Esports refers to Electronic Sports in which players compete with each other while playing Video Games. To your surprise, the Esports events are organized globally in which professional gamers participate in Individual or Teams Categories.
Of course, most Esports Tournaments gain similar privileges and draw comparable numbers of viewers as other sporting events do. And when it comes to Esports Finales, they are played in Stadiums, with all seats sold out.
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It is pertinent to mention that Esports is among the unprecedently emerging industry, and its statistical numbers show it will touch the milestone of 1.5 billion in revenue by the end of 2023, a great achievement by any Modern-era Sport.
For your information, the competitive nature of Esports varies according to Video Games. For stance, many International Teams compete in FIFA Games, while others hold the grip in various editions of the Tekken series.
To your surprise, the origin of Esports traces back to 1980 when the first Space Invaders Championship was organized by Atari, and they were 10,000 participations. This League is also labeled as the Pioneer Major Video Game Competition.
During earlier stages, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s, various small gaming tournaments were held primarily for the Classic Arcade Games as there was no concept of competing online because of a lack of cutting-edge tech.
With time, technology prevailed, and the intervention of Internet Connectivity opened new doors for more Esports Competitions, especially in PC Games. In 2000, various tournaments like World Cyber Games and Major League Gaming were initiated.
However, it was earlier in 2010 when Streaming portals such as Twitch and platforms like YouTube assisted Esports in joining the mainstream. The overall scenario attracted worldwide Gaming Companies, and even a few universities have started offering Scholarships to students for Esports.
Currently, several Massive Esports Tournaments are organized globally. Notably, the most recent Fortnite World Cup held at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City has attracted a crowd of 20,000 people, while Epic Games has also earned a recorded 100 million dollars from the event.
Best Esports Players of All Time
Esports has seen a long development from its infancy to become a million-dollar business, gaining unrivaled fame and reputation among fans globally. Indeed, during this journey, the sport has introduced some immensely talented Esports Players to the world.
Here are the Top 10 Best Esport Players of All Time. Since the sport competes among players with expertise in various games, it is tricky to compare them in a single domain. Nevertheless, we have filtered players on their Career Achievements and International Tournaments Appearances.
| Sr.No | Athlete Name | Country |
| 1 | N0tail | Denmark |
| 2 | Faker | South Korea |
| 3 | Flash | South Korea |
| 4 | GeT-RiGhT | Sweden |
| 5 | Daigo | Japan |
| 6 | Forest | Sweden |
| 7 | BoxeR | South Korea |
| 8 | Jaedong | South Korea |
| 9 | Fatal1ty | United States |
| 10 | Moon | South Korea |
N0tail
- Highest Esport Earner with over $7 million
- Winner of Consecutive Tournaments at the International DOTA 2
- Co-Founder of the OG Esports Team
N0tail tops our list of Best Esports players of all time for all sound reasons. Above all, he is considered the Best DOTA 2 player. The Denmark native has also become the highest earner in Esports after winning DOTA 2 International tournament for two consecutive years.
Notably, N0tail is the only Esports player who had accomplished the record of winning two DOTA 2 events in a row whose prize money assisted him in surpassing the $7 million milestone, the highest ever by any player.
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After bagging the utmost success in his Esports career, N0tail took retirement and co-created the OG Esports to assist young Esport Players. Of course, he deserves the first spot on our list as this fleet of success still awaits to be broken.
Faker
- Only Esport Player starred on the cover of ESPN’s Magazine
- Highest Earner in League of Legends
- Winner of Every Major International League of Legends Event at least once
For most people, Faker doesn’t qualify for second place on our list, but it is an arguable case, and we’ll try to solve it with evidence. Of course, Faker is the most dominated Esports player and an accomplished individual in the greatest League of Legends.
Interestingly, Faker is one of two Esports players in the world who has won the League of Legends World Championship three times, which perhaps illustrates the skills and incredible talent, he possesses in this competitive sport.
His other professional career achievement includes Victory in All-Star Paris 2014, the Mid-Season Invitations in 2016 and 2017, and the IEM World Championship in 2015. His overall tournament winnings are estimated at around $1.2 million.
Flash
- Bagged $400,000 from Tournaments Winning
- Keeps 70% Win Rate in all Top-Notch Events
- Shares the Record for sitting in Top Position on the World’s #1 Starcraft Rankings
Flash is regarded as the Best Starcraft player of all time. Surprisingly, he maintains his win rate at 70% across all Gaming Competitions and keeps the record for being ranked top in Starcraft player table for the longest time.
During his era of dominancy on the Gaming planet, he earned more than $400,000 from different tournament victories. However, most of his career income came from winning Starcraft competitions across the globe.
It is worth mentioning that Flash pulled out his retirement after the release of Starcraft: Brood War and successfully seized three Afreeca Starleague titles for three consecutive years, which speaks of his elite gaming skills.
GeT-RiGhT
- Regarded as the World’s best Counter-Strike Player
- Marked as the Greatest Swedish Esport player of all Time
- The first gamer to introduce Lurking Technique in Counter-Strike
Christopher “Get-RiGhT” Alesund is counted among the top-ranked Swedish Esports gamers. He picked this profession in his teenage and made his debut as an Elite Counter-Strike player. While hiking towards the senior-player status, he settled such victory records that none of the others even think in the Swedish ranks.
Importantly, he partnered with iconic F0rest and even outshined his experienced partner on the Fnatic Esports team. Alesund gained the utmost applaud from worldwide gamers after introducing a new Counter-strike strategy known as Lurking.
During his professional career, GeT-RiGhT bagged ten international gaming events. When the Counter-Striker: GO version was launched, he left no stone unturned to assert his dominancy and ended up doing it in the best possible way.
Daigo
- Has a nickname “The Beast”
- Guinness World Record Holder for the Most Successful Player in Major Street Fighter Tournaments
- Launched a Mange Series called Daigo the Best: Umehara Fighting Gamers
Daigo belongs to the Chain of Esports Players from the 90’s era. Of course, during that time, he was marked as the best Esport Star of all time. Notably, his professional grip was on 2D Fighting games, such as Street Fighter.
Being highly obsessed with Arcade games, Daigo converted his craze into a passion and won countless gaming competitions, including Japan’s Street Fighter National Championship in 1997. After that victory, he was given the nickname of The Beast.
As result of winning nearly every Street Fighter tournament, Daigo’s name was entered into the Guinness World Cup under the title of the most successful Street Fight player. After retirement, he created a Manga series called Daigo the Beast: Umehara Fighting Gamers.
F0rest
- Winner of 50 Counter-Strike Gold Medals
- Named as the World’s Best CS: GO, player, after the Counter-Strike sequel was launched
- Member of the 2009 Fnatic Team that bagged the highest earning in Counter-Striker History
With commendable gaming talent, F0rest dominated the Counter-Strike with his compatriot GeT-RiGhT. Of course, F0rest and GeT-RiGhT were part of the Fnatic Esports Team, who ruled the Counter-Strike competitions.
The duo also appeared in the sequel game CS: GO to earn the World’s Best Combo Title. During professional ties with the legendary 2009 team, F0rest won 50 gold medals in different international counter-strike tournaments.
In addition, F0rest won several Counter-Strike competitions in individual competitions, transforming himself into a fantastic Esports player. He is the best Esports player in history based on his total success rate and revenue.
BoxeR
- Winner of two consecutive Starleague titles
- Accepted a whopping $180,000 offer to participate in the Star League
- Marked as the Michael Jordan of Esports for his contributions
BoxeR is among those few Esports players that don’t just maintain a glittering career but have also contributed tirelessly to promote their respective professions. In the case of BoxeR, he uplifts the Starcraft scene into a Legacy League.
During his professional career, he won 548 international competitions and took earlier retirement due to health issues. For most analysts, if BoxeR continues his pro-career, he would have become the Most Successful Esport Player in a few more years.
In addition to countless victories, BoxeR also made headlines for earning massive amounts for winning international tournaments. However, he never hesitates to spend his earnings for the promotion of this sport, and that’s why? Most people call him the Michael Jordan of Esports.
Jaedong
- Winner of Two MBCGame Starleagues
- Won Three OnGameNet Starleagues
- Bagged Three World Cyber Games-titles
The impact and influence of Jaedong in Esports reflects through his glittering career. Of course, he contributed the best to keep this sport, particularly Starcraft, in the mainstream with his immense talent.
Jaodong’s accomplished Esports career comprises four years from 2007 to 2011. During this tenure, he stretched his success to numerous Esports Tournaments, including winning two MBCGame Starleagues, three OnGameNet Starleagues, and three World Cyber Games titles.
At the peak of his profession, Jaedong’s top rival was all-time great Flash, and they kept performing promisingly to keep Starcraft relevant, appearing in Worldwide Championships and South Korea. However, Jaedong is the one who promoted Starcraft in the entire Esports community.
Fatal1ty
- First-ever Esport Celebrity in the America
- Top earning Quake athlete of all time
- Featured in the New York Times, Forbes, 60 Minutes, Time, ad MTV’s True Life Series
An unarguable comment is that the most-talented Esports players have come from Europe and Asia. Realistically, a massive fans cult also belongs to these respective regions. However, Fatal1ty is the only American Esports player who dominated this field and earned the title of Best Esport player of all time.
It is pertinent to mention that Jonathan Fata1ty Wendel is the only Esport Celebrity in the United States, who has also been featured on various International Magazine covers, including New York Times, Forbes, 60 Minutes, and MTV’s True Life Series.
Fatal1ty professional career excelled in the game “Quake.” Initially, he participated in various National-level Esports tournaments in the US, and then he participated in an International Event in Sweden in which he bagged 18 straight games.
Moon
- Considered the best Warcraft 3 player
- Signed a $500,000 contract with the Korean Team WeMade FOX in 2009
- Known as the 5th Race Esport Player
Jang “Moon” Jae-Ho is labeled as the Greatest Warcraft 3 player of all time. During his infancy career, he dominated various National-Level Warcraft 3 competitions in South Korea, and then invaded the international Esports courts with his unified skills.
In 2009, he penned a whopping $500,000 deal with the Korean team Wemade Fox, which illustrates his potential and value as an Esport player. Moon did nothing short of exception to ensure his team’s success in various international tournaments.
It’s interesting to note that the gaming industry recognized his extraordinary potential and skill levels and finally regarded him as the fifth race in a game where most gamers may only select four races to play as.
People also Ask
Q: Which country is best in esports?
A: Regarding the fan bases, numbers of players, and achievements, South Korea is considered the best country in esports as of 2023. Of course, the Korean Government also supports esports players and backs up the young players by offering a suitable gaming environment.
Q: Who is the Richest Esports Player?
A: The most recent stats reveal that Johan Sunstein is the richest eSports player. The Denmark native, also known as N0tail, has recorded $7.18 million in earnings through his eSports gaming career. Follows Johan are JerAx and Aan, with $6.49 and 6.02 million overall win earnings, respectively.
Q: Is eSports is a Legal Sport?
A: Well, it is a long and old debate. For most people, esports is an illegal activity that doesn’t belong to the sports category. However, their parallels believe that Esport involves every aspect of Sports, such as Strategy, Skills, Teamwork, and Competition, so it is a Sport.
