Which Esports teams came out of events in 2022 with the most cash lining their pockets?
2022 was undoubtedly one of the most defining points in the blossoming history of the Esports industry. Media rights, in-game sales, merchandising, and the return of in-person event sales helped push the worth of the industry past the $1.8 billion mark for the first time. In 2022 alone, there were 532 million unique Esports viewers across the globe, with the full return of packed-out arenas and LAN events helping to cement the growing trend of competitive gaming becoming more ingrained across society.
With so much wealth across the industry, join us at OttawaLife as we run through who were the top 10 highest-earning Esports teams from 2022!
10. G2 Esports
G2 Esports had a turbulent time of things across 2022 with the controversial departure of their CEO Carlos 'Ocelote' Rodríguez back in October. However, in the server, the org continued to be their successful selves.
The org amassed $2.2 million from 67 events across the year, with their most notable wins coming in League of Legends’ LEC (87,000), and the BLAST World Final in CS:GO ($500,000). Canadian Jacob ‘JKnaps’ Knapman was G2’s most productive player across 2022, netting $217,533 across 15 tournaments.
9. PSG Esports
Ever since forming as an expansion of the soccer club in 2016, PSG Esports have managed to match their real-world counterparts’ legacy as one of the most ruthlessly successful orgs going.
Across 2022, PSG racked up over $2.6 million as it continued to branch out from its roots in Fifa. The org won $30,000 at the PCS Spring 2022 event in League of Legends and showed why they are always solid favourites in most Dota 2 betting markets with their $1.5 million prize earnings for winning the Riyadh Masters.
8. Natus Vincere
Natus Vincere (NAVI) come in 8th place for the highest-earning Esports teams in 2022, bagging $2.7 million from 57 events. By far, their most profitable title was CS:GO, which made up $824,500 of their total amount won.
NAVI’s female roster (NaVi Javelins) continued to trailblaze the industry with $16,750 of prize money from six tournaments, but it was the imperious form of Alexander ‘s1mple’ Kostylev that once again stole the show across the year. The 16-time CS:GO MVP won the 2022 Esports PC Player of the Year award, and contributed $162,650 across twelve tournaments over the course of the year.
7. Wolves
Another high-profile soccer brand that has branched out into Esports, Wolverhampton FC has made their mark in the industry through several lesser-known competitive titles. Arena of Valor and Rainbow Six Siege was the org’s two biggest money-makers across 2022, with the team winning $800,000 at the Honor of Kings International Championship, and $982,477 for their 1st place at Arena of Valor King Pro League Summer.
6. Team Secret
Team Secret have been one of the most dominant forces in the Dota 2 scene for a number of years now, and 2022 continued to see them make waves at the top of the competitive ladder. Seven Dota 2 tournaments netted Team Secret over $3 million, making up almost the entirety of their $3.2 million from the year.
Undoubtedly the highlight of 2022 for the org came at The International, the highest-earning tournament in the Esports industry. Secret finished the event in 2nd place at the 2022 edition, bagging $2.4 million for their performance.
5. Faze Clan
After several years of spending big but not necessarily maximizing in the server, 2022 marked the start of Faze Clan’s dominance at the top of the CS:GO scene. Canadian pro player Russell ‘Twistzz’ van Dulken was given the 2022 Esports Play of the Year award, with the side winning $500,000 for their first triumph at a Major Championship at the PGL Major Antwerp.
Elsewhere, the org also won $70,000 for finishing fourth at the 2022 Halo World Championship.
4. Nova Esports
Hong Kong organization Nova Esports has made its mark in the mobile world of the industry, dominating titles like Arena of Valor and PUBG across 2022. The latter of these two games bagged the org $2.8 million from 6 tournaments, with their win at the PMGC Grand Finals netting $1.5 million alone.
Zeng ‘Order’ Zehai was the team’s most productive member in terms of prize money during the year, with the twenty-year-old winning $557,773 from just seven tournaments.
3. Team Liquid
Another one of the Esports industry’s biggest names, Team Liquid once again flexed its strength across a multitude of different titles throughout 2022. It was Dota 2, however, that did the bulk of the heavy lifting when it came to prize winnings across the year. By finishing third at The International 2022, Team Liquid picked up $1.7 million to throw on top of the $200,000 in earnings from other tournaments in the game.
219 tournaments split across 18 different titles saw Liquid end the year with $4.3 million in prize winnings.
2. eStar
Another heavy-hitter in the mobile world, eStar Esports are a Chinese org primarily focused on Arena of Valor. Across 2022 the org won four separate events in the game, with the biggest being The Honour of Kings International Championship which saw the team bag $3.5 million.
Chinese star Luo ‘HuaHai’ Siyuan was the star of the show for eStar across 2022, netting $757,777 to close out as the org’s highest earner.
1. Tundra Esports
As we mentioned earlier, The International remains the biggest Esports tournament in the world so whoever picks up first place is usually in the running for the title of the highest earners. For Tundra Esports, this was the reality when they brought home $8.5 million from the 2022 event.
Whilst Dota was the dominant title for Tundra over the year, the org also performed well in Fortnite, taking home $155,000 from the two events they entered.
In all, the UK-based organization closed the year with $9.06 million in prize earnings, making them the biggest earners in the world.
