The esports scene is awash with inspirational tales of young adults that have earned fame and fortune by simply playing their favourite video games. They are now multimillionaire superstars with huge fan bases, but they often had to overcome several obstacles en route to seizing glory. These are some of the greatest success stories from the competitive gaming scene:
Johan “N0tail” Sundstein
N0tail was just two years old when he first picked up a controller and started playing video games. He started to play Heroes of Newerth competitively as a teenager and enjoyed modest success after teaming up with NoVa and Fly aged 15. N0tail then took the bold decision to drop out of high school in order to fully dedicate himself to esports.
His parents were distinctly unimpressed. “I think they were a bit disappointed,” he said. “Gaming in their time was only something you paid to do, and not something you could ever get paid for doing.”
Yet, N0tail stuck to his guns and eventually won his parents over. He soon switched from Heroes of Newerth to Dota 2, where he played alongside his friends NoVa and Fly on the Fnatic roster. They suffered a string of poor results, forcing N0tail to reassess his options. After a disappointing 13th-14th place finish at The International 2014, he announced he was leaving Fnatic to create Team Secret. He and Fly invited Puppey, s4 and KuroKy to join the team.
Puppey was the clear leader of Team Secret, and he eventually decided to kick N0tail in favour of Arteezy. N0tail joined Cloud9, but they flopped at The International 2015 and Cloud9 released its squad. At this point, N0tail could have given up, but he remained determined to become a Dota superstar. He formed Monkey Business along with Fly, Miracle, MoonMeander and Cr1t-, and the franchise then rebranded as OG.
His teammates all moved on, so OG built a strong team around N0tail, also featuring ana, Ceb, JerAx and Topson. They defied the odds to storm to victory at The International 2018, taking home a first prize of $11.2 million. They successfully defended their crown in 2019, winning $15.6 million in the process. N0tail is now the highest earning esports star of all time, with $6.9 million in career prize money, so his decision to drop out of high school looks inspired.
Dominique “SonicFox” McLean
SonicFox delivered an inspirational speech after he was named Best Esports Player of the Year at The Game Awards 2018. “As you guys also may know – or may not know – I’m also super gay,” he said. “I want to give a super shout-out to all my LGBTQ+ friends that have always helped me through life. Obviously, I’m a furry, so shout out to the furries. Guess all I gotta really say is I’m gay, black, a furry – pretty much everything a Republican hates – and the best esports player of the whole year, I guess. Thank you so much!”
Anyone that thinks they would not be accepted in an esports scene largely dominated by straight white males need only look at SonicFox’s success. He is an icon to millions of people around the world thanks to his colourful personality, his leadership within the LGBTQ+ community and of course his dazzling prowess at fighting games. He is now a five-time Evo champion, having won Injustice: Gods Among Us in 2014, Mortal Kombat X in 2015 and 2016, Dragon Ball FighterZ in 2018 and Mortal Kombat 11 in 2019.
You will find SonicFox among the favourites if you decide to place a wager on a fighting games tournament like Evo in future. You will also see legions of adoring fans hang on his every word when he speaks, making SonicFox a real modern-day icon.
Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf
Bugha shot to fame and fortune when he secured a famous victory in the solo event at last year’s Fortnite World Cup. The 16-year-old from Pennsylvania won $3 million for his exploits and hit headlines around the world.
“This is life changing for him,” said his mother, Darcy, in an interview with ESPN after the tournament. He's been playing video games since he was three, so this is his passion. He told us he could do this, he put his mind to it and he did it.”
Bugha was a high-school student, but he still found time to play Fortnite for six hours a day in a bid to become a pro gamer. His hard graft paid dividends. He went into the tournament as an unheralded player, while most of the focus was on famous streamers like Tfue, but Bugha was head and shoulders above the competition, and he seized a comfortable victory.
Peter “Doublelift” Peng
In 2011, Doublelift wrote a thread on the League of Legends subreddit titled: “Hi, I'm Doublelift, formerly of Team EG and today I became homeless.” He went on to reveal: “I saw this day coming for a while, and I was especially afraid of it happening to me on my birthday, which was about a week ago. I turned 18 on the 19th of this month, and my parents have always threatened to kick me out of the house when I turn 18.”
All he had was a computer, $50 in cash and $50 in his PayPal account. An independent esports content creator called Travis Gafford responded to the thread and offered Doublelift a place to stay. It gave the young man a chance to pursue his dream of becoming an esports star.
He grasped the opportunity, emerging as North America's brightest League of Legends star. Yet Doublelift has still faced extreme adversity – his older brother stabbed his mother to death and almost killed his father – but Doublelift turned to the esports family for support and he has continued to enjoy strong success as an LoL pro.
Artour “Arteezy” Babaev
Arteezy initially hails from Tashkent in Uzbekistan, where the average salary is just $235 per month. However, his family moved to Vancouver when he was young in search of a better life, and he has gone on to become Canada’s most successful esports star.
He was good enough to replace N0tail at Team Secret back in 2015, and the following year he became the world’s top ranked Dota 2 player. He joined up with Evil Geniuses and was part of the team that won the Manila Masters in 2017. They were then third at The International 2018 and they secured a 5th-6th place finish last year.
Arteezy’s career earnings now stand at $2.25 million, which makes him the highest-earning Canadian gamer of all time, ahead of Aui_2000 and Zayt. The 23-year-old is also an extremely popular online streamer, as fans enjoy his outgoing personality, eccentric taste in music and his magnificent skill.