Top 10 Female eSports Players (Highest Paid) Ranked

eSports continues to be a lucrative side of gaming. Throughout the world, gamers convene in tournaments, competing against one another for the top crown. While gaming may have previously dotted more male participants, slowly but surely, female participants are joining in on the hype. According to a spokesperson for DaddySkins, women only make up 46% of all casual gamers worldwide. But more concerning is that in 2019, female eSports players were only 5%. As a result, the eSports industry has been encouraging more full-female teams, with prominent female players from diverse backgrounds emerging.

Today, we have both male and female eSports players competing in different types of games for huge cash prizes. Thanks to a recent study by DaddySkins, we can rank the top ten female eSports players based on each player’s total earnings from tournaments. It allows us to determine the most successful female eSports players based on the games they have played and the number of tournaments they have competed in. So, who are the top ten female eSports players across the board? 

10. Nina Qual

Nina Qual from the US has racked up $94.9K in total earnings. She’s been diligent in gaming, taking on 174 tournaments, the second-highest on this list. Out of the 174 tournaments, Nina received $5,000 as the largest cash prize from the Gold Series International 2016 on March 26, 2016. Still, Scarlett took on 280 tournaments and scooped up nearly five times Nina’s total earnings. Nina makes it to the top ten female eSports players, with Starcraft II among the most prominent games for which she has won the most cash prizes.

9. Alexis Guarrasi

Alex Guarrasi, also from the U.S., has garnered up to $95.2K in total earnings. She’s only participated in 17 tournaments, making her total earnings all the more impressive. While she has played multiple games, Alexis is most proficient in playing Valorant and currently plays for the Shopify Rebellion team.

8. Melanie Capone (meL)

Tied in eighth place with Alexis Guarrasi is Melanie Capone, also known as meL, from the U.S. With $95.2K in total earnings, she cements herself among the best female eSports players. More so with only 17 tournaments that she’s participated in. Besides competing in the same number of tournaments, Alexis and meL also play the same game, Valorant. She’s one of the most prominent competitive Valorant specialists and currently plays with meL on the Shopify Rebellion team.

7. Julia Kiran (Juliano)

meL is followed swiftly by Julia Kiran, who also goes by Juliano. She’s a professional eSports player from Sweden who has managed to scoop up $98.2K in total earnings. Juliano did take up more tournaments to the tune of 52 while also competing in a wider range of games, including CS:GO, Dota 2, and Heroes of Newerth. During the VCT 2022: Game Changers Championship, Juliano placed first, earning her a whopping cash prize of $36,000. At the time of writing, Juliano leads Team Secret. 

6. Michaela Lintrup (mimi)

In sixth place is Michaela Lintrup, or mimi, from Denmark. She makes it to the most successful female eSports players with a whopping $100,000 in total earnings. These have been cash prizes from 40 tournaments, 12 less than Juliano’s record. Still, mimi has kept up to speed with diversifying her gaming portfolio, with Valorant and CS: Go among the games she’s finessed.

5. Petra Stroker 

Petra Stroker, an eSports player from the Netherlands, joins the top female eSports players ranking with a blistering $101.2K in total earnings. Despite the higher reward, Petra only took part in 32 tournaments. Still, she’s dabbled in multiple first-person shooter games, including brushing off her skills in CS: GO and Valorant.

4. Katherine Gunn (Mystik)

As the competition stiffens, Katherine Gunn from the U.S. makes a name for herself in fourth place with a whopping $122.5K in total earnings. She also goes by the in-game name, Mystik, and has only competed in seven tournaments. In the tournaments, she has shown the most prowess in Call of Duty and Dead or Alive 4. Doubtlessly a force of nature, Mystik takes home the crown for the highest-earning average female eSports player. 

3. Ksenia Kluenkova (vilga)

Third place was a close call, with Ksenia Kluenkova, or vilga, from Russia, earning just a few thousand dollars more than Mystik. She made $123.2K in total earnings. Having competed in 61 tournaments, vilga had better luck. Ultimately, her prowess paid off when she won championship games for CS: GO, Counter-Strike and Counter-Strike 2.

2. Li Xiaomeng (Liooon)

A much bigger gap remains between vilga and Li Xiaomeng, also known as Liooon, from China. She’s made a staggering $241.5K in total earnings. More impressively, she has only competed in nine tournaments. Among the games she has played is Hearthstone, a turn-based card game that is somewhat of an outlier from the more popular first-person shooter genre most female eSports players gravitate toward. She’s sharpened her skills in Hearthstone, so much so that she won the flagship Hearthstone Grandmasters Global Finals. Alongside her victory came the overwhelming recognition of becoming the first female to win any major competition at BlizzCon across any BlizzCon title. For her efforts and hard work, Loooon scooped up a whopping grand prize of $200,000.

1. Sasha Hostyn (Scarlett)

The gap between Liooon and Sasha Hostyn, or Scarlett, from Canada further widens. She made nearly twice as much as Liooon, to the tune of $471.2K from all the tournaments she played in. In fact, Scarlett took part in more tournaments than any other player on this list, summing up to 280 tournaments. While she plays multiple games, her most popular go-to is the sci-fi strategy game, Starcraft II. Scarlett’s efforts have surely paid off, crowning her as the most successful female eSports player worldwide. 

So, what’s your take? Do you know other successful female eSports players? Let us know over on our socials here.