Twenty-five-year-old Ioannis Theodosiou is the top-earning South African e-sports player. His winnings to date amount to $196,451 (R3.7-million). Theodosiou, who goes by the player name JT, won most of his money by playing Counter-Strike Global Offensive. CS:GO is a first-person shooter game.

Half of the South Africa’s top 10 highest-earning pro gamers also compete in the same game.

Football games such as Fifa and Rocket League, where soccer is played with flying cars, are responsible for 39% of the winnings. Julio ‘Beast’ Bianchi ranks third on the earnings list with $73,020 in winnings from Fifa 21.

The current most-successful pro gamer in terms of earnings is 30-year-old Johan Sundstein from Denmark, who has won more than $7-million. Sundstein, who plays Dota 2, has played more than 130 tournaments. Dota, which is short for Defense of the Ancients, is a multiplayer online battle arena game.