Esports has huge spectator potential. Last year alone, according to NewZoo, 22 million viewers watched e-sports broadcasts.
Such giants of the Russian market as Megafon, MTS, Tele2, Tinkoff Bank and other large brands do not ignore eSports. And the more solid sponsors, the more money the participants of the competition. Some of them earn hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars in their careers.
In order to select the best of the best Russian e-sports in the world, Forbes magazine experts did three things:
- We calculated the money (prize, salaries and advertising contracts of players, invested funds of investors and the revenue of e-sports companies in 2018).
- We studied the influence factor:
- how many times a player won tournaments and what is his personal statistics;
- how often this or that team is mentioned in the media and what is its status;
- how fast the business grows financially and auditorically;
- how big is the audience of broadcasts and YouTube channels, is the tournament being prestigious, etc.
- We interviewed independent journalists specializing in e-sports, as well as representatives of popular resources: Cybersport.ru, Cyber.Sports.ru, Kanobu, Igromaniya.
The result was a list of the most influential people in e-sports in Russia and the post-Soviet space according to Forbes. Perhaps after reading it you will stop scolding children for playing too much.
10. Yaroslav Komkov
Age: 33 years
Co-founder of Winstrike Holding
Company / Organization: Winstrike
Before trying himself in the e-sports field, Yaroslav worked in the film industry and journalism. He helped the publication Sports.ru with the promotion of the e-sports section, which eventually developed into an independent project.
This was followed by the creation of the Gamer Stadium club, however Komkov and his senior partner diverged, and Yaroslav had already launched the Winstrike project on his own. This holding organizes tournaments, assists teams with finding sponsors, and deals with many other eSports related activities.
In September, in the capital under the patronage of Winstrike, the stage of the world BLAST Pro Series series on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was held. The prize pool amounted to 250 thousand dollars, and the sponsors of the tournament were such brands as Toyota, Samsung and others.
9. Alexey Solo Berezin
Age: 29 years
Games: Dota 2
Company / Organization: ESforce Holding (Virtus.pro)
The captain of the Dota 2 Virtus team did not always strive for victories. Perhaps gamers have forgotten, but Runet remembers the story from 2013, when Berezin bet one hundred dollars on the loss of his team and received 322 dollars.
When the organizers of the tournament found out about this, Solo was disqualified for life. However, he pleaded guilty, apologized, and the period of ineligibility was reduced to a year. This was remembered as a meme “322”, which means a match in various e-sports disciplines.
Now, being one of the strongest players in Dota 2, not only in Russia but also in the world, Solo has consistently demonstrated a good game, and even in failure for Virtus.pro The International 2019 has done everything in his power, according to Cybersport. ru.
8. Daniil Zeus Teslenko
Age: 31 years
Games: CS: GO
Company / Organization: Na’Vi (until 2019)
Not many manage to win the CS: GO World Cup at least once. And Daniil Teslenko, the captain of the Na’Vi team, succeeded five times. With the proud title of a five-time champion, he left the esports arena in 2019.
By the way, this year Teslenko released the book “Contrary to. The path to victory ”, in which in the first person talks about his long and winding path to the top of the game glory.
7. Anton Cherepennikov
Age: 36 years
Co-founder of ESforce Holding
Company / Organization: ESforce Holding (until 2019), IKS Holding
One of the most famous people in Russian e-sports has actively contributed to the revival of Virtus.pro club and helped it develop into one of the largest e-sports organizations in the world - ESforce holding.
However, in 2019, Cherepennikov decided to move away from the world of e-sports and focused his efforts on his multidisciplinary IT structure, IKS Holding, whose interests lie in the field of telecom media and technology.
6. Roman Dvoryankin
Age: 33 years
General Manager Virtus.pro
Company / Organization: ESforce Holding
The main e-sports club of Russia Virtus.pro is always at the hearing. But how many people know who controls it? Well, if you didn’t know, then it’s time to get to know each other.
Roman Dvoryankin, with the help of investments by Alisher Usmanov (5th place in the rating of the most influential persons in e-sports in Russia) and using his own managerial talents, allows Virtus to stay afloat and successfully compete with foreign clubs.
Under his strict supervision, the Virtus.pro team participating in Dota 2 tournaments won the most famous victories. Which, however, did not stop her from breaking up after an inglorious performance at The International 2019. Two ex-“virtuosos” - Roman RAMZEs Kushnaryov and Pavel 9pasha Khvastunov transferred to other teams.
5. Alisher Usmanov
Age: 66 years old
Investor, ESforce Holding
Company / Organization: ESforce Holding
Although Alisher Burkhanovich himself is from the generation that did not play computer games, he actively contributes to the development of e-sports in the former USSR.
Owned by Usmanov, Mail.ru Group acquired the leader of Russian e-sports - the holding company ESforce - for $ 100 million. And in 2019, she transferred 51% of the shares of ESforce to the international publisher of games Modern Pick. But not for money and not for free, but for a "small share" in Modern Pick. The Vedomosti edition rated it at 16%.
4. Alexander Kokhanovsky
Age: 36 years
Na’Vi founder, DreamTeam, co-founder of ESforce Holding
Company / Organization: Na’Vi, DreamTeam
Cyber war in the well-known Ukrainian teams eXtremely Bad and GSC Pro-Team by Alexander Kokhanovsky is a thing of the past.
And in the present - work in the Zero Gravity Group, which includes the e-sports club Na’Vi and the DreamTeam platform, which helps novice e-sportsmen to find team mates, hone their playing skills, as well as earn virtual rewards and real money.
3. Vitaly V1lat Volochay
Age: 33 years
ESports commentator
Company / Organization: Maincast
Commentators love and hate almost the same way as athletes in any sport. And computer games are no exception. Vitaliy Volochay is the most popular commentator on esports competitions in the post-Soviet space.
Behind Volochai is a long experience of commenting in various disciplines, as well as participation in the RuHub project (he was one of its co-founders). However, last year this studio, along with other ESforce assets, was acquired by Mail.ru Group, and Vitaly, together with another ex-RuHub representative Andrei x3m4eg Grigoryev, founded his own company Maincast in Kiev.
2. Alexander S1mple Kostylev
Age: 22
Games: CS: GO
Company / Organization: Na’Vi
In 2018, Alexander became the strongest CS: GO player in the world according to HLTV.org, one of the leading Counter-Strike-related sites. So far, not a single athlete from the republics of the former USSR has been able to take away his title from S1mple.
And although rumors periodically appear that Kostylev intends to leave Na’Vi, his cooperation with the main e-sports club of Ukraine has been successfully continued from 2016 to the present.
Esports Earnings estimates Alexander’s prize pool of at least $ 540,000. And his salary can reach tens of thousands of dollars a year.
1. Roman Ramzes Kushnarev
Age: 20 years
Games: Dota 2
Company / Organization: Evil Geniuses
Not every young man in Russia can boast that he earned over 1.7 million for his career through his own efforts, and it is precisely this amount, according to Esports Earnings experts, that Roman Kushnarev received in the form of prizes for all his games starting in 2015.
Roman is the first Russian esportsman to become the Head & Shoulders brand ambassador (mass promoter).
He is also the first player in the post-Soviet space to score 10 thousand points in Dota.
Ramzes started playing this game at school to kill time. And he received his first fee of 1000 rubles for local tournaments in the club of Novokuznetsk. It was unlikely then that the young man thought that at the age of 18 he would be able to buy an apartment for tournament fees.
Roman does not plan to rest on his laurels. Having parted with the Russian Virtus.pro team in September, he switched to the American Evil Geniuses. According to Cyber.Sports.ru, the amount of this transfer (with bonuses) is from 250 thousand to 300 thousand dollars.
