The biggest esports winners of July 2025
The Esports World Cup is the biggest esports event of the year in terms of the money that gets paid out to players, and it largely determines the biggest winners and losers in esports in July 2025.
While many esports tournament organizers have spent decades in the industry slowly building up a brand and tentpole events, Saudi Arabia’s sportswashing initiative has looked to do so by splashing out millions upon millions of dollars. The success of this approach varies from game to game, but ultimately top-ranked competitors are walking away with plenty of money.
So who are the biggest winners so far and what other tournaments have seen players rake in big money? Here’s the breakdown.
The highest-earning esports teams and biggest winners of July 2025
The Esports World Cup was the biggest tournament across many games, but it wasn’t the only one. Many of the biggest winners of the month also had strong showings in other tournaments, but there’s one clear-cut answer for who the biggest winner of the month was.
- Gen.G Esports (League of Legends)
- Team Spirit (Dota 2)
- Anyone’s Legend (League of Legends)
- Goichi “GO1” Kishida (Fighting Games)
- Team Heretics (Valorant)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo3sYwwIeUE
Gen.G Esports ($1.1 million)
A recurring theme for July when it comes to the biggest esports winners is that League of Legends had two prominent tournaments take place; the Esports World Cup and the Mid-Season Invitational. While the Esports World Cup offered a bit more money to the competitors, MSI was the objectively bigger tournament due to its implications for the 2025 League of Legends World Championship.
Not that splitting hairs over which event was bigger matters to Gen.G Esports. Korea’s top League of Legends team went ahead and won them both. Not only does that give the team a cool $1.1 million, it also secured the team a guaranteed spot in Worlds. Even if Gen.G didn’t participate in the Esports World Cup at all, it comfortably would’ve ranked as the biggest winner of July on that alone. The extra $600,000 from the event was just gravy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb5B2nT5Irk
Team Spirit ($1 million)
The annual Saudi Arabian Dota 2 tournament has been getting smaller and smaller, but the $3 million prize pool is still likely to be the biggest of the year in Dota 2. The same goes for its $1 million top prize, which went to Team Spirit.
The win is a huge one for Team Spirit, which has had a good-but-not-great 2025 thus far. While it has performed well, it hasn’t been filling up mantels with trophies the way it once did. Still, it managed to bring home a big one in the Esports World Cup to continue its tradition of performing well in the biggest tournaments This also gives the team a much-needed bit of momentum heading into The International 2025.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG0__FzFLgs
Anyone’s Legend ($560,000)
LPL representative Anyone’s Legend didn’t win the Esports World Cup or the Mid-Season Invitational, but it still walked away as one of the highest-earning teams of the month. The Chinese organization, competing as both Anyone’s Legend and AG.AL International, placed second in the EWC and third in MSI. Both of those placements were worth a hefty six-figure check despite not carrying any implications for official league play or Worlds.
The enduring T1 mirrored those accomplishments as well, placing second in MSI and third in the EWC. That was still worth a cool $530,000.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuzlDAs3IOk
Goichi “GO1” Kishida ($300,000)
Fighting game veteran Goichi “GO1” Kishida has impressive accolades in a variety of titles, most notably dominating the Dragon Ball: FighterZ scene across 2019 and 2020. Despite that run and many other tournament wins, he brought home the biggest single paycheck of his career in the Esports World Cup.
While many major fighting game events host tournaments for titles that are commercially unsuccessful, they don’t often have significant amounts of money attached to them. But at the EWC, $1 million was splashed around on a Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves tournamnet. GO1 came out on top, taking home the $300,000 prize. This potentially makes him the highest-earning individual player of the month, the $1 million prize winners had to divide that money up five ways.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKHBN5HPzv4
Team Heretics ($500,000)
The other major esport that was hosted at the Esports World Cup in July was Valorant, which boasted a $1.25 million prize pool. That tournament’s prize pool was weighted much more heavily toward the top, which ultimately benefitted Team Heretics.
The tournament’s finals was an all-EMEA affair, with Heretics taking down G2 Esports with a 3-2 score. That win was a pricy one, with Heretics taking home $500,000 while Fnatic took home $230,000.
Steven Rondina is a true lifelong gamer. His earliest memories are of playing video games, and he has continued playing them throughout his life with no plans to stop any time soon. Steven’s favorite franchises in gaming include Pokemon, Dark Souls, and Counter-Strike. He has previously published with Bleacher Report and other gaming outlets.
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