What is the highest prize pool in esports? Since its establishment, the pride of being the best has never been enough, if you want to truly be a professional and make a living, prize support is a must. Different scenes have different prize pools, and something to note is while team games might have large numbers, those are often being split across a larger number of people.
So, what is the biggest prize pool in esports history?
The highest prize pool in esports history was the The International prize pool in 2021. The Dota 2 tournament broke the previous record which also belonged to Valve with the 2019 iteration. Between 18 5-person teams, 90 players were fighting for the Lion’s share of 40 million dollars. Beating out 2019 by 6 million.
Source | The International 2021
Dota 2 is unique in its position as a prize pool leader due to having a mix of 1st party developer support and crowd funding. The Dota 2 TI Battle Pass allows players to actively fund The International while getting rewards for the individual players. These efforts, and the strength of the Battle Pass is what allows for these tournaments to consistently top the charts.
| Event | Total Prize Pool | Game | # of teams | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The International 2021 | $40,018,400 | Dota 2 | 18 Teams | Team Spirit ($18,208,300) |
| The International 2019 | $34,330,069 | Dota 2 | 18 Teams | OG Esports ($15,620,181) |
| The International 2018 | $25,532,177 | Dota 2 | 18 Teams | OG Esports ($11,234,158) |
| The International 2017 | $24,687,919 | Dota 2 | 18 Teams | Team Liquid ($10,862,683) |
| The International 2016 | $20,770,460 | Dota 2 | 16 Teams | Wings Gaming ($9,139,002) |
| The International 2022 | $18,930,256 | Dota 2 | 20 Teams | Tundra Esports ($8,518,822) |
| The International 2015 | $18,429,613 | Dota 2 | 16 Teams | Evil Geniuses ($6,634,660) |
| Fortnite World Cup Finals 2019 - Solo | $15,287,500 | Fortnite | / | Bugha ($3,000,000) |
| Riyadh Masters 2023 | $15,120,000 | Dota 2 | 32 Teams | Team Spirit ($5,000,000) |
| Fortnite World Cup Finals 2019 - Duos | $15,100,000 | Fortnite | 50 Teams | Cooler Esport ($3,000,000) |
Of the Top 10 highest Prize pools in esports, Dota 2 occupies 8 of them. 7 Internationals straight, and the 9th spot, the Riyadh Masters 2023 all sit with Valve’s flagship MOBA. The player counts have sometimes changed depending on the size of the event, being as low as 16 teams in 2015, and high as 32 teams for Riyadh.
The other 2 slots belong to Fortnite’s breakout year of esports with its 2019 World Cup. Fortnite currently is the biggest prize pool in esports for solo competitors, and for teams of 3 or under. The FWC Finals players made several overnight millionaires. Many of which were under 18 and set for life.
Bugha lifting the trophy | Source: The New York Times
Even events like the Esports World Cup, who’s entire EWC prize pool tagline was about “Life-Changing Prize Money” pales in comparison. While technically the event itself at 60 million dollars is the biggest prize pool in esports, due to it being split across other events, no one sport comes close to the individual event prize pool of The Internationals.
For league ending events, such as the Overwatch League, Call of Duty League or League of Legends World Championships. The biggest of those has peaked at 6.45 million with League in 2018. TI is also considered a league ending event, where teams have to qualify through results at previous events, but setting all of those aside, some of the big stables of the west just don’t match up. The actual esports game with highest prize pool, that isn’t Fortnite or Dota 2, is Arena of Valor’s Honor of Kings International Championships. It’s also the highest prize pool in mobile esports, offering a flat 10 million to 16 teams in KIC 2022.
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