As Overwatch approaches six years of being an esport, there’s plenty of players who have made their money in the hit Blizzard FPS. However, who reigns supreme as the highest earner of all time?
While top-tier Overwatch pro play has existed since early 2016 with APEX, it didn’t really hit the forefront of everyone’s minds until the Overwatch League in 2018. With big franchises fronting big money to play in the League, no matter what esport you followed, it was hard not to take notice.
Now four seasons in, Overwatch fans are slowly seeing the fruits of the league. Players are earning big salaries, but there are still hefty amounts of prize money on the line. If you win the title in any given year, that’s over $1 million right there for the team.
The OWL was shaken up a little bit in 2020. With the move to a homestand format and then over to monthly online cups, the prize money was a bit more eventually distributed. If you performed well throughout the year, you’d undoubtedly make bank.
Nevertheless, the top 20 is dominated by OWL champions. San Francisco Shock players make up the majority of the top earners, but plenty of other veterans have also cracked into the top spots.
The first Western player to appear on the list is Moth, thanks to his time on the San Francisco Shock. He then played for the Los Angeles Gladiators before becoming a free agent after the 2021 playoffs.
With hunrdeds of thousands on the line at every event, teams and players are always changing position on the list. But with the 2021 offseason now in effect, there’s a period of downtime before any further changes can come through.
This list only includes prize money that players have won while competing in Overwatch, and does not include any earnings from other titles, or their salary from their respective organizations.
The full top 20 list, according to esportsearnings.com, can be found below.
Top 20 highest earning Overwatch pros as of October 2021
| Position | Name | Earnings |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | smurf | $348,295.27 |
| 2nd | Moth | $346,909.36 |
| 3rd | ChoiHyoBin | $345,768.31 |
| 4th | super | $339,059.13 |
| 5th | Rascal | $337,219.79 |
| 6th | Viol2t | $335,012.30 |
| 7th | Striker | $328,535.35 |
| 8th | Void | $310,990.57 |
| 9th | Gesture | $294,912.79 |
| 10th | Profit | $294,912.79 |
| 11th | Twilight | $293,502.70 |
| 12th | Fleta | $286,833.16 |
| 13th | Izayaki | $283,185.66 |
| 14th | LeeJaeGon | $274,731.45 |
| 15th | Whoru | $267,397.51 |
| 16th | Bdosin | $267,371.47 |
| 17th | FaTe | $253,593.79 |
| 18th | LIP | $245,313.20 |
| 19th | birdring | $239,703.84 |
| 20th | Fury | $231,832.25 |
Check out our other top 20 highest earning pros list in various esports:
