The top 10 Skillz mobile esports players won a combined total of $33 million in prize money.

However, the amount of money won is not the most interesting aspect of this list provided by the esports platform. In a male-dominated sector, seven out of the top 10 players are female – including the No.1 earner HestiaX from New Jersey, who took home $5.3 million.

Furthermore, HestiaX was the top-earning esports athlete in 2019 – her prize money came to a total of $3.96 million last year. Across the entire industry, HestiaX is ranked sixth in mobile esports earnings.

The top-earning male of 2019 was ShawnG23; he brought in $3.95 million. For the last decade, he finished third with a total of $4.3 million.

Four out of the top 10 Skillz players of the last decade come from New York. Two of the best competitors for the previous year come from the same state, while a further two hail from California.

Skillz determines its top competitors through the total tournament prizes won by each player. Entry fees competitors may have paid to enter tournaments are excluded.

Getting competitive

Mobile esports is on the rise and have been for the past couple of years. Earlier this month, pro gaming firm the Esports Players League received $1 million in funding – the money will be used to help the ESPL move into more countries. In 2019, mobile app company Strafe got an investment of $3 million for an esports companion app.

It is expected that esports will generate more than $1 billion in revenue in 2020. It is thought that titles such as PUBG Mobile and Garena Free Fire have aided in the surge in popularity for mobile esports.

Last month, LVP published a guest post looking at why investors do not understand what opportunities esports provide.