CSGO: Past and Present Bounties

We have come a long way. While esports has grown in general, the audience, viewership, and prize money are also larger than before.

Obviously, Dota 2 is still at the top in terms of total prize money thanks to the great work from The International, but besides that, CSGO has also come a long way.

From small convention centers or hotel lobbies, CSGO now has its own events and with bonuses many times higher than in the past.

In 2019 alone (as of May 20), $4,477,522.42 was used as prize money at 109 tournaments (according to esportsearnings.com). When compared to the past, 2014 had 157 events with a total prize pool of $2,710,427.74. Only in the first 6 months of the year, 2019 has more than $ 5 million compared to 2014.

Now compare the facts. In 2014, the ESEA S17 LAN Finals had a prize money of $47,500, a precursor to the ESL Pro League before the expansion and rebranding. In 2019, ESL Pro League Finals has a prize money of $750,000. In just 5 years, the bonus amount increased by $702,500.

In 2013, Valve introduced the CSGO Major. These are tournaments with $250,000 in prize money and this gets the community excited. With 6 Majors, $250,000 each is supported by Valve to create the most prestigious tournament in the sport.

Starting in 2016 with the first North American Major, MLG Columbus, Valve increased that number to $1 million. With seven Majors and two more scheduled, Valve has kept $1 million intact. Increase by $750.00 per Major from 2013-2015 to 2016-2019.

In 2013, after a year of launch, CSGO had a total of 109 events with a total prize pool of $1,451,869.51, just one and a half times more than this year’s one Major. It can be seen that Counter-Strike has come a long way and this shows that CSGO will continue to go even further.