• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 13:42
CET 19:42
KST 03:42
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
RSL Revival - 2025 Season Finals Preview8RSL Season 3 - Playoffs Preview0RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups C & D Preview0RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups A & B Preview2TL.net Map Contest #21: Winners12
Community News
SC2 All-Star Invitational: Jan 17-1812Weekly Cups (Dec 22-28): Classic & MaxPax win, Percival surprises1Weekly Cups (Dec 15-21): Classic wins big, MaxPax & Clem take weeklies3ComeBackTV's documentary on Byun's Career !11Weekly Cups (Dec 8-14): MaxPax, Clem, Cure win4
StarCraft 2
General
SC2 All-Star Invitational: Jan 17-18 Chinese SC2 server to reopen; live all-star event in Hangzhou Weekly Cups (Dec 22-28): Classic & MaxPax win, Percival surprises Starcraft 2 Zerg Coach ComeBackTV's documentary on Byun's Career !
Tourneys
OSC Season 13 World Championship $5,000+ WardiTV 2025 Championship $100 Prize Pool - Winter Warp Gate Masters Showdow Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Winter Warp Gate Amateur Showdown #1
Strategy
Custom Maps
Map Editor closed ?
External Content
Mutation # 506 Warp Zone Mutation # 505 Rise From Ashes Mutation # 504 Retribution Mutation # 503 Fowl Play
Brood War
General
BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ I would like to say something about StarCraft What monitor do you use for playing Remastered? BW General Discussion (UMS) SWITCHEROO *New* /Destination Edit/
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL21] LB SemiFinals - Saturday 21:00 CET [BSL21] WB & LB Finals - Sunday 21:00 CET Small VOD Thread 2.0
Strategy
Fighting Spirit mining rates Simple Questions, Simple Answers Game Theory for Starcraft Current Meta
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Awesome Games Done Quick 2026! Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Mechabellum Beyond All Reason
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas Survivor II: The Amazon Sengoku Mafia TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread The Games Industry And ATVI Russo-Ukrainian War Thread 12 Days of Starcraft Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine
Fan Clubs
White-Ra Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread [Manga] One Piece
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List TL+ Announced Where to ask questions and add stream?
Blogs
National Diversity: A Challe…
TrAiDoS
I decided to write a webnov…
DjKniteX
James Bond movies ranking - pa…
Topin
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1430 users

2022Balloon Donation Rankings for SC Korean BJ - Page 2

Forum Index > BW General
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 Next All
Qikz
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
United Kingdom12024 Posts
March 09 2023 08:15 GMT
#21
On March 09 2023 15:34 MeSaber wrote:
Without capitalism everyone would be sitting on their asses doing nothing. It incentivize creativity and innovation.


I... I'm not going to even attempt to argue with this but this is just completely wrong.
FanTaSy's #1 Fan | STPL Caster/Organiser | SKT BEST KT | https://twitch.tv/stpl
Blargh
Profile Joined September 2010
United States2103 Posts
Last Edited: 2023-03-09 09:16:34
March 09 2023 09:15 GMT
#22
On March 09 2023 16:39 oxKnu wrote:
Keep in mind that this is South Korea where a common above-average salary is 110K/yr.

It's a high-income country. Probably the highest where BW actually has/had a following. I actually think that's one of the reasons the game is not dead yet.

It might be common for a tech employee to make north of $100k (USD), but the median household income is around $20-25k USD, with decently employed people making around $40k USD/year. Their cost of living is definitely lower than most US cities, but it's expensive relative to the median income.

I'm always skeptical of these streamer numbers, but if it's true, they're all doing incredibly well. Even sOs over here making a living off of balloons.

Britney obviously has a huge following, but it's always amazed me that there are still so many people interested in watching people play this old-ass game. Stuff like Melee is popular in the west despite it's age (and I'd argue it aged way better), but there are only 3 melee streamers that reach 6 digits from streaming. There just isn't that kind of widespread support. Odd how these things end up. I guess a lot of Koreans just really like these guys!

Without capitalism everyone would be sitting on their asses doing nothing. It incentivize creativity and innovation.

o ok. Ironically, these streamers are quite literally sitting on their asses and effectively doing nothing.
A.Alm
Profile Joined September 2012
Sweden531 Posts
March 09 2023 09:34 GMT
#23
I don't trust that this is what they're making. It's unreasonable much considering the number of viewers.
TMNT
Profile Joined January 2021
3113 Posts
March 09 2023 10:00 GMT
#24
On March 09 2023 18:34 A.Alm wrote:
I don't trust that this is what they're making. It's unreasonable much considering the number of viewers.

You can verify it yourself. It's quite easy.

At 8-10pm KST, turn on the stream of one of the popular pros (say Shuttle or Bisu) when they crowdfund for Major Proleague (for example https://vod.afreecatv.com/player/99316078?change_second=13619) and see the balloons pouring in.

Look at Shuttle's notepad: that's 8300 balloons per winner (4), which mean 33k balloons in total, which means on average each of the player gathered ~ 400k KRW in 15 minutes (a bit low yesterday, typically it's ~ 500k KRW or even more).

Say a player plays 15 Proleagues per month and win 50% of them, that means he earns 6m KRW per month from Proleague alone, not counting other donations during their stream (sponmatches, or when they have a good game), prize money from tournaments, sponsorship, ads, youtube revenue, etc. It's not hard to imagine the average top pros earn 10m KRW per month.
TMNT
Profile Joined January 2021
3113 Posts
March 09 2023 10:14 GMT
#25
http://eloboard.com/men/bbs/board.php?bo_table=pro_win

This site record (roughly) their earning from Proleague. If you filtered for February:

[image loading]

Most of them earned close to 10m KRW for playing 15-18 proleagues a month (apart from Bisu who won 2 lost 8 lol).
TMNT
Profile Joined January 2021
3113 Posts
Last Edited: 2023-03-09 14:59:34
March 09 2023 11:18 GMT
#26
Right now: Sea is organizing a showmatch (with Rain, Soulkey, ggaemo, and other female BJs) and the amount of donated balloons currently sits at 127k (still increasing) which translate to roughly 10k usd.

[image loading]

Holy shit they ended up hoarding 18M KRW in total prize. Winning team takes it all.
Elroi
Profile Joined August 2009
Sweden5599 Posts
March 09 2023 13:10 GMT
#27
Seems a little strange that they can't organize a more developed regular pro scene with that kind of following though. Awesome that Korea still appreciates the beauty of BW. Best game ever made in my opinion.
"To all eSports fans, I want to be remembered as a progamer who can make something out of nothing, and someone who always does his best. I think that is the right way of living, and I'm always doing my best to follow that." - Jaedong. /watch?v=jfghAzJqAp0
A.Alm
Profile Joined September 2012
Sweden531 Posts
March 09 2023 13:47 GMT
#28
On March 09 2023 19:00 TMNT wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 09 2023 18:34 A.Alm wrote:
I don't trust that this is what they're making. It's unreasonable much considering the number of viewers.

You can verify it yourself. It's quite easy.

At 8-10pm KST, turn on the stream of one of the popular pros (say Shuttle or Bisu) when they crowdfund for Major Proleague (for example https://vod.afreecatv.com/player/99316078?change_second=13619) and see the balloons pouring in.

Look at Shuttle's notepad: that's 8300 balloons per winner (4), which mean 33k balloons in total, which means on average each of the player gathered ~ 400k KRW in 15 minutes (a bit low yesterday, typically it's ~ 500k KRW or even more).

Say a player plays 15 Proleagues per month and win 50% of them, that means he earns 6m KRW per month from Proleague alone, not counting other donations during their stream (sponmatches, or when they have a good game), prize money from tournaments, sponsorship, ads, youtube revenue, etc. It's not hard to imagine the average top pros earn 10m KRW per month.


If the numbers are right then that's really good for brood war. At the same time, a bit sad that the rest of the BW community combined barely generate any money.
redknights
Profile Joined December 2021
206 Posts
Last Edited: 2023-03-09 14:13:16
March 09 2023 14:12 GMT
#29
On March 09 2023 06:50 RowdierBob wrote:
For the guys who make a ton of money but aren’t close to the top tier of players anymore, what are their streams like? Are they more a variety streamer so a bunch of games and lifestyle type stuff?

It’s fascinating what the average joe spends their money on.


The top top earners are more focused on "보라" = abbreviation for "보이는 라디오" = "radio you can see". Streams are based on their entertaining personalities. Britney and Terror are more 보라 streamers who used to play Brood War.

Sea is chiefly a 보라 streamer, but dabbles a lot in BW when opportunities arise, such as the University craze last year and now the burgeoning Academy system growing now.

Rain has gone over to more 보라 than BW, but still plays at times though not competitively

Shuttle might be the best of both worlds, he is extremely popular as a streamer, but also is very involved in the competitive scene with daily proleague participation

Also do not underestimate the power of "큰손" = "big hand" indiviudal donators/viewers who are ridiculously rich and literally throw thousands of dollars at streamers. Even if you aren't popular, if you have some 큰손 donators, you can make a really good living
Elroi
Profile Joined August 2009
Sweden5599 Posts
March 09 2023 19:08 GMT
#30
I'd sure like to become a 큰손 some day...
"To all eSports fans, I want to be remembered as a progamer who can make something out of nothing, and someone who always does his best. I think that is the right way of living, and I'm always doing my best to follow that." - Jaedong. /watch?v=jfghAzJqAp0
sM.Zik
Profile Joined June 2011
Canada2550 Posts
March 09 2023 22:37 GMT
#31
On March 09 2023 01:07 Zografa wrote:
well, average salary in Seoul is about 40k$ per year, so 50 starcrafters earn that or better... what can i say, i think being top50 on earth in BroodWar is pretty damn hard. And to be top5 is almost insane. The skill and practice time is incredible.
I know that some of those that earn above 40k$ are not really top50 but they are close enough.

Also Snow who i consider top1-3 right now is at about average in that list
...


Thing is, the top 50 earners are not the top 50 skilled, at all. Quite a bit of them are there mostly because they are entertaining.
Jaedong Fighting! | youtube.com/ZikGaming
Falling
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
Canada11381 Posts
March 10 2023 00:19 GMT
#32
So is it more the equivalent of the OTV streamers or Valkyrae and Ludwig?
Moderator"In Trump We Trust," says the Golden Goat of Mars Lago. Have faith and believe! Trump moves in mysterious ways. Like the wind he blows where he pleases...
jinjin5000
Profile Joined May 2010
United States1468 Posts
March 10 2023 02:16 GMT
#33
On March 09 2023 16:39 oxKnu wrote:
Keep in mind that this is South Korea where a common above-average salary is 110K/yr.

It's a high-income country. Probably the highest where BW actually has/had a following. I actually think that's one of the reasons the game is not dead yet.


? Where are you getting this info? It's closer to 30-40k
Gescom
Profile Joined February 2010
Canada3505 Posts
March 10 2023 05:35 GMT
#34
Absolutely bizarre..
Jaedong Hyuk || Bisu Jangbi || Fantasy Flash
RJBTV
Profile Joined December 2022
194 Posts
Last Edited: 2023-03-10 10:54:09
March 10 2023 10:46 GMT
#35
On March 10 2023 07:37 sM.Zik wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 09 2023 01:07 Zografa wrote:
well, average salary in Seoul is about 40k$ per year, so 50 starcrafters earn that or better... what can i say, i think being top50 on earth in BroodWar is pretty damn hard. And to be top5 is almost insane. The skill and practice time is incredible.
I know that some of those that earn above 40k$ are not really top50 but they are close enough.

Also Snow who i consider top1-3 right now is at about average in that list
...


Thing is, the top 50 earners are not the top 50 skilled, at all. Quite a bit of them are there mostly because they are entertaining.



Entertainment factor is the most important factor. It is why the entire concept of doing "troll builds vs lower level players" is so much of a success. Koreans find it super entertaining to watch. Its why Snow vs Artosis video got such a huge amount of views on Snow's channel. It has both Snow trolling and Artosis raging and despairing.

600K views.

youtu.be

Or this flash playing fastest map vs 458!!!(a fastest map protoss gosu) with 1 million views because he makes it dramatic.
youtu.be
oxKnu
Profile Joined December 2017
1240 Posts
March 10 2023 12:18 GMT
#36
On March 10 2023 11:16 jinjin5000 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 09 2023 16:39 oxKnu wrote:
Keep in mind that this is South Korea where a common above-average salary is 110K/yr.

It's a high-income country. Probably the highest where BW actually has/had a following. I actually think that's one of the reasons the game is not dead yet.


? Where are you getting this info? It's closer to 30-40k


https://teleport.org/cities/seoul/salaries/

I like to look at "dentist" when comparing salaries around the world. It's a necessity for every human on the planet earth and is actually a good universal metric that is quite resilient to market volatities (location, policy etc)

I did say above average, I'm not talking about unskilled workers. Those are and will continue to be beaten down with garbage wages for the rest of time. (imho)

Fact is, SK is a high income country, especially Seoul. 100K is not the fortune that that would be in East Russia for example.

MeSaber
Profile Joined December 2009
Sweden1235 Posts
March 10 2023 13:04 GMT
#37
On March 09 2023 17:15 Qikz wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 09 2023 15:34 MeSaber wrote:
Without capitalism everyone would be sitting on their asses doing nothing. It incentivize creativity and innovation.


I... I'm not going to even attempt to argue with this but this is just completely wrong.


Good argument.
-.-
MeSaber
Profile Joined December 2009
Sweden1235 Posts
Last Edited: 2023-03-10 13:10:30
March 10 2023 13:09 GMT
#38
On March 09 2023 18:15 Blargh wrote:
Show nested quote +
Without capitalism everyone would be sitting on their asses doing nothing. It incentivize creativity and innovation.

o ok. Ironically, these streamers are quite literally sitting on their asses and effectively doing nothing.


They are providing entertainment just as a movie does.
-.-
Galacsia
Profile Joined February 2020
Chile163 Posts
March 10 2023 15:24 GMT
#39
The numbers have to be somewhat inflated right? I mean, when a team loses in proleague, they have to donate balloons to the winner team if I'm not mistaken.

On March 09 2023 17:15 Qikz wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 09 2023 15:34 MeSaber wrote:
Without capitalism everyone would be sitting on their asses doing nothing. It incentivize creativity and innovation.


I... I'm not going to even attempt to argue with this but this is just completely wrong.

They're providing entertainment to thousands of people who are willingly paying to see someone exploit what they consider valuable, in this case high skill in Brood War and funny personalities.
BeSt / Bisu ftw!!
TMNT
Profile Joined January 2021
3113 Posts
March 10 2023 16:16 GMT
#40
On March 11 2023 00:24 Galacsia wrote:
The numbers have to be somewhat inflated right? I mean, when a team loses in proleague, they have to donate balloons to the winner team if I'm not mistaken.

Yeah but the winning team gets all of that so it's balanced out. Someone like Shuttle who gets a lot of donations but doesn't win a lot may be inflated, but there will always be a Royal or a Light somewhere who benefits from that xD.
Prev 1 2 3 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 1d 18h
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
mouzHeroMarine 454
RotterdaM 407
BRAT_OK 71
JuggernautJason35
RushiSC 35
MindelVK 18
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 21330
EffOrt 674
ggaemo 237
Hyun 49
Aegong 48
PianO 39
Zeus 37
yabsab 27
SilentControl 4
Dota 2
LuMiX1
League of Legends
C9.Mang0157
Counter-Strike
fl0m956
Heroes of the Storm
Trikslyr92
Other Games
Grubby5336
Gorgc3165
FrodaN895
Beastyqt586
B2W.Neo305
ToD236
DeMusliM146
monkeys_forever137
Mew2King109
IndyStarCraft 109
Livibee92
QueenE90
Organizations
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 18 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• StrangeGG 58
• HeavenSC 44
• naamasc241
• Kozan
• Migwel
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• sooper7s
• intothetv
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
StarCraft: Brood War
• HerbMon 38
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
League of Legends
• Nemesis2846
Other Games
• imaqtpie1093
• WagamamaTV325
• Shiphtur166
Upcoming Events
OSC
1d 18h
Korean StarCraft League
2 days
OSC
2 days
IPSL
2 days
Dewalt vs Bonyth
OSC
2 days
OSC
3 days
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
3 days
Replay Cast
4 days
Patches Events
5 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2025-12-29
WardiTV 2025
META Madness #9

Ongoing

C-Race Season 1
IPSL Winter 2025-26
BSL Season 21
Slon Tour Season 2
CSL 2025 WINTER (S19)
eXTREMESLAND 2025
SL Budapest Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 8
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
IEM Chengdu 2025
PGL Masters Bucharest 2025
Thunderpick World Champ.
CS Asia Championships 2025

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S1: W2
Escore Tournament S1: W3
BSL 21 Non-Korean Championship
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
Bellum Gens Elite Stara Zagora 2026
HSC XXVIII
Thunderfire SC2 All-star 2025
Big Gabe Cup #3
OSC Championship Season 13
Nations Cup 2026
Underdog Cup #3
NA Kuram Kup
ESL Pro League Season 23
ESL Pro League Season 23
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.