The year 2020 was not only hard on traditional sports. While esports do benefit from the possibility of social distancing combined with competitions, the business was severely affected by the most recent pandemic. Some competitors suffered more than others, and the esports biggest winners in 2020 might not be those the regular bettor would expect.
Who were the Biggest Winners in Esports in 2020?
Of course, every single one of the most important esports had its share of winners. However, a large group of them lost in a certain way, when comparing the total offered in prizes. While Fortnite offered almost $70 million in 2019, that number fell to not much more than 20% in 2020.
Considering the fact that such an amount is shared, the top esports competitors were definitely disappointed. Some already were frustrated back in 2019, and that was long before the budget cut.
That said, while Call of Duty is the most frequent game in the top biggest esports winners in 2020, according to TheSportsRush, it does not hold first place. The top 3 CoD players from the United States and Canada are a bit far from that. In fact, the same source indicates the biggest Call of Duty winner is more than $100,000 away from it. That spot belongs to Magnus Carlsen, a 30-year-old Norwegian Chess24 player. Yes, he took home more than $510,000.
As a curiosity, the 7th place also belongs to a Chess24 player named Hikaru, from the United States. He won more than $324,000, only less than $40,000 away from second place.
How do 2020’s Esports Biggest Winners Compare to Those of 2019?
Many people might consider that those lucky and skillful players were an exception to the fact that the overall prize pool of esports dried up.
Not at all.
In fact, the top 6 players of 2019 won more than $3 million each, being the five first biggest winners Dota players, and, surprisingly, Kyle Giersdorf took the 6th place with $3.06 million on Fortnite. Yes, the same game that was not even featured in the top 25 biggest esports winners.
What were The Impacts on Esports Betting?
While the pandemic did impact Esports in terms of prize pools and how fast players become rich, things were different to bettors. According to Forbes, CoVid-19 boosted esports betting, especially because traditional sports were not a possibility.
Talking about winners, EuropeanGaming stated that Canada joined Spain and South Korea in the ranking of the unluckiest countries when it comes to esports betting. Maybe 2021 will give those bettors some better understanding of the markets to be nominated the luckiest countries, a place conquered by Ukraine, Sweden, and Hungary.
How Will 2021 Impact the Biggest Wins in Esports?
With vaccination and life slowly getting back on track, the chances are that the biggest winners in 2021 will be closer to the 6-figure mark. If we consider Epic Games’ expectation on Fortnite’s prize pool in 2021, it is clear that the figures of 2019 are still far away.
