- Professional Fortnite Players earn millions from competing in tournaments
- The average EFL footballer salary is £428,190.90
- Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf is the top Fortnite Player of all time
- Many eSports players supplement their income through YouTube and Twitch
Fortnite celebrated its biggest day in history on Saturday 4th November, with over 44 million players logging on to smash its all-time record and generate an astounding 102 million hours of play.
For many, Fortnite provides a great form of escapism from the stresses of school and work, but for a lucky and select few, Fortnite is work. Esports may not enjoy the same status as traditional competitive sports, but it can offer a career path that is just as lucrative. We at Moneyzine have analysed the earnings of top Fortnite players and compared it to the reported salaries of English Football League (EFL) Championship Players:
Top Five High Earning Professional Fortnite Players
Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf
Kyle made the majority of his earnings during the 2019 Fortnite World Cup, taking home over £2.5 million from the tournament despite being just 16 years’ old at the time.
Total five-year earnings: £2,944,893.12
David ‘Aqua’ Wang
Austrian David Wang is well known for dabbling in Minecraft, though his true talent lies in Fortnite. Like Kyle, most of David’s earnings owe themselves to the 2019 Fortnite World Cup, which alone netted an impressive £1.2 million.
Total five-year earnings: £1,783,756.91
Harrison ‘Psalm’ Chang
28-year-old Harrison hasn’t played competitively since 2021, but his prior earnings nonetheless rank him as the third highest earning Fortnite player of all time.
Total five-year earnings: £1,595,816.80
Shane ‘EpikWhale’ Cotton
The 2019 Fortnite World Cup finals were lucrative for many players, but Shane hit it big, winning just under a million.
Total five-year earnings: £1,450,180.42
Anas El-Abd
Anas is a successful Danish Fortnite player, although he amassed most of his earnings from winning Mr Beast’s Extreme Survival Challenge in 2022.
Total five-year earnings: £1,291,339.48
Against this we have looked at the annual earnings of professional players in the EFL Championship:
EFL Team | Average Annual Salary |
|---|---|
Watford FC | £849,643.96 |
Burnley FC | £811,535.95 |
Norwich City FC | £790,551.41 |
West Bromwich Albion FC | £756,841.58 |
Middlesbrough FC | £530,922.53 |
Stoke City FC | £508,425.25 |
Birmingham City FC | £505,928.89 |
Sheffield United FC | £485,242.51 |
Hull City AFC | £461,096.82 |
Swansea City AFC | £427,830.92 |
Reading FC | £373,170.59 |
Huddersfield Town FC | £371,270.53 |
Bristol City FC | £365,766.17 |
Blackburn Rangers FC | £360,643.91 |
Queens Park Rangers FC | £352,308.61 |
Preston North End FC | £350,201.02 |
Cardiff City FC | £347,032.59 |
Sunderland AFC | £342,695.90 |
Millwall FC | £309,903.22 |
Wigan Athletic FC | £279,971.06 |
Luton Town FC | £264,585.77 |
Blackpool FC | £221,501.92 |
Coventry City FC | £209,510.37 |
Rotherham United FC | £199,149.66 |
Source: footystats.org
Taking the average of the above annual earnings, EFL Championship players come out with a salary of £428,190.90. By contrast, our five Fortnite players generated an average of £362,639.47 per annum over their five years of gaming. At first blush it might seem that only Kyle Giersdorf, with his mean annual earnings of £588,972.62, can out-earn a professional footballer. However, this does not quite reveal the full picture, because most competitive gamers enjoy multiple income streams.
Supplementary Incomes Matter
Kyle Giersdorf is a prime example: in addition to his gaming, he operates extremely popular Twitch and YouTube channels, boasting 5.3 million and 4.46 million subscribers respectively. Industry estimates put his monthly earnings from Twitch at £6,500, while YouTube reportedly next him another £22,000 each and every month. His streaming income alone is therefore thought to pull in up to £342,000 every year.
As if this were not enough, Kyle has also signed to the eSports team ‘Dignitas’, where top players are reported to earn an average of £37,000.00 per year.
What Does the Future Hold?
While there have been 1,777 Fortnite tournaments to date, the 2019 Fortnite World Cup was by far the most lucrative of all, offering prize totalling £24 million. This high-point for potential earnings now dates back more than four years, and a number of leading gamers have started to question the platform’s future.
There can be no doubt, however, that Fortnite is here to stay, and is stronger than it has ever been, retaining a solid support base and boasting a return to fan-favourite locations and weapons. With a record 6.2 million concurrent players just days ago, there is no scope for doubting its staying power.
"This data illustrates quite vividly how video gaming can be a lucrative and legitimate career path. Kyle Giersdorf’s Fortnite earnings outshine those of most real-life professional footballers, and it’s worth remembering that Fortnite is just one of his revenue streams, and that there are 21 eSports players who generate even higher incomes than he does. For those who master online gaming and harness supplementary incomes, the sky really is the limit”.Jonathan Merry, personal finance expert at Moneyzine
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