The coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc in the Esports Industry in 2020 but despite that, there were some big earners and top games that dominated.
The coronavirus pandemic decimated the Esports Industry in 2020 when it came to prize money. According to one research from Seattle-based esports bookmaker Unikrn, the earnings of esports' top 50 players fell from USD 55 million in 2019 to USD 11 million in 2020, which is a massive drop of 80 percent. Yet, despite the pandemic, there were still some games and individuals who topped the charts when it came to earnings. The result has thrown up some spectacular surprises. In the era of battle royale and action games, it is the classical brain game of Chess that has dominated during the coronavirus pandemic.
Chess24 and the earnings accumulated by current world champion Magnus Carlsen has beaten all other eSports, gaming and battle royale games behind. For the whole world, the coronavirus pandemic might have been a traumatic experience but when it comes to earnings and enhancing game skills, Magnus Carlsen and Chess have dominated other big eSports brands like PUBG. Here is a look at the top earner and top games in 2020 which defied the pandemic and created a niche among gamers.
1. Magnus Carlsen
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chess24.com is an Internet chess server in English and nine other languages, established in 2014 by German grandmaster Jan Gustafsson and Enrique Guzman. In March 2019, chess24 joined forces with Magnus Carlsen's company Play Magnus AS in a transaction that made the former chess24 owners the largest shareholders in Play Magnus. Carlsen (A.K.A. DrNykterstein) was the highest-earning esports player in the world last year; the 31-year-old took home a whopping USD 510,587 for his unparalleled skill on Chess24. It was a tremendous feat from Carlsen and it yet again showed why he is one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. (Image credit: Twitter)
2. PUBG Mobile
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PUBG Global is considered one of the most popular games in the world. The fan following is immense and there are nations which have complained about the addiction and impact that PUBG Mobile has. Surprisingly, it only has one winner but it features in the list of top games. An 18-year-old gamer from China with the nickname of Paraboy has won USD 243,186 from playing PUBG Mobile. (Image credit: Twitter)
3. Call of Duty
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Call of Duty is a first-person shooter video game franchise published by Activision. Starting out in 2003, it first focused on games set in World War II. Over time, the series has seen games set in the midst of the Cold War, futuristic worlds, and outer space. The games were first developed by Infinity Ward, then also by Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games. Several spin-off and handheld games were made by other developers. The most recent title, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, was released on November 13, 2020. Call of Duty features prominently in the list with 10 winners of the highest earnings. All of them are from the US and Canada, with a 28 year-old with the name Clayster winning USD 383,325. The remaining winners have all achieved a prize money earning of over USD 225,000. (Image credit: Twitter)
4. Rainbow Six Siege
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Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege is an online tactical shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. Several years after the game's release, some critics regarded Siege as one of the best multiplayer games in the modern market due to the improvements brought by the post-launch updates. The company partnered with ESL to make Siege an esports game. In February 2019, the game surpassed 45 million registered players across all platforms. In the list released by the Seattle eSports bookmaker, there are five winners who have earned the maximum prize money from playing Rainbow Six Siege. Once again, majority of the winners are from the USA with a prize money of USD 220,000. (Image credit: Twitter)
5. DOTA 2
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Dota 2 is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game developed and published by Valve. The game is a sequel to Defense of the Ancients (DotA), which was a community-created mod for Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion pack, The Frozen Throne. Dota 2 is played in matches between two teams of five players, with each team occupying and defending their own separate base on the map. According to the research, DOTA 2 also has five winners with a prize money of just over USD 200,000. The interesting trend in DOTA 2 is that the winners are from places in Scandinavia, Jordan, Poland and the Baltic region. (Image credit: Twitter)
6. Magic The Gathering Arena
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Magic: The Gathering Arena is a free-to-play digital collectible card game developed and published by Wizards of the Coast. The game is a digital adaption of the Magic: The Gathering (MTG) card game, allowing players to gain cards through booster packs, in-game achievements or microtransaction purchases, and build their own decks to challenge other players. PVDDR from Brazil has the highest prize money in that with USD 300,000. PVDDR's feat was the biggest solo prize of the year during the Magic World Championship and it put him firmly in the top ten. (Image credit: Twitter)
