When it comes to the gaming industry, things can skyrocket overnight. One could be a decent gamer for years with no recognition whatsoever, only to discover celebrity in a week and become a millionaire by the end of the month. There are quite a few big names out there. They feature millions of followers and they make millions through advertising, as well as professional worldwide gaming events and competitions.

At this point, you probably ask yourself – how much is your favorite gamer worth? How much money has one of the best gamers in the world made? How did one gamer or another manage to make a few million before even turning 20? You may already know the answer though – great skills and dedication. For these people, gaming is not a fun way to relax, but a way of life, a lifestyle, a career. Now, just in case you are curious, here is what your favorite gamers make these days.

Dr Disrespect – $3.5 million

Most gamers would refer to him as Dr Disrespect. His professors would call him Herschel Beahm IV. Born in the spring of 1982, Dr Disrespect has gained notoriety over his battle royale video gaming streams. Some of the main games bringing him notoriety include Black Ops 4: Blackout, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Apex Legends and H1Z1.

The avid gamer gained over four million platforms on Twitch. He also used to stream over YouTube, but he ceased his activities and focused on Twitch instead. Over Twitch, he managed to get more than four million followers over a few years only. His streams gained notoriety because of the high production value.

Dr Disrespect’s network is about $3.5 million. However, it is likely to decrease now. At the end of June, 2020, Dr Disrespect got banned from Twitch. He had a similar issue in 2019, but his account was reinstated soon after. This time, the reasons are unknown. His channel has also been removed. According to various sources, the ban is permanent and Dr Disrespect is still waiting to hear from reps.

Before his account was banned, Dr Disrespect was thought to make anywhere between $500,000 and $1 million a year. Much of his net worth was achieved after March, 2020. Dr Disrespect got into a deal with the streaming platform. Details of the deal were not disclosed. It was supposed to last for a couple of years. Most critics believe he was supposed to make a few good millions. However, he got banned just a few months after.

But Doc didn’t give up and he continues to stream on Youtube (no official partnership announced yet).

Shroud – $15 million

Known as Shroud, Michael Grzesiek has an estimated net worth of anywhere around $12 to $15. Most of his net worth clearly comes from his streaming career. He gained most of his income from Twitch, yet his further deal with Mixer was also worth a good amount of money. Other than that, he gets money from donations, advertising, sponsorship deals and subscribers.

Most of Shroud’s money comes from streaming. He is past his peak on Twitch, but during his peak times, he made around $80,000 a month from subscriptions only. However, no one knows the contract and deals he had with the streaming platform. In other words, his income could have been a bit bigger, based on the split he had.

Many of Shroud’s streams were also sponsored. He also got a decent income from advertising, not to mention the amount of subscribers. Simply put, if you count these numbers in as well, his income was easily over $100,000 a month. However, he never spoke publicly about the money he made from streaming or other deals.

Shroud gave up Twitch and moved to rival platform Mixer. The Microsoft owned platform is behind Twitch in terms of popularity. As a result, his following was way smaller. But then, he still made a good amount of money off each stream. It is very likely he was offered a solid contract by Mixer in order to make the switch. The collaboration has come to an end though.

To top all these up, Shroud also has a YouTube channel with millions of users and close to a billion total video views. With more than 500,000 views for a video, his income goes up by about half a million every year. Additionally, there are a few high end brands choosing Shroud for sponsoring deals, such as J!nx and Logitech.

Ninja – $15 million

Richard Tyler Blevins – also known as Ninja – is estimated to be about $15 million in net worth. His net worth takes income from streaming, YouTube, sales and sponsorship into consideration. The number is likely to be a bit bigger though. He moved from Twitch to Mixer in a deal that was estimated to be worth $20 million. Besides, Forbes suggests he has made over $17 million in 2019 only.

These numbers do not count the money that Ninja has raised and donated to various charities over the past years. For example, he helped the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in 2018 and raised about $325,000.

In a recent television interview, Ninja claimed that he used to get more than half a million from his Twitch subscribers only – excluding the donations received throughout each stream. One time, he received an anonymous donation of $40,000. At the same time, it is rumored that he earned $1 million to stream EA’s battle royale game Apex Legends.

Ninja has a YouTube channel with over 22 million subscribers and around two billion total video views – over $6 million in revenue based on numbers. He has sponsorship deals with Red Bull, Adidas and Uber Eats, among others. Plus, he also wrote a book Get Good – My Ultimate Guide To Gaming.

As a short final conclusion, professional gamers can and will make millions. In an industry that booms, those who dedicate time and ambition into becoming the best will make most of the millions, yet less reputable gamers will also make significant amounts of money with less subscribers.