Esports tournaments became well-known in the past few years for their outrageous prize pools. And even though the size of prizes has never determined the prestige of an esport event, it certainly is one of the main motivators for players to participate.
The first esport tournament prize was Quake’s developer’s red Ferrari 328 and it was won in 1997. The winner of the WSVG Quake 4 tournament of 2006 received a Rolex. Yet, these prizes are nothing compared to today’s prize pools. Nowadays, players can participate in only one tournament, after which they can retire filthy rich. Sounds appealing? Below is MobileCasinoHub.com list of the biggest prize pools in esports, check it out and start training, for you might just become the world’s next millionaire.
1. Epic Games’s Upcoming Tournament – $100 million
Just this month, Epic Games announced they will provide $100 million to fund the prize of the Fortnite tournament in the first season. The renown game developer posted an announcement in their blog, saying that they will provide $100 million for prize pools for the Fortnite Battle Royale tournament in the 2018-2019 season. Additionally, Epic Games said that they are getting competitive big time, but maintained their intention to use a different approach, “We will focus on the joy of playing and watching the game” read their post.
No further information concerning the competition has been released yet. Nevertheless, the Epic Games event promises to be the largest esport event in history.
2. The International 2017 – $24.6 million
Valve’s annual Dota 2 world championship used to be the world’s prize pool leader. The company offered a total of merely $1.6 million in 2012, the event has been growing in popularity ever since, and its prize pool has kept up the pace.
In the last year’s International 7, prize pools reached $24.6 million in total. The tournament was held in KeyArena, Seattle, where the eventual winners—Team Liquid—were determined. The team received more than $10,000,000 for their efforts.
3. The International 2015 – $18,500,000
The International of 2015 comes next in our list for it has had an astonishing prize pool as well – $18,500,000. The eventual winners of the event—Evil Genuises—went home with a cash prize of more than $6,500,000. The International Dota 2 tournament was hosted by Valve again and, just like the 2017 tournament, it was held in KeyArena in Seattle.
4. The International 2014 – $11,000,000
Once again it is The International that has a generous prize pool, though this time it is from the 2014 tournament. Oddly enough, the initial prize of the tournament was just $1,600,000. However, TI4 Compendium’s price was raised by $2.50, with the money contributing to the event’s prize pool. Through another purchase, players could donate as much as $25 per cent to the prize pool. In the end, the prize pool rose to the sum of $10,923,977.
By the way, did you know that in the past three years 43 players have become millionaires after winning a Dota 2 tournament?
5. The 2016 League of Legends World Championship – $5 million
In 2016, Riot Games included an in-game store in LoL, allowing players to purchase game content in the form of items and thus contribute to the 2016 World Championship’s prize pool. The initial prize pool was $2 million, but game fans managed to increase it to $5 million.
6. The Dota 2 Asia Championship – $3 million
Predecessor of the Dota 2 Major circuit, the 2015 Dota 2 Asia Championship’s prize pool was just about $60,000 bigger than that of the Valve Majors. The Dota 2 Asia Championship was held in Shanghai, China.
7. The Frankfurt Major 2015 – $3 million
As you may already know, the structure of the Dota 2 Majors has changed to a large extent since the event’s debut in 2015. The first two years of the major had a $3,000,000 prize pool. The Franfurt Major 2015 was won by OG, a team who has won four out of six Dota 2 Majors.
8. The 2015 Smite World Championship – $2.6 million
Thanks to Hi-Rez Studios’s support and crownfunding, The 2015 Smite World Championship increased by $1.6 million. Cognitive Gaming—the event winners, determined in Atlanta’s Cobb Energy Center—took a cash prize of $1.3 million.
9. The 2016 Halo World Championship – $2.5 million
The 2016 Halo World Championship’s prize pool, sponsored by Microsoft Studios, reached a total of $2.5 million. The event’s winning team, CLG, took home $1 million.
10. The 2016 Call of Duty World League Championship – $2 million
Activision agreed to double up the overall price pool of the 2016 Call of Duty World League Championship. By the way, this Call of Duty prize pool has yet to be surpassed.
