The salaries of Dota 2 pros are very high and the scene is suffering because of it

As the Norwegian organization HEROIC has recently released on the scene, the financial stability of the experts Dota 2 The scene became a hot topic in the community.

We know that Dota 2 players are filthy rich, while many esports organizations are losing money. That raises the question of whether pro players are being paid too much to click their buttons.

Let’s talk.

To get into the discussion, we must first understand how much professional players actually make. According to former HEROIC player David “Parker” Nicho Flores during a live broadcast on ElMacarius’ channel, he, as a team player at the time, was earning about $15,000 a month.

At the time, his teammates were earning between $9,000 and $12,000 every month. The HEROES also signed 16-year-old Santiago “TaiLung” Agüero Gustavo earlier this year and were paying him around $5,000 to $8,000. TaiLung, being a young rookie, understandably makes much less money than his teammates, but getting paid that much at such a young age to play video games would be anyone’s dream.

Context is also important. HEROIC was a South American team, featuring players from Peru, Brazil and other countries in the region. Salary expectations in SA are naturally lower than in more developed regions such as Europe. KHAWHE was also a middle class team, surrounding the top 10 teams in the world.

With this in mind, it’s safe to assume that European title contenders, backed by the biggest sponsors, are paid bigger bucks than HEROIC did. It wouldn’t be too crazy to think that Tundra Esports, Team Falcons, and Team Liquids of the world could make upwards of $20,000 to $25,000 per month at least. The cost of living in Europe is very high, and these guys are actually winning trophies.

It’s no secret that almost all esports organizations are in the red – no one, except for a very few orgs, makes money.

Not only do the orgs have to pay the players these high salaries, but they also pay for other expenses like training camps. According to Parker, during the same live broadcast, HEROIC will spend another $15,000 to $20,000 on one bootcamp.

Then, you can also consider the flight and meal costs that may arise when teams compete in events, although many tournament organizers help cover these costs.

And when players win tournaments and collect part of the prize pool, the organization doesn’t get it all. Although teams look at it differently, Dota 2’s prize pools have historically been divided into seven categories: five players, one coach, and the organization itself.

So, organizations pay all these costs, and most of them don’t even get a large share of the event’s prize pools. Teams who pay for bootcamp and salary expenses are not even guaranteed to win tournaments. They may end up in last place – or worse – not qualify for events at all.

Of course, prize money is not the only source of income for organizations. They make money from sponsorships plastered on jerseys and potential merchandise sales. This is why most esports orgs take on gambling sponsors – simply because they pay more. And let’s be real, who even buys esports sales? I can tell you with a lot of confidence that very few fans buy things like jerseys.

When we start connecting the dots, the picture becomes clear as to why most teams don’t break through.

HEROIC isn’t the only organization that has recently pulled the plug. We’ve had Team Secret and Wildcard Gaming call it quits, too. And it’s not like things are looking any better.

According to Escorenews, the former Marketing Director of PARI Esports Ivan Burachenko said that the major organization will exit Dota 2 within the next month or two. After that, two more will follow after the International 2026.

He went on to say:

“Even the bookies who own the teams are having a hard time looking at Dota 2 salaries. The $15,000 to $25,000 range for players who win a few Tier 1 tournaments in a season is ridiculous.”

Former professional player and commentator Avery “SVG” Silverman also questioned whether player salaries are reasonable. On his Not for Broadcast podcast, SVG shared his thoughts on the matter:

“I still don’t understand why [organizations] they pay players too much. It just confuses me. Why do these organizations pay so much? You go into the scene, and you’re just paying these 10, 20, 30 thousand players to go to one LAN a year, and you’re like: ‘Oh my God! This is useless!’ Then don’t pay so much.”

If the trend of organizations leaving the scene continues, the future of Dota 2 esports looks bleak.

Of course, players can still qualify and compete in events by making unsponsored stacks. We’ve seen this happen many times before, and some of these teams have had great success. However, these guys also contend with the opposite amount of added stress and uncertainty hanging over their heads.

Without an organization sponsoring them, players have to worry about how they will put food on the table, pay their bills, or have enough money to continue competing a few months from now.

It is very likely that these teams will not have enough funding for training camps, which means that the players may have to dip into their savings to prepare for the events. And all this comes without any guarantee that they will perform well enough to make the investment worthwhile.

Without organizations, it is impossible for most professional players to spend 10 to 12 hours a day grinding Dota 2. At some point, they will have to prioritize stability and consider how they will pay their bills.

Now, I don’t hold a grudge against professional players. It takes tens of thousands of hours to reach that level, and you have to live and breathe Dota 2 to get to the top. Many of these boys have sacrificed their social lives and education for this sport. That level of talent, consistency, and hard work is totally worth the handsome salaries.

But as a fan of esports, I also don’t want to see the whole organization fizzle out in the next few years and watch the scene slowly decline. If Valve won’t step in and do something about it, it ultimately comes down to the orgs and players. And one of the few things we can realistically pull off is lowering player salaries.

Players are also very dependent on organizations, as they receive salaries from them. Sacrificing some salary for job security can be a good move if it means your organization doesn’t randomly fire you and leave you in the dumps.

Alternatively, or at least in parallel, tournament prize pools can also be heavily divided in favor of organizations. This will allow them to recoup some of the cost of sponsoring the bootcamps and running each event.

If nothing changes, the unfortunate reality is that there may be few orgs left to pay those salaries in the first place.