The average income of Malaysian esports athletes is reportedly one of the highest in the world, whereby their income is over 24 times more than the average annual income in our country. As reported by Sin Chew who sourced from a study by BestCasinoSites.net, the average income of professional gamers in Malaysia is allegedly USD23,870 or RM106,730 per month and USD568,141 or RM2540,430 per year!
According to the report, esports athletes in our country are only second in the world in terms of average annual income, whereby Jordan tops the list with their professional gamers’ average monthly income being USD31,278 (RM13,986) and an average annual income of USD737,125 (RM3,296,000). Meanwhile, sitting third place is Moldova, whereby their professional gamers’ average annual income is over 19 times the average annual income of the rest of the country.
It is to be noted that a majority of esports athletes in Jordan, Malaysia and Moldova made their earnings by playing the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game Dota 2 which tournaments offer one of the highest prize pools in the whole of esports. Moreover, the average income may have been skewed by top Dota 2 Malaysian athletes that won big at the MOBA’s major tournaments.
For example, Malaysian Dota 2 Pro Cheng Jin Xiang or more famously known by his in-game name ‘NothingToSay’ placed second at The International 10 last year with his China-based team PSG.LGD. For getting second place, NothingToSay and PSG.LGD bagged a whopping USD5,202,400 or approximately RM21.6 million.
Besides that, the study didn’t actually reveal its methodology or whether it took into account all professional gamers’ earnings for last year or just players at the very top of the game like NothingToSay. For a more detailed insight into the earnings of esports players from Malaysia, relevant data can be collected from Esports Earnings.
According to the aforementioned website, Malaysia was in 14th place last year for the highest esports earnings with USD3,567,143.96 or RM15,964,752.79 from 355 players. A dive into the earnings listing unsurprisingly shows NothingToSay as being the top earner in 2021 with USD1,118,780.00 or RM5,007,099.89, almost more than double the earnings of second place Thiay Jun Wen, who is more famously known for his in-game name JT-.
However, the statistics on Esports Earnings do not differentiate between professional gamers and amateur gamers as it lists down any esports tournaments that Malaysians have won at, even if the earnings are as meagre as USD6 or RM26.85. Hence, the total of 355 players that earned from esports last year could not be considered when taking into account the average annual income of Malaysian professional gamers in 2021.
In fact, if we were to consider all 355 Malaysian that earned from esports tournaments last year, the average income is much lower than what is claimed by the earlier study, which is just around USD10,048.29 or ~RM44,971.12 a year. Therefore, a distinction should be made on who can be classified as a ‘professional esports athlete’ so that the average income for last year could be properly gauged.
Nevertheless, it is important to note that being a professional gamer or esports athlete is really difficult as it requires talent, hard work, dedication and sacrifices to be at the very top of a respective competitive esports title. Furthermore, it’s a very risky career to be heading into too as the competitive gaming scene could be very volatile and not something that could last you a long time.
In fact, there are a lot of similarities between professional esports and professional sports, only the best of the best can rise up and be successful. Sure, everyone can kick a ball, but can you kick a ball like Lionel Messi? The same goes for playing Mobile Legends, DOTA or any other esports titles.
So, what do you guys think of the rise of esports in Malaysia? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
Also read: Malaysia’s Dota 2 Women Bags Gold At Commonwealth Esports Championship
