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
| Gamer | Total Prize Money Earned |
| Xyp9x (Andreas Højsleth, Denmark) | $1,321,921.90 |
| dupreeh (Peter Rasmussen, Denmark) | $1,318,922.74 |
| dev1ce (Nicolai Reedtz, Denmark) | $1,286,423.21 |
| gla1ve (Lukas Rossander, Denmark) | $1,153,184.08 |
| Magisk (Emil Reif, Denmark) | $912,481.97 |
Fortnite
| Year | Total Prize Money |
| 2018 | $20,080,037.48 |
| 2019 (so far) | $983,993.11 |
Currently, the most popular videogame in the worlds is also one of the most attractive games in esports. Epic Games is spending a lot of money to make weekly and monthly tournaments. Indifference to CS:GO, where all prize money is divided between 5 players, in Fortnite all tournaments are for solos and pairs. So if you won a $10,000 it means you won all $10k, not only $10k/5 like in DotA 2 or CS:GO.
Fortnite's professional gamers are not so highly skilled like in CS:GO, Quake or PUBG, so everyone can try to become the number one.
Top-5 most earning gamers in Fortnite
| Gamer | Total Prize Money Earned |
| Tfue (Turner Tenney, United States) | $493,925.00 |
| Bizzle (Timothy Miller, United States) | $469,525.00 |
| Cloak (Dennis Lepore, United States) | $418,650.00 |
| NateHill (Nate Hill, United States) | $340,825.00 |
| POACH (Jake Brumleve, United States) | $324,225.00 |
League of Legends
| Year | Total Prize Money |
| 2018 | $14,455,813.41 |
| 2019 (so far) | $154,923.25 |
LoL is the main competitor to DotA 2, but unlike DotA it mostly popular only in Asia and USA. Top teams are from Korea and China. There are two yearly championships with high prize pools, but not many smaller tournaments. If you want to go in LoL than you must understand that you will go all-in and can earn money only taking a high place in the main tournaments, of which not so much in a year.
Top-5 most earning gamers in League of Legends
| Gamer | Total Prize Money Earned |
| Faker (Lee, Sang Hyeok, South Korea) | $1,175,927.15 |
| Duke (ee, Ho Seong, South Korea) | $921,111.09 |
| Wolf (Lee, Jae Wan, South Korea) | $913,084.70 |
| Bang (Bae, Jun Sik, South Korea) | $910,451.46 |
| Bengi (Bae, Seong Ung, South Korea) | $810,683.00 |
Hearthstone
| Year | Total Prize Money |
| 2018 | $4,701,852.27 |
| 2019 (so far) | $234,000.00 |
The only mobile game on our list. Unlike previous games in Hearthstone result is not depends on reaction or aim skills. It depends on your brain and game knowledge. Many chess masters already cold Heartstore a "21th century chess". This game is supported by Blizzards and according to latest press-releases, there is a lot of tournaments planned in 2019 and 2020. If your more like to think then run or shoot then you differently should try Hearthstone.
Top-5 most earning gamers in Hearthstone
| Gamer | Total Prize Money Earned |
| Thijs (Thijs Molendijk, Netherlands) | $418,839.49 |
| tom60229 (Chen, Wei Lin, Taiwan) | $361,108.87 |
| Pavel (Pavel Beltiukov, Russian Federation) | $337,048.00 |
| Jasonzhou (Zhou, Bin, China) | $296,734.75 |
| XHope (China) | $281,225.18 |
There is also Heroes of the Storm, Arena of Valor, Paladins, Apex Legends, Smite and other free videogames in esports. But they are not so financial attractive like our top-5. All these games is free and your future as a pro gamers in only in your hands.
Sponsored links
Join The Discussion