The biggest winners in esports in April 2025
One of the biggest prizes in esports was handed out in the month of April 2025, but who were the top earners and real winners for April?
The biggest earner of March 2025 took home $1 million for himself. Another $1 million prize was handed out in April, crowning a new top Counter-Strike 2 team. Dota 2 also continued its run as the highest-paying esport, while the Call of Duty League is pushing its way to the end of the season.
The highest-earning esports teams and biggest winners of April 2025
April 2025 was a relatively light month of esports action, but it had enough Counter-Strike and Dota 2 action to carry things. Team Vitality was the definitive top winner and highest earner across all of esports in the month of April 2025. The team won a prominent tournament and also took home a seven-figure check on top of it. Past that is a mix of Dota 2 teams that took home big prizes in the biggest events of the month.
Here are the biggest winners and top earners in esports this month:
- Team Vitality (Counter-Strike 2)
- Parivision (Dota 2)
- Team Liquid (Dota 2)
- LA Thieves (Call of Duty)
- Team Falcons (Counter-Strike 2)
https://youtu.be/BpMnv0jJXw0
Team Vitality Counter-Strike ($1.1 million)
Team Vitality had a great April. Despite passing on two prominent tournaments, the squad was the top-earning team of the month thanks to its efforts in IEM Melbourne.
The team further cemented itself as Counter-Strike’s top team by winning the tournament and taking its $125,000 top prize. More importantly, Vitality was the fourth Intel Grand Slam winner, an honor worth an extra $1 million.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8niZx2lvZ0
Parivision Dota 2 ($425,000)
Dota 2 continues to have downright absurd payouts for its standard-issue tournaments. Parivision was the biggest beneficiary of this in April, and would’ve been the biggest winner and top earner in esports if it wasn’t for the Intel Grand Slam.
The team took first place in ESL One Raleigh for $250,000, then turned around and nabbed second place in PGL Wallachia Season 4. That was worth another $175,000, bringing the team up to $425,000 on the month.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4MtDN4YDWU
Team Liquid Dota 2 ($340,000)
Team Liquid beat Parivision in the finals of PGL Wallachia Season 4 to take home its $300,000 top prize. It also competed in ESL One Raleigh, but stumbled en route to a top-six finish. That was still worth a solid $40,000.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jemhMqzoUbY
LA Thieves Call of Duty ($150,000)
Though it wasn’t the fourth-highest-earning team, the 100 Thieves-owned Call of Duty League squad still scored a key victory by winning the 2025 Stage 3 Major. This pushed the LA Thieves to the top of the season standings and brought them a cool $150,000.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1NO853zjAs
Team Falcons Counter-Strike ($250,000)
Team Falcons is notorious for its pay-to-lose approach to Counter-Strike, but the team finally hit its stride in April. Its month started by winning PGL Bucharest, the biggest tournament win in organization history, which was worth $200,000.
From there, the squad overhauled its roster and headed to IEM Melbourne. It missed out on a $100,000 bounty to beat Vitality in the finals, but still took home an extra $50,000 prize for finishing in second place.
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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