The biggest winners in esports in June 2025

Steven Rondina Published 29/06/2025

Valorant, Counter-Strike 2, and Call of Duty all had some of their biggest events of 2025, which adds some extra stakes to the biggest esports winners of June 2025.

Esports can sometimes be samey. Games like Dota 2 only really have a couple of events each year that matter, making the other 10 months of the year a bit of a treadmill. Sure, money changes hands and esports is inherently fun to watch, but there are oftentimes lots of rehearsals for just one big dance.

That wasn’t the case in June, as the BLAST Austin Major, Valorant Masters Toronto, and Call of Duty League World Championship all took place in June. This marked the end of the season for a few of the biggest esports out there, and gave some competitors a big windfall of cash.

The highest-earning esports teams and biggest winners of June 2025

There was a lot of money on the line. From a dollars-and-cents perspective, the Call of Duty Championship was the biggest event of June 2025, but the viewership for the BLAST Austin Major was through the roof. Alongside this, Valorant Masters Toronto gave viewers an alternative tactical shooter viewing experience. Here are the biggest winners of the month:

OpTic Texas (Call of Duty)
Team Vitality (Counter-Strike)
Paper Rex (Valorant)
Vancouver Surge (Call of Duty)
BetBoom Team (Dota 2)

https://twitter.com/OpTic/status/1939435163852632177

OpTic Texas ($800,000)

Though Call of Duty esports isn’t as big as Counter-Strike, the 2025 Call of Duty League Championship is comfortably the biggest event of June in terms of its prize pool. $2 million was on the line, with the top prize being a whopping $800,000. CDL Winner took that top prize home, which translates to $200,000 for each player.

The championship run caps an amazing underdog story in the sason for OpTic Texas. Though the franchise was technically the reigning champions, the team didn’t place higher than fourth at a major in 2025. Despite some changes to its roster over the season, OpTic has once again taken home the gold.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GeYxpuibiE

Team Vitality ($500,000)

Counter-Strike majors still offer the most lucrative prize pools in the game. 32 teams vied for their share of $1.25 million, but it was Team Vitality that walked away with the $500,00 top prize.

Vitality winning was no surprise. The team has been dominant throughout the year and has been regularly featured in this series. After taking a surprise loss in its first match of the tournament, Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut and company dusted themselves off and smashed their way to the championship. This capped an exceptional run for the team that arguably cements it among the greatest Counter-Strike teams of all time.

https://twitter.com/SurgeVancouver/status/1939436234373320818

Vancouver Surge ($480,000)

The Vancouver Surge had a generally strong 2025 season, but the team looked ready for a quick exit from the 2025 CDL playoffs. The team took a 3-1 loss from the Miami Heretics to kick off the event, necessitating a full lower bracket run for the team.

They almost pulled it off, too. The team won four straight elimination matches to earn a spot in the grand finals. The finals against OpTic were also hotly contested, with the final score standing at 5-3. Though the players are certainly disappointed to walk away in second place, they get $480,000 to ease the pain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74UmVfiYguw

Paper Rex ($350,000)

Paper Rex finally won the big one, more or less. The Southeast Asian squad is one of the most popular in the game, which largely stems down to its bridesmaid status. The team placed in the top four of five different interregional VCT tournaments, but never managed to take the top prize.

That changed at Valorant Masters Toronto 2025. Despite entering as the third seed of its region, the team cleared the group stage and posted an almost flawless run through the playoffs. All this was capped with a razor-thin victory over Fnatic in the finals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEpQvShaJH4

BetBoom Team ($300,000)

Dota 2 esports is sometimes like running on a treadmill, but it’s generally great money for the top teams. BetBoom Team got a taste of that in June. The team took first place in PGL Wallachia Season 5, a feat worth $300,000.

Taking the top prize was an impressive accomplishment for BetBoom. The tournament featured a stacked field and its only easy out of the tournament was Edge, a team that took a shock upset win over them. That forced a five-match group stage run, which was followed by a tough trip through the playoffs that included two matches against Team Spirit and two against Team Liquid to face Gaimin Gladiators in the finals. Despite that rocky road, BetBoom managed to come out on top.

Steven Rondina

About Steven Rondina

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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