We live in a world where a lot of people have managed to monetize their passion for playing video games. They are either gaming journalists, streamers, eSports players, or simply making videos and earning through ad revenue and donations. However, the earnings in this field vary drastically. Some don’t even earn enough for this to be considered a full-time job, whereas a small percentage of others are multimillionaire celebrities. So, let’s discuss this discrepancy in earnings and figure out how much do gamers make.
The Competitive Gaming Landscape
According to some estimates, only 1% of gamers are performing exceptionally well. In fact they earn 90% of the revenue that’s in this sphere, while the average annual pro gamer salary is estimated at $40,000. That’s especially true for those who earn through gaming tournaments where top spots get more than 50% of the entire prize pool.
We see this in poker tournaments, too, where the majority of players started out as casual gamers. Many were drawn to this prospect through online casino games that also have leaderboards and some sort of competitive play. They would play slots or video poker on magyar online casino sites, and then gradually start exploring more consistent ways to win. That’s possible on games like baccarat and blackjack, and of course, online poker, where you play with actual players. However, not everyone earns through competitive play.
Income by Gaming Career
Let’s break down gamer salary based on their career path and experience, to figure out whether some are more profitable. The table below shows how much do gamers make a year, based on their career level.
| Type | Entry Level | Mid Tier | Top Tier | Examples of the highest earners |
| eSports Player | Between $1,000 and $3,000 | Between $10,000 and $30,000 | From $100K to $500K | N0tail (Dota 2 $7M+), JerAx (Dota 2 $6M+), Miposhka (Dota 2 $6M+) |
| Streamer/Content Creator | Below 1k views, the earnings are very low, up to $1,000 per month | Between 1k-10k views per stream up $60,000 – $300K | Up to $500K per month (depends on sponsorships) | xQc (est. $83M),
Ninja (est. $50M), Shroud (est. $40M) |
| Designer (Strongly depends on company and country) | Juniors get $50,000 and above | Between $70,000 and $100,000 | Between $120K and $170K ($200K + in bigger companies) | Highest paying studios/companies:
Valve, Microsoft, PlayStation, EA |
| Video game journalists | Starts at $30,000 | Between $45,000 and $65,000 | Between $70,000 and $100,000 | Highest paying outlets: IGN, GamesIndustry.biz, Polygon |
It’s tricky to answer how much does a professional gamer make a year, because they earn through prize or tournament money. However, some esports competitions like Dota have a prize pool of $10 million, whereas COD, Starcraft 2, and Overwatch can have a prize pool of around $500K.
How Much Do Professional Gamers Make as Streamers
As we’ve seen in the previous section, the highest earners in the gaming community are streamers. That said, all of the big stars have multiple sources of revenue and are no longer exclusively streaming games.
Tyler Blevins aka Ninja – Estimated earnings $50M+
| No. Followers | Over 19 million |
| Recent views stats | Up to 10K viewers per stream |
| Earnings from subs | 2,000 active subs ($16K monthly earnings) |
| Sponsorships | G FUEL, Red Bull, and Adidas |
| Other ventures | GameSquare Holdings (Chief Innovations Officer), Nutcase milk (co-founder), merch sales |
Félix Lengyel aka xQc – Estimated earnings $50M+
| No. Followers | Over 12 million |
| Recent views stats | Up to 27K viewers per stream |
| Earnings from subs | 13K active subs ($30K+ monthly earnings) |
| Sponsorships | G FUEL, Kick, Stake and Verizon |
| Other ventures | xQc Store, Crypto Holdings |
Kaitlyn Siragusa aka Amouranth – Estimated earnings $35M+
| No. Followers | Over 6 million |
| Recent views stats | Up to 500 viewers per stream |
| Earnings from subs | $100K a month |
| Sponsorships | PlayFame, Wildcard Gaming, Kick, FansRevenue & Jerkmate |
| Other ventures | Gas Stations, Wildcard Gaming (co-owner), OnlyFans, Stocks in Amazon and Activision Blizzard |
As mentioned, these aren’t exactly accurate reflections of professional gamer salary, mainly because these internet celebrities are no longer exclusively tied to gaming. Additionally, there are other popular streamers who made a fortune and are barely active in the gaming community:
- PewDiePie
- Ishowspeed
- Hasan Piker
- Adin Ross
The list goes on, but the point is that gaming is just how these celebrities got noticed, and then they slowly pivoted to other types of content.
Professional Video Gamer Salary by Game Genre
Let’s examine a slightly better perspective on how much does a gamer make a year, based on the game genre. As you know, not every genre has an esports scene, and some of them have a significantly larger user base. The following table lists average salaries and compares them with the active user base and market saturation.
| Game type | Highest paid streamers | Average pro gamer salary | Number of active players | Market saturation |
| MMORPG (WoW, Guild Wars, Final Fantasy) | Asmongold, Sodapoppin | Around $50K up to $70K a year | 2,3 million active users | High saturation among the older gaming audience |
| Battle Royale/Tactical Shooter (Fortnite, Rainbow Six, PUBG) | Ninja, Tfue, and NickEh30 | Around $20K up to $40K a year | 48 million active players (Fortnite alone) | Heavily saturated in multiple age groups |
| Sports (FIFA, NBA, NFL, NHL) | Kai Cenat, Ishowspeed, nicolas99fc | Up to $80K a year, but generally between $30K and $50K | Over 8 million across different version of FIFA alone | Heavily saturated in multiple age groups |
| Strategy (Starcraft, Warcraft, | Lyn, Grubby, Moon | Low, up to $5,000 | 500K monthly players on Starcraft 2 | Medium saturation |
| MOBA (LoL, DOTA 2) | Loltyler1, ibai, Cristinini | Over $100K for DOTA 2, and around $50K for LoL | Between 7 and 11 million | Highly concentrated but not fully saturated |
| Open World Sandbox (GTA, Minecraft) | xQc, PENTA, PaulinhoLOKObr | No eSports scene | Over 58 million in Minecraft. GTA 6 is yet to come out, but the predicted player base is over 5 million | Highly concentrated but not fully saturated |
Can You Live with an Average Pro Gamer Salary
In today’s economy, it’s difficult to survive on pro gamer salary alone, especially if you live in the US. As we’ve seen, many who started out as pro players, or gamer internet person changed their trajectory. However, that’s not necessarily the case for other regions. Streamers from South Korea, Romania, or less developed EU countries can rake in solid profits due to the difference in living standards.