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The 20 Richest Gamers in the World in 2022

PewDiePie

Some people consider video games a waste of time. Typically, they will tell the gamer to find a more useful hobby to do. Imagine the shock on the critics' faces when they realize that people earn a lot from gaming. Gamers can make thousands or millions of dollars if they pursue gaming professionally. According to Cyber Athletiks, professional gamers earn between $1000 and $5000 per month. You may be wondering who some of the richest gamers are. Here is a list of the 20 richest gamers in the world in 2022.

20. Saahil Arora Net Worth ($3 million)

By the time he retired in 2020, he had amassed much wealth as a Dota 2 player. He began his gaming career in 2011. In 2013, he emerged 9th at the International 2013. However, he gradually improved since he emerged 3rd at The International 2014 and 1st at The International 2015. He joined a team called Evil Geniuses which won the Manila Masters tournament in May 2017.

19. Kuro Salehi ($3.5 million)

Kuro is considered one of the best Dota 2 players since he would consistently be ranked in the top five. His prowess in gaming may be due to his exposure to competitive gaming at four years old in basketball. Later on, he shifted his focus to Nintendo games before finally settling on Dota 2. He would be sure to bag some prize money in each tournament he participated in. For instance, he won an undisclosed amount of money before turning 18.

18. Amer Barqawi ($4.8 million)

Amer is a professional Dota 2 player who plays for Nigma Galaxy. First, he joined Balkan Bears in 2015 but was removed after four months. With no team, he decided to focus on pub games. He slowly gained recognition in the European scene after rising in the matchmaking rating leaderboards of the pub games. Due to his wins in the pub games, he was invited by N0tail to join a team called (monkey) Business, which later changed its name to OG. Under OG, he was able to win the Frankfurt Major tournament. In 2016, he won other tournaments like the DreamLeague Season 5 and ESL Frankfurt. So, his earnings have been from winning.

17. KSI ($5 million)

These days, KSI barely plays video games on his YouTube channel. Instead, he films reaction videos, but he plays occasionally. His career took off when he filmed himself playing FIFA games. With his fame from gaming, he decided to diversify his content by becoming a rapper, boxer, and comedian. With his influence, he periodically runs charity streams to curb suicides.

16. Sébastien "Ceb" Debs ($5.4 million)

People considered him a hopeless Dota 2 player when he first began gaming. Despite being a terrible player, people considered him creative based on how he would approach the game. As a result, he was made the coach of OG. He was able to help OG win four times in the Valve Major games. Later on, he returned to the scene as a player. This time his gaming improved, and he won The International games of 2018 and 2019.

15. Germán Garmendia ($5.5 million)

He owns 2 YouTube channels: JuegaGerman and HolaSoyGerman. Combined, he has at least 80 million subscribers. However, it has been alleged that he got his subscribers through sub-botting. Despite the accusation, many people have continued to watch his videos to the humor he uses in his videos. The gamer became so famous that he was cast in the Spanish version of the Ice Age film.

14. Anathan "Ana" Pham ($6 million)

Anathan is considered one of the most mechanically skilled Dota 2 players. Initially, he was a pub player and then became famous when OG scouted him. Anathan experienced a lot of success under the tutelage of N0tail and Tal Azik. At this time, he bagged 2 Valve Majors. He became a skilled Dota 2 gamer two years after his tutelage. In Dota 2 tournaments, he would earn $6 million. Due to continual winning streaks, he dropped out of college to focus on gaming.

13. W2S ($6.5 million)

W2S is a YouTube channel run by Harry Lewis. His obsession with FIFA made him start this channel. In this channel, he commentates on FIFA games. If you are not fond of soccer games, he has another channel called W2Splays, where he plays non-soccer games. In the United Kingdom, W2S was considered the most subscribed channel, so most of his income is from the views on his videos.

12. Jesse Vainikka ($6.5 million)

Jesse is one of the best position 4 players in Dota 2. His massive net worth came from winning prize pool rewards in Dota 2 tournaments in International 2018 and 2019. Gaming was not his only source of income. For instance, he unveiled his merchandise website called jerax.gg. Initially, Jesse was part of a weak team in Dota 2. However, his performance improved after joining a Korean team. This team was able to win the MPGL Season 7 games. He had an impressive winning streak and shocked his fans when he announced his retirement from playing Dota 2 in 2020. However, he returned to the competitive scene when he joined a body called Evil Geniuses in 2021.

11. Fernanfloo ($6.8 million)

He is revered for his comedic gameplay of survival-horror games. As a result, he has at least 40 million YouTube subscribers. From YouTube, he would earn around $1.7 million annually. Instead of relying on YouTube, he also decided to join Twitch. Joining Twitch proved to be a good move since his annual earnings skyrocketed.

10. Johan "N0tail" Sundstein ($7.8 million)

If you are an avid Dota 2 player, chances are high you know this gamer. He is often regarded as one of the greatest Dota 2 players. According to Liquipedia, he has the highest tournament earnings in Dota 2. His breakthrough in gaming began when he was 15 years old when he met Jascha "NoVa" Markuse and Tal "Fly" Aizik. They began playing together and became an unsponsored side project of Fnatic manager Danijel "StreeT" Remus. At this time, they were playing Heroes of Newerth. Almost immediately, they secured tournament wins. Since the Heroes of Newerth gaming community wasn't so active, he switched to Dota 2, where he began earning millions from tournaments.

9. Timothy John Betar "TimTheTatman" ($12 million)

Timothy is best known as a Fortnite gamer, but he also plays Overwatch, World of Warcraft, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. His gaming career took off when he joined Twitch in 2012, where he amassed over 7 million followers. Additionally, he has a YouTube channel that has over 4.3 million subscribers. To further capitalize on YouTube views, he has collaborated with famous gamers like Ninja, Nick Mercs, and CouRage. Besides earning from playing online, he has played in events like E3 2018 and landed a partnership deal with Complexity Gaming, where he is partly an owner and content creator.

8. Seán McLoughlin "Jacksepticeye" ($16 million)

He is known for his vlogs and comedic "Let's Play" series. Before pursuing a gaming career on YouTube, he was a drummer for a band called "Raised to the Ground." His videos receive 15.1 billion views, and he has 28.2 million subscribers, making him one of the most-subscribed Irish YouTubers. When he started his YouTube channel in 2007, he remained inactive until 2012. His breakthrough happened in 2012 when he was mentioned in a PewDiePie video. The video was a shoutout competition run by PewDiePie. Since PewDiePie was already a big deal at this time, Jacksepticeye's popularity grew because of the video. When he realized how popular he became, he began actively uploading videos and even managed to collaborate with other gamers.

7. Michael Grzesiek "Shroud" ($20 million)

Shroud rose to fame playing first-person shooter games and battle royal games like Valorant, Apex Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and Escape from Tarkov. He plays on Twitch and YouTube, and his gaming videos receive roughly 1 billion views. Most people feel he is as good as Tyler Belvins since they often compete against each other. In 2016, his breakthrough came when he helped the Cloud9 team win at the ESL Pro League Season 4 games. The following year, his team emerged second in the game. He retired from playing at gaming events and decided to focus on gaming on Twitch full-time. Thanks to his earnings from Twitch, he acquired a $9.4 million mansion in California.

6. Preston Blaine Arsement ($20 million)

Preston is a YouTube gamer who mostly plays Minecraft, Call of Duty, and Fortnite. Unlike most YouTube gamers with one channel, he has two gaming channels: PrestonPlayz and TBNRfrags. The former has at least 11 million subscribers, while the latter has at least 2 million subscribers. Due to the reliance on two channels to earn, he became the highest-paid YouTuber globally in 2019, earning $14 million. The following year, he earned $19 million. Besides gaming on YouTube, he operates Minecraft servers. For Minecraft users to gain access to the platform, they have to pay.

5. Evan Fong ($25 million)

He has a YouTube channel called VanossGaming, which has at least 21 million subscribers. On average, his videos receive more than 8 billion views. The games he plays are Grand Theft Auto V and Call of Duty: World at War. In most of his videos, he tags his friends along. Sometimes they will talk about the game, but they will have random conversations about anything most of the time. In 2014 and 2016, he was nominated for The Game Award for Trending Gamer and Shorty Award for Tech and Innovation: Gaming awards, respectively. Due to winning the awards, he dropped out of college to focus on YouTube gaming. On average, he earns at least $12 million annually.

4. Mark Fischbach "Markiplier" ($35 million)

From the gamers discussed far, Mark is diverse professionally. Apart from gaming on YouTube, he is an actor, director, writer, and producer. His YouTube channel has over 30 million subscribers, and his videos usually receive 17 billion views. He is famous for his hilarious gameplay commentary. Mark mostly plays horror and action games. From gaming, he earns between $10 and $20 million yearly.

3. Daniel Middleton ($35 million)

He runs a YouTube channel called DanTDM, formerly The Diamond Minecart. Most of his videos focus on Minecraft, though he also covers other games. His videos get more than $10 billion views. From his gaming videos, he was able to earn $16.5 million alone in 2017. Each year, he earns at least $12 million. In his gaming career, he has won several awards. For instance, he was acknowledged by Guinness World Records for having the most views as a Minecraft channel. He has also been awarded for scoring the most goals in Rocket League for a team of 2 and 3.

2. Tyler "Ninja" Blevins ($40 million)

Tyler predominantly plays Fortnite on YouTube, but you can find him on Twitch. He has managed to amass a lot of subscribers and views. According to Celebrity Net Worth, he has more than 24 million subscribers and receives 2.5 billion views on his videos. At $5 a month per subscription, he earns $500,000 to $1,000,000 per month playing video games. His earnings increased when he signed a deal with Microsoft. This move meant he had to stream his videos exclusively to Mixer. Since this deal was a buyout, he received $40 million from the deal.

1. PewDiePie ($60 million)

He is a YouTube video game commentator and internet celebrity. Unlike most gamers who specialize in a certain game, he plays different games. That is perhaps why many people watch his videos to get exposed to other games besides a particular one. As a result, he earns roughly $20,000 from each video. Besides YouTube, he has a bestseller titled "This Book Loves You," which has sold over 112,000 copies. Also, he launched a mobile app where viewers could watch his videos. Again, he earns additional income from mobile phone viewers.

Dana Hanson

Written by Dana Hanson

Dana has extensive professional writing experience including technical and report writing, informational articles, persuasive articles, contrast and comparison, grant applications, and advertisement. She also enjoys creative writing, content writing on nearly any topic (particularly business and lifestyle), because as a lifelong learner, she loves to do research and possess a high skill level in this area. Her academic degrees include AA social Sci/BA English/MEd Adult Ed & Community & Human Resource Development and ABD in PhD studies in Indust & Org Psychology.

Read more posts by Dana Hanson

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