Becoming a professional esports player in CS2 is a dream for many gamers because it combines passion with the potential for financial success. Not only do they get to compete at the highest level in a game they love, but there’s also the allure of making a living from it. However, one of the main questions is, how much money can a CS2 pro really make from this career? If you’re curious about the earning potential in the world of CS2 esports, here’s a complete breakdown of how much CS2 pros typically make.
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Highest Earning CS2 Pros by Prize Money
Professional CS2 players appear to have expensive gaming setups and gear when we see them on social media. Along with that, the lifestyle they get to enjoy seems a bit on the luxurious side. Plus, the prize pool numbers for top-tier tournaments are insane, with some reaching over a million dollars. It’s hard not to think that professional CS2 players might be making a lot of money. If that was your first guess, then you are right, for the most part.
If we talk about the share that a professional CS2 player gets from the prize money of whatever tournament they win, the numbers are actually quite staggering. The top player on this list is Dupreeh, Peter Rasmussen, who received just under $2.2 million in total earnings from prize money. Until the 6th place, where we have s1mple, Oleksandr Kostyljev, the prize earnings stay above $1.75 million.
By any standards of earning potential, getting anywhere above a million dollars is an extremely high amount of money. The staggering part about the prize pool earnings of professional CS2 players is that all of the top 25 players have earned over $1,000,000. If we talk about half a million dollars, the list goes on to the top 65 CS2 pro players.
Top CS2 Player Earnings by Salary Contract
The percentage of the prize pool isn’t the only place CS2 pros make money from. Popular teams like Cloud9 and Faze Clan sign contracts with some of the top players and pay them a buttload of cash to play for their teams. Unfortunately, a lot of the information on this has been kept confidential. However, just a few years ago, some of the teams did release information on some of the recent contracts with CS2 players.
The first team to shed light on how much money they paid a professional CS2 player is Cloud9. In 2020, the team signed a three-year contract for a new captain worth $1.65 million, a monthly earning of just under $46,000, which exceeds any professional high-paying job by a huge margin. The player who signed this deal with Cloud9 is Alex McMeekin or ALEX.
Another team, Astralis, revealed that they pay a fixed salary of around $30,000 a month to each player. On top of that, players also have other sponsorship deals and sticker earnings, which takes the average earning of a CS2 pro player to a much higher level. It’s safe to assume that at least the top CS2 pros have easily made around a million dollars from their esports career.
Reality of Earning as a Professional CS2 Player
All those numbers we’ve mentioned above are enough to get anyone excited to become a professional CS player. However, before you throw all your career plans out of the window and start wasting money on expensive gaming equipment, you should know that the earning potential isn’t in the millions for every CS2 pro player.
The thing is, the top CS2 pros are paid that much because of two main reasons. Firstly, they are the top CS2 players. Reaching that skill level takes both talent and years of training. Secondly, the teams that hire them can afford to pay that much because they have a ton of sponsors. According to the Astralis player earnings report, CS2 pros from teams like MAD Lions and Heroic earn around $8,750 per month. While that’s also on the higher side, being able to earn that much isn’t realistic for a beginner entering the world of esports.
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Conclusion
The earnings of a CS2 pro can vary greatly depending on their skill level, team, and success in tournaments. As a beginner, they might only receive a portion of winnings or a modest salary. More established players in newer teams can expect to earn double the minimum wage. However, the top performers in the game have the potential to make millions through salaries, sponsorships, and tournament victories.
