Fortnite edges CSGO for biggest esports prizes halfway through 2019

Fortnite esports has shared the highest prize pool thus far in 2019, followed by Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, and League of Legends.

According to Esports Earnings’ data, Fortnite had a total prize pool of $14,723,414.67 through 179 tournaments featuring over 1,500 players. Each of the Fortnite World Cup 2019 qualifier weeks has added a million dollars to the prize pool, and $3 million was added through the Fortnite Celebrity Pro-Am 2019.

CSGO’s prize pool so far is $10,071,270.71, totaled from 310 tournaments featuring over 2,200 players. Unlike with Fortnite, CSGO’s prize pool doesn’t mostly come from one tournament but is rather distributed among many, with tournament prizes between $50,000 and $250,000 being the average.

Dota 2 was played in 73 pro tournaments. A prize pool of $8,456,126.57 was shared between 573 players. There were a few tournaments with $1,000,000 prize pools, like MDL Macau 2019, EPICENTER Major 2019, and DreamLeague Season 11.

Heading towards The International 2019 we are likely to see Dota 2 jump back to the top of the list. TI9 already has a higher prize pool compared to TI8 with about 45 days left before the crowdfunding deadline.

League of Legends was played on 81 tournaments, and featured over 1,200 players fighting for a $3,926,611 prize pool. $1 million of that amount comes from the Mid-Season Invitational, and the rest mostly from the biggest regional leagues in the LPL, LCK, LEC, and LCS.

The top four esports titles are followed by Overwatch, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Rainbow Six Siege, Hearthstone, and Magic: The Gathering Arena.

The top of the list has shuffled a bit since the end of 2018, when Dota 2 had the highest total prize pool with over $40 million. The International 2018 alone contributed over $25 million to that amount, making it the tournament with the largest overall prize pool in all of esports.

At the end of 2018, CSGO was in second place while Fortnite and League of Legends remained at third and fourth, respectively.