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The 10 largest console eSports prize pools ever
With the Halo Worlds about to jump to the top, we look at the biggest console tournaments so far.
Fariko.Impact win the Call of Duty Championship
© Activision
The Halo World Championship is just days away and promises to offer up the best Red vs Blue action we’ve seen yet, with top teams from across the globe competing for the title. But bragging rights aren’t all that’s on the line: a hefty $2.5 million is also up for grabs, with the winning team taking home $1 million between them.
As the Halo World Championship is about to cement itself atop of the list, we’ve taken a look at the 10 largest console eSports prize pools so far, with data courtesy of esportsearnings.com. In the case of annual events that have the same prize pool every year we have grouped them together.
10. 2006 MLG Pro Circuit Las Vegas (Halo 2) $180,000
It certainly isn’t surprising that an event from MLG kicks off this list, as they have always been one of the biggest console tournament organisers, but what is surprising is that one of their events from a decade ago still clings on to the 10th spot. Taking place way back in November 2006, the MLG event in Las Vegas offered up $180,000 to the best Halo 2 teams in the world. Carbon ended up taking first place with Final Boss, a team that featured current caster Dave "Walshy" Walsh, taking second.
9. 2008 Championship Gaming Series Season (Dead or Alive 4) $182,000
The Championship Gaming Series was a competitive gaming league that ran for two seasons in 2007 and 2008. The main hook was that this was a televised event, which effectively turned the competition into a reality show based around eSports. There was some serious money on offer, and some relatively big names were involved, such as Dignitas owner Michael “ODEE” O'Dell who owned the Birmingham Salvo team. Dead or Alive 4 featured in both seasons, with the second season offering up $182,000. It was Birmingham Salvo who came out on top in this event, taking $100,000.
8. 2007 Championship Gaming Series Season (Project Gotham Racing 3) $191,000
The first season of the CGS featured Project Gotham Racing 3 as the chosen racing title and offered up a cool $191,000 in prize money. This time it was the Chicago Chimera who came out on top with their team of Wesley "chompr" Cwiklo and Jason "JaSoN-X" Exelby claiming $100,000. ODEE’s Birmingham Salvo only managed to claim joint third and $14,000.
7. 2008 Championship Gaming Series Season (Forza Motorsport 2) $207,000
Once the second season of CGS rolled around, PGR 3 was gone and replaced by Forza Motorsport 2, which many top players transitioned over to. The way the tournament was structured meant that the organisation that did the best across all the games in the series would win, which leaves Birmingham Salvo as the winners once again. Unfortunately the second season would be the last for the CGS, as the show was never recommissioned. While CGS may not be fondly remembered by too many people these days, it should be applauded for consistently putting up big amounts of money, not to mention nabbing valuable airtime on television – something we’re only just starting to see the biggest PC eSports dabble in.
6. 2007 Championship Gaming Series Season (Dead or Alive 4) $216,000
Surprisingly, the biggest prize pool on offer in the CGS was the Dead or Alive 4 tournament in the first season,with the same title receiving $32,000 less in 2008. Regardless it was the Chicago Chimera who ended up winning season one, partly because of their impressive draft at the start of the season, which was held in the Playboy Mansion of all places.
4=. MLG World Finals 2015 (CoD AW) $250,000
Prior to the Call of Duty World League, which is taking place for the first time this year, it was MLG who hosted the biggest CoD league in the world. Their 2015 season culminated in the MLG World Finals, where most of the best teams in the world competed for $250,000. Unsurprisingly it was the American teams that dominated, as is the case with many Call of Duty tournaments and eventually it was OpTic Gaming who came out on top, dispatching rivals Denial eSports in the gripping final.
4=. Capcom Cup 2015 (Ultra Street Fighter IV) $250,000
Sitting in joint fourth place with the MLG World Finals is the 2015 Capcom Cup. Not only was this the largest Ultra Street Fighter IV tournament ever it was the largest fighting game tournament ever in terms of prize pool with a whopping $250,000 on the line. Ryota "Kazunoko" Inoue was somewhat of a surprise winner, taking home $120,000 after beating fan favourite Daigo Umehara in the final.
3. MLG Halo (2007-2011) $280,000
After the success of their 2006 Halo 2 event MLG decided to funnel even more money into the prize pool for their Halo event a year later. The new $280,000 prize pool would then reappear every year until 2011, covering all the major Halo games during that time (2, 3 and Reach). Final Boss, Str8 Rippin, Believe the Hype and eon Instinct would all claim victory over the years, taking home $100,000 each.
2. Halo 4 Global Championship (2013) $300,000
By the time Halo 4 entered the scene the competitive aspect of Halo was beginning to lose steam . In an attempt to rebuild Halo as a major eSports 343 Industries, the game’s developer, and Virgin Gaming partnered up to run the Halo 4 Global Championship and put up $300,000. Somewhat unusually, this was a free-for-all tournament, where players would play alone and not as part of a team. At the event, which took place in Benaroya Hall in Seattle, home to The International 2 and 3, Aaron "Ace" Elam took first place and $200,000.
1. Call of Duty Championship/Call of Duty XP (2011, 2013-2015) $1,000,000
It probably isn’t surprising that arguably the largest console game in the world sits atop of this list. Way back in 2011 Activision held Call of Duty XP, a fan event that offered attendees the chance to try their hand at paintball, off-roading and even see a Kanye West show. But that wasn't all: it also played host to Call of Duty’s first ever million dollar tournament, which OpTic Gaming ended up winning. Jump forward to 2013 and Activision hosted another million dollar event, in the form of the Call of Duty World Championship, which was also repeated in 2014 and 2015. Somewhat surprisingly, OpTic Gaming, one of the most storied CoD organisations ever, never managed to win any of these three events, with Denial eSports, compLexity and Fariko.Impact each taking first place.
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