Competitive gaming is already a multimillion-dollar industry that continues to grow. Professional gamers can make millions of dollars and have influence over adults, teens, and kids all over the world. The top eSports influencers play games such as Dota 2, Counter Strike” Global Offensive, and League of Legends. Just as the players are well known, team owners, coaches, and commentators are also pretty popular. Check out the top eSports influencers and see why they’re gaining such a large following.
25 Top Esports Influencers
Gabriel Toledo (FalleN)
Gabriel Toledo, also known as FalleN, is arguably one of the most influential people in the Brazilian eSports scene, and possibly the world. He’s made a name for himself largely playing Counter Strike: Source and Counter Strike: Global Offensive. Toledo is a top eSports influencer who also owns an eSports company named Games Academy. He has a strong social media presence with more than 837,000 Twitter followers.
Artour Babaev (Arteezy)
Playing for the Evil Geniuses team, Arteezy is professional Dota 2 player from Canada and one of the top eSports influencers. He has a popular livestream where fans can follow his gaming, listen to music he enjoys, and catch a glimpse of his personality. He has a following of over 685,000 people on Twitter.
Fernando Alvarenga (fer)
Fernando Alvarenga is one of the most popular Brazilian eSports players with more than 421,000 Twitter followers. He plays Counter Strike: Global Offensive professionally for MIBR and has participated in more than 56 tournaments. The top eSports influencer also uploads gaming videos and streams to more than 235,000 YouTube subscribers.
Matthew Piper (FormaL)
FormaL is a professional Call of Duty player for OpTic Gaming and one of the top eSports influencers today. He previously played Halo competitively. In 2017, he won the Call of Duty championships and also the eSports Industry Awards Console Player of the Year Award. More than 276,000 fans subscribe to his YouTube gaming channel.
Rick Fox
Rick Fox is a former NBA player, actor, and entrepreneur among other roles. He purchased an eSports organization in 2015, known as Echo Fox, and is credited with changing the entire eSports culture. He has more than 250,000 Twitter followers on his personal account and the Echo Fox account has an additional 87,000 followers.
Clement Ivanov (Puppey)
Puppey is the founder and captain of Team Secret, and one of the top eSports influencers. He’s an Estonian Dota 2 player who is versatile enough to play in every role and has played alongside some of the top eSports players in the world. He’s one of the top eSports influencers with more than 245,000 Twitter followers.
Salehi Takhasomi (KuroKy)
KuroKy is a professional Dota 2 player from Berlin. He is captain of Team Liquid and one of the top eSports influencers. In 2018, he earned the distinction of being the player with the highest earnings in Dota 2 and eSports. In 2017 alone, he earned more than $2.4 million. He has more than 209,000 Twitter followers, making him a top eSports influencer.
Clinton Loomis (Fear)
Clinton “Fear” Loomis is co-owner of Evil Geniuses and is highly regarded for his versatility, having played every position on a Dota team at a competitive level. He’s even coached successful teams of top eSports influencers. His career goes back more than a decade, in which time Fear has gained more than 187,000 Twitter followers.
Amer Al-Barkawi (Miracle-)
Amer Al-Barkawi plays Dota 2 professionally for Team Liquid. In 2016, he was awarded the eSports Rookie of the Year Award and PC Player of the Year Award in 2017 by the eSports Industry Awards. He’s achieved several records in his career and gained a following of 181,000 Twitter followers.
Gustav Magnusson (S4)
Gustav “S4” Magnusson started his career in 2012, and by 2013 he was the top earning eSports player in the world. He started his career with Heroes of Newerth, but now plays Dota 2 professionally. The Swedish gamer is currently a member of the Evil Geniuses team and has over 178,000 Twitter followers.
Peter Rothmann (dupreeh)
Dupreeh is a professional Counter Strike: Global Offensive player for the team Astralis. He has consistenly risen in player rankings each year he’s played, reaching the number 10 spot in 2017 on the HLTV.org rankings. Dupreeh has 165,000 Twitter followers.
Saahil Arora (UNiVeRsE)
Saahil Arora is an American professional Dota 2 player for the team Fnatic. Aside from the inaugural annual Dota 2 championship series, UNiVeRsE has competed in them all. He is one of a handful of players who’s appeared in over 1,000 pro Dota 2 games with a single franchise. He shares his adventures with 162,000 Twitter followers.
Peter Dager (ppd)
Best known for his time playing for and being the CEO of Evil Geniuses, ppd is currently the captain of the OpTic Gaming team. He won more than $2 million in prize money while with Evil Geniuses. Fans keep up with the American gamer on Twitter where he has over 154,000 followers.
Johan Sundstein (N0tail)
N0tail started his professional gaming career nearly a decade ago at just 15 years of age. He started out with the game Heroes of Newerth, but now plays Dota 2 on the OG team. He has more than 149,000 Twitter followers keep up with his life and career.
Mike Rufail
Mike Rufail is a retired professional Call of Duty player, but still an influential person in eSports. In his retirement, he is the owner of Team Envy. His team has been successful in many major tournaments since its founding in 2007. He tweets about gaming, eSports, and tournaments to more than 148,000 Twitter followers.
Kurtis Ling (Aui_2000)
Kurtis Ling goes by the handle Aui_2000 and has played for more than a dozen teams since his career began in 2012. He plays Dota 2 professionally and was part of the Evil Geniuses team that won The International 2015. He’s gained more than 138,000 Twitter followers in his career.
Lee Sang-hyeok (Faker)
Lee Sang-hyeok, known online as Faker, is considered by many to be the best League of Legends player of all time. The South Korean gamer plays for SK Telecom T1 and has won numerous championships since he started his professional career in 2013. More than 120,000 people follow him on Twitter.
Spencer Ealing (Gorilla)
Spencer “Gorilla” Ealing is the 2017 FIFA Interactive World Cup champion, and arguably the best FIFA player in the world. He currently plays for FaZe Clan, the most subscribed gaming team in the world. On Twitter, he has 110,000 followers, but nearly 5 million people worldwide follow his team on YouTube.
Lasse Aukusti Urpalainen (MATUMBAMAN)
Playing for Team Liquid, MATUMBAMAN is ranked number six on the Pro Circuit. He plays Dota 2 professionally, and his team won The International championship series in 2017. He has a following of more than 80,000 people on Twitter.
Ivan Ivanov (MinD_ContRol)
Hailing from Bulgaria, Ivan Ivanov is a professional Dota 2 player for Team Liquid. He’s earned more than $3 million in his gaming career, most of which has been since he joined Team Liquid. He shares photos of himself and Tweets about gaming to more than 52,000 followers.
Maroun Merhej (GH)
GH joined Team Liquid in 2017 and helped the team win The International 2017 and more than $10 million in prize money. As such, he’s also one of the top eSports influencers in the world. More than 45,000 people follow Maroun Merhej on Twitter.
Ricki Ortiz
Unlike most other influencers on this list, Ricki Ortiz has largely competed in offline games — more specifically Street Fighter. She plays professional for Evil Geniuses and has consistently ranked at the top since she began competing in championships in 2003. She has more than 38,000 followers on Twitter.
Sasha Hostyn (Scarlett)
Gaming under the handle “Scarlett,” Sasha Hostyn has earned the distinction as the most accomplished woman in eSports. She plays StarCraft II professionally and represented Canada at IEM Pyeongchang. More than 38,000 people follow her on Twitter.
Revitalize
Australian social media personality, Revitalize, has a strong following in the eSports community. He posts about gaming/entertainment topics, especially those related to OpTic Gaming, to his 29,000 followers on Twitter.
Katherine Gunn (Mystik)
Mystik is one of the top female eSports influencers who made a name for herself playing the game Halo: Reach. She appears in the Guinness Book of World Records and even won the WCG Ultimate Gamer reality show. She has more than 26,000 Twitter followers, but live streams gaming content on YouTube to more than 39,000 subscribers and Twitch to more than 214,000 followers.