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Counter-Strike rose to become one of the most popular and lucrative esports in the world. With its simple-at-a-glance gameplay, strategic teamwork, and thrilling competition, it captivated millions of fans worldwide. Beyond the battles, CS also paved the way for esports professional players to achieve unprecedented levels of success and financial prosperity, chiefly throughout Europe and North America. In this article, we will delve into the top earners and richest Counter-Strike players who put their mark on the game.

As the excitement and investment in the esports industry continue to soar, the earnings of professional players have reached staggering heights. The top-level esports tournaments around the world can often enthral millions of concurrent viewers, setting the stage for advertisements and monetisation options. The options for professional gaming income are myriad: from live-streaming to endorsements and sponsorship deals, there is no singular fixed income for a top-level esports professional.

  Counter-Strike Majors are some of esports’ largest and most-watched tournaments and offer prize pools to match, photo: SteelSeries   

Details for many of these sponsorship agreements are not public and hard to count for, so in this article, we will be purely looking at the highest-earning Counter-Strike players by their tournament winnings. However, this isn’t a ranking of the most successful CS players necessarily; professionals must have been at the top of their game at the perfect time: when investments were high and tournaments offered huge multi-million prize pools. 

Whether you're an avid fan, an aspiring pro, or simply curious about the vast potential of esports, this article will provide a comprehensive look at the highest-earning CS players and the intriguing opportunities within the industry. 

Top 10 Highest-earning Counter-Strike Players

After more than a decade of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive & CS2 events, the top 10 highest-earning players ranking is dominated by Astralis alumni. Dupreeh, Xyp9x, dev1ce, Magisk, gla1ve, and Karrigan all earned a significant portion of their earnings under the Astralis banner. 

Astralis found success on an international level in 2016, but in 2017, they began to regularly compete for Major championships consistently.  Astralis’ legacy of strong international performances coincides nicely with when Counter-Strike began hosting million-dollar Major tournaments. Astralis dominated many of these early 7-figure events, and this is why its players rank so highly here.

Karrigan is the odd one out here, as although he spent a successful year with Astralis in 2016, the majority of his success has come from his time with FaZe Clan, alongside teammates Twistzz and rain. The final duo of s1mple and electroNic found their success with the Ukranian esports organisation NAVI. 

FaZe Clan and NAVI are two of the longest-standing and most competitive organisations within Counter-Strike, but they were never able to match the domination of Astralis. The two organisations have won many prestigious events, and even a Major championship each, but Astralis’ consistency sets them apart from these two.

Profiles of the top Counter-Strike players by tournament winnings

#10 - apEX ($1.72 million)

ApEX is a long-standing French competitor in Counter-Strike esports, whose competitive roots can be traced back to Counter-Strike: Source in the late 2000s. Originally an entry fragger, apEX competed alongside some of the most-famed French esports organizations in Counter-Strike: VeryGames, Team LDLC, 3DMax, Titan eSports, Team EnVyUs, and many more.

In late 2018, apEX joined the French team Team Vitality when they first entered Counter-Strike. He joined the team alongside some seriously top-level French players like NBK and Happy, and even a relatively unknown up-and-comer known as ZywOo. Team Vitality's roster has changed many times over the years, buyt the most significant change for apEX came when their in-game leader ALEX stepped down in 2020. ApEX made the decision to pick up the in-game leader mantle and lead his team onwards.

Of all of apEX's achievements in Counter-Strike with Team Vitality, his favourite would likely be claiming a Major championship on homeground. In 2023, Team Vitality were the victors of the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023, taking home a half-million of USD in prize money. ApEX has led his team to many other victories over the years, and they are currently standing as one of the strongest rosters of 2025. 

#9 - s1mple ($1.72 million)

S1mple is widely considered the greatest CS:GO player of all time, and with good reason. After grinding his way through the tier-2 Eastern European scene, s1mple was picked up by Team Liquid for a short stint in the tier-1 scene. S1mple immediately impressed, assisting Team Liquid to a 2nd place finish at the ESL One Cologne 2016 Major, and even though he only spent 4 months with the team, it was enough.

  S1mple grew into one of Counter-Strike’s most popular players under NAVI’s wing, photo: PGL   

After his time with Team Liquid, s1mple was picked up by NAVI, and this would remain his home for over 7 years: until CS2’s release. S1mple was NAVI’s star player and the team was built around him. He became a Major champion at the PGL Major Stockholm 2021, and he was victorious at various BLAST, Intel Extreme Masters, and ESL One events.

S1mple stepped away from Counter-Strike with the release of the new CS2. Although he has made some small appearances with other teams, he has been slowly falling down this ranking as other, more active players continue to accumulate prize money.

#8 - Twistzz ($1.76 million)

Twistzz is the only North American player to appear on this list and is often considered one of North America’s greatest Counter-Strike professionals. He is one of the richest Counter-Strike professionals thanks to his stint with Team Liquid, and his time alongside rain at FaZe Clan.

  The Major winning FaZe Clan team with our top earning players on the left, Twistzz, Karrigan, and rain holding the trophy, photo: ESL Gaming, Adela Sznajder   

Twistzz climbed through the lower divisions of North American play to eventually break onto the scene in 2016. By 2017 he was picked up by Team Liquid and spent 3-and-a-half years playing for the organisation, achieving a significant amount of success. Eventually, he joined FaZe Clan, where he would achieve a Major championship with rain at the PGL Major in 2022, and amass a considerable amount of prize money in the three years he spent under the FaZe Clan banner for CS:GO. He currently competes with Team Liquid as a Counter-Strike 2 player, who recently finished in the top 8 at the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024.

#7 - rain ($1.82 million)

Rain began competing in small regional Norwegian teams around 2013, and eventually made his way to LGB Esports in 2014, where he played alongside other top-level Norwegian professionals jkaem and RUBINO. But rain’s international career began with Team Kinguin in 2015, a team that achieved overnight exposure to a majority of the competitive CS:GO community.

Team Kinguin competed at the FACEIT 2015 Stage 2 Finals after receiving a last-minute invite due to an unexpectedly open spot. Virtus.pro player and community favourite pashaBiceps stated on stream that Kinguin had no chance, perfectly setting up the underdog. Team Kinguin managed to defeat Virtus.Pro at the event, finishing their Bo3 with a 16-0 victory on Cache. The incident went viral within the community and rain was highlighted for his performance against VP.

  Rain was a CS:GO professional player under FaZe Clan for over 7 years, photo: PGL   

This Team Kinguin roster was eventually acquired by G2 Esports, and then shortly afterwards acquired by FaZe Clan. Rain is the only remaining player on FaZe Clan from this initial acquisition, and he has represented the organisation for almost a decade. Under FaZe Clan, rain won a Major championship at the PGL Major Antwerp 2022, alongside countless other prestigious events like IEM Katowice and IEM Cologne.

#6 - gla1ve ($1.93 million)

Entering the top players of this list, we enter the ranking of Astralis alumni. Alongside Magisk, gla1ve was not one of the original Astralis members, instead being signed on within the first year of the organisation’s forming to replace outgoing Karrigan.

After beginning his career in Counter-Strike: Source and spending most of the early 2010s hopping from team to team, gla1ve eventually found a home with Astralis and went on to win 4 Major championships with the team. For his foray into Counter-Strike 2, gla1ve opted to play with ENCE alongside 4 Poles after losing his spot on Astralis. Although Gla1ve's new team is not a Major-winner like his former squad, he has earned his place as one of the highest-earning Counter-Strike professionals ever.

#5 - Magisk ($1.93 million)

Magisk sported the shortest Astralis stint out of any of these top 5 players, spending 3 years with the organisation between 2018 and 2021. He earned 3 Major championships with the organisation but matched gla1ve’s 4 after moving to Team Vitality. 

Magisk moved to Team Vitality after being benched by Astralis alongside dupreeh. The French esports organisation supported Magisk for years, and he was an integral part of their roster all the way until CS:GO’s end. The highlight of Magisk’s time with the team was winning the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023, winning a major championship on his organisation’s home soil. 

Magisk would eventually be benched by Team Vitality, but he joined Team Falcons along with ex-Astralis coach zonic for his first Counter-Strike 2 career move. Team Falcons' new roster has struggled at the top-level of Counter-Strike, but with the new addition of famed player NiKo at the beginning of 2025, hope are high for this superstar team.

#4 - Xyp9x ($2 million)

Xyp9x is the first player we have looked at to earn more than $2M through prize pool winnings alone. Similar to dev1ce, Xyp9x began his career in an older version of Counter-Strike in the early 2010s, eventually moving on to CS:GO.

Xyp9x won the same events as all other Astralis players listed in this ranking, but his advantage over the others was his loyalty and total time spent with the organisation. Xyp9x helped found Astralis after his time with Team Dignitas and TSM, and he remained under the Astralis banner until CS:GO’s era ended, although he spent some time on leave.

Just prior to the release of Counter-Strike 2, Xyp9x and gla1ve were benched by Astralis, and on March 11, 2024, Xyp9x was released by the organisation. Eventually, Xyp9x would move on and be signed by MOUZ to work as their Assistant Coach, a position he has held for almost a year. He has solidified himself along with the Astralis core as one of Counter-Strike’s most successful players ever, and now, he is impacting the scene through his coaching.

  The team that became Counter-Strike’s richest. From left to right: dupreeh, Magisk, Xyp9x, gla1ve, dev1ce, and zonic, photo via Astralis.   

#3 - Karrigan ($2.06 million)

Karrigan is certainly not the last Dane of this ranking. However, he does stand apart from the others as he earned most of his cash prizes through his time with FaZe Clan, as opposed to Astralis. Karrigan’s success in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive only continued to develop and evolve long into the game’s life-span.

He achieved relative success with Astralis in 2016, but the majority of his international event victories and prize pool comes from tournaments held after 2020. For the last couple of years of CS:GO’s life, Karrigan secured victories at many high-purse events, like the ELEAGUE Premier 2017, IEM Cologne 2022, and earning a Major championship at the PGL Major Antwerp 2022.

FaZe Clan have struggled to secure victories at Counter-Strike 2 events, but Karrigan has often led them to the grand finals of the world's biggest tournaments. Of both 2024 Counter-Strike 2 Majors, Karrigan led FaZe Clan to a second-place finish in both events. The Dane remains one of Counter-Strike's strongest in-game leaders, and one of the franchise's highest-earining players.

#2 - dev1ce ($2.06 million)

Moving into the final Counter-Strike esports professionals, dev1ce was a long-standing member of Astralis from 2016 to 2021. In 2021, de1vce was acquired by the organisation Ninjas in Pyjamas, but he eventually returned to Astralis in 2022 and remains there now.

After making a name for himself with Copenhagen Wolves in both Counter-Strike: Source and CS:GO, dev1ce quickly became a star player in the European scene. He joined Team Dignitas in 2014 to form a team with Xyp9x, dupreeh, cajunb, and Karrigan: the 5-man core that would eventually go on to become Astralis. 

  At the height of his career with Astralis, dev1ce was considered one of the world’s best, photo: Astralis   

Under Astralis’ banner, dev1ce won 4 Majors and was consistently one of the best-performing players, proven by two Major MVP awards. Eventually, dev1ce moved to Ninjas in Pyjamas, but after a short stint returned to Astralis. His second stint at Astralis has undoubtedly been less successful than the initial glory run, but he is still able to slowly accumulate prize money under this team.

De1vce earned every cent he won through Counter-Strike tournament winnings, and he is one of the rare talents to earn over $2M throughout his Counter-Strike career.

#1 - dupreeh ($2.23 million)

Finally, dupreeh reigns supreme as the highest-earning Counter-Strike player ever. The Dane earned $2.18M through prize pools and tournament winnings, mainly from his time at Astralis, but also boosted by a stint with Team Vitality. 

Dupreeh departed from Astralis alongside Magisk and zonic, and they all signed for Team Vitality. Although dupreeh only spent a year under Team Vitality, he managed to win a Major at the BLAST.tv Paris Major and he and his team collectively earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money. 

Dupreeh is ultimately Counter-Strike’s most successful and richest player ever, and although he achieved major success within CS:GO, this has not translated into Counter-Strike’s new era. After being benched by Team Vitality, dupreeh joined Heroic for a short-term contract with Counter-Strike 2’s release, but after his contract expired he was acquired by Preasy Esport, an all-Danish team comprised of young rising talent and veterans of the game

Eventually, dupreeh would move to Team Falcons along with his former teammates Magisk and zonic. However, he benched at the end of 2024. Currently, he remains an inactive player on Falcons' roster, and his future in Counter-Strike is unclear.