• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 22:23
CEST 04:23
KST 11:23
  • 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
[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt2: News Flash9[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt1: New Chaos0Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy16ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT30Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book20
Community News
Weekly Cups (March 23-29): herO takes triple6Aligulac acquired by REPLAYMAN.com/Stego Research8Weekly Cups (March 16-22): herO doubles, Cure surprises3Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool51Weekly Cups (March 9-15): herO, Clem, ByuN win4
StarCraft 2
General
Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool What mix of new & old maps do you want in the next ladder pool? (SC2) Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy Aligulac acquired by REPLAYMAN.com/Stego Research Weekly Cups (March 23-29): herO takes triple
Tourneys
RSL Season 4 announced for March-April Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament StarCraft Evolution League (SC Evo Biweekly) WardiTV Mondays World University TeamLeague (500$+) | Signups Open
Strategy
Custom Maps
[M] (2) Frigid Storage Publishing has been re-enabled! [Feb 24th 2026]
External Content
Mutation # 519 Inner Power The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 518 Radiation Zone Mutation # 517 Distant Threat
Brood War
General
Gypsy to Korea Pros React To: JaeDong vs Queen BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ How Can I Add Timer & APM Count? [ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt2: News Flash
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL21] Ro24 Group E [ASL21] Ro24 Group F Azhi's Colosseum - Foreign KCM
Strategy
Fighting Spirit mining rates What's the deal with APM & what's its true value Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Starcraft Tabletop Miniature Game General RTS Discussion Thread Darkest Dungeon
Dota 2
The Story of Wings Gaming Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
G2 just beat GenG in First stand
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 TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
Russo-Ukrainian War Thread US Politics Mega-thread NASA and the Private Sector Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Canadian Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books [Manga] One Piece Movie Discussion!
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion Cricket [SPORT] Tokyo Olympics 2021 Thread General nutrition recommendations
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
[G] How to Block Livestream Ads
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Money Laundering In Video Ga…
TrAiDoS
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
FS++
Kraekkling
Shocked by a laser…
Spydermine0240
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1563 users

KeSPA reveals average salary for progamers - Page 2

Forum Index > SC2 General
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next All
Phredxor
Profile Joined May 2013
New Zealand15076 Posts
December 24 2015 08:01 GMT
#21
On December 24 2015 16:48 WrathSCII wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 24 2015 16:13 Liquid`Snute wrote:
from a non-Korean perspective ~$3000+/month seems to be a crazy strong baseline sc2 salary, especially if it's on top of free housing etc o_o good for the 25 listed in the sample size.


How much does TL pay you?


Clearly Snute is fishing for a pay rise :p

The top 25 will all be pro league regulars and pretty much the best of the best.

The b teamers won't be on very much i imagine
Circumstance
Profile Blog Joined March 2014
United States11403 Posts
December 24 2015 08:01 GMT
#22
Much more respectable than I was expecting. Credit to the respective organizations.
The world is better when every background has a chance.
Charoisaur
Profile Joined August 2014
Germany16062 Posts
December 24 2015 08:13 GMT
#23
Very impressive numbers although I thought the best of the best (Inno, herO etc.)would get more than 100k
Many of the coolest moments in sc2 happen due to worker harassment
A_needle_jog
Profile Blog Joined December 2015
Korea (South)699 Posts
December 24 2015 08:14 GMT
#24
On December 24 2015 16:13 Liquid`Snute wrote:
from a non-Korean perspective ~$3000+/month seems to be a crazy strong baseline sc2 salary, especially if it's on top of free housing etc o_o good for the 25 listed in the sample size.



you should ask for a raise Snute. You are better than most Koreans
http://kr.battle.net/sc2/ko/profile/3949980/1/llllllllllll/
TR
Profile Joined February 2011
2320 Posts
December 24 2015 08:14 GMT
#25
On December 24 2015 16:14 negativedge wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 24 2015 15:17 TR wrote:
On December 24 2015 15:05 BreAKerTV wrote:
Faker easily gets 200k USD a month, if not from playing for SKT, definitely for streaming.

Yeah I'm sure he makes a lot more than some average KeSPA players do, but where did you get that "$200k a month" from? Just curious.


he got it from the same place most people get numbers from: their ass.

That's what I was thinking when I read that comment lol.
Noonius
Profile Joined April 2012
Estonia17413 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-12-24 08:15:59
December 24 2015 08:15 GMT
#26
On December 24 2015 16:48 WrathSCII wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 24 2015 16:13 Liquid`Snute wrote:
from a non-Korean perspective ~$3000+/month seems to be a crazy strong baseline sc2 salary, especially if it's on top of free housing etc o_o good for the 25 listed in the sample size.


How much does TL pay you?


25% comes in a form of TL bias. Or does that only apply to writers? Oh wait, most of them don't get paid in pleb coin, so it must be in 100% bias

Terran forever | Maru hater forever
Wrath
Profile Blog Joined July 2014
3174 Posts
December 24 2015 08:27 GMT
#27
On December 24 2015 17:15 Noonius wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 24 2015 16:48 WrathSCII wrote:
On December 24 2015 16:13 Liquid`Snute wrote:
from a non-Korean perspective ~$3000+/month seems to be a crazy strong baseline sc2 salary, especially if it's on top of free housing etc o_o good for the 25 listed in the sample size.


How much does TL pay you?


25% comes in a form of TL bias. Or does that only apply to writers? Oh wait, most of them don't get paid in pleb coin, so it must be in 100% bias



LOL
Heyoka
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
Katowice25012 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-12-24 08:59:16
December 24 2015 08:48 GMT
#28
Cutting the sample down to 25 makes this seem a little fishy, is it all the A-teamers in those teams? Why not additional teams? Do they explain the sampling in the report?
@RealHeyoka | ESL / DreamHack StarCraft Lead
aQuaSC
Profile Joined August 2011
717 Posts
December 24 2015 09:11 GMT
#29
Now let's pump more money into Korea instead of scene with almost non-existent salaries /s
TL+ Member
AWalker9
Profile Blog Joined August 2013
United Kingdom7229 Posts
December 24 2015 09:15 GMT
#30
On December 24 2015 18:11 aQuaSC wrote:
Now let's pump more money into Korea instead of scene with almost non-existent salaries /s

Yeah cause all A-teamers in the non original KeSPA teams, B-teamers and new comers are retiring because of all the money they're making!
soOjwa has returned to smite all that stand in his way
aQuaSC
Profile Joined August 2011
717 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-12-24 09:58:38
December 24 2015 09:28 GMT
#31
On December 24 2015 18:15 AWalker9 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 24 2015 18:11 aQuaSC wrote:
Now let's pump more money into Korea instead of scene with almost non-existent salaries /s

Yeah cause all A-teamers in the non original KeSPA teams, B-teamers and new comers are retiring because of all the money they're making!


I care about Koreans and their healthy scene is important, but how do these A-teamers going to IEMs taking top spots (they were coming abroad, not these famous B-teamers) are supposed to help lower level scene? Was it about making more room in a team house? "herO, you made that much money on IEMs, how about we switch your salary to some B-teamer in CJ?" I love herO, he's my favorite Korean beside sOs and Zest. And others Maybe KeSPA itself should do something about it, not making it happen at the expense of foreigners who are without any real money support but themselves in most cases.

They are making pretty good money with government behind their backs, and when Blizzard gives more money into scene without Koreans pretty well paid to play this game full-time it's considered "welfare", I thought "welfare" is something that you not fight for but just take every month for nothing, Korean salary to me seems to be more of a "welfare" (even though neither of these things is not and it's laughable and pathetic to consider any of them to be that) than foreign prize pool. Now let me count who can possibly be that well paid among non-Koreans...

I'm just trying to make a point, not ridiculing anything but I just can't help to put it this way, not another. I believe that skill disparity between Koreans and foreigners would be lower if some foreigners were able to make that much money. That would not be the reason, but it would certainly help

EDIT: of course, sample size is pretty small, but I think that even it if took B-teamers into consideration it still would be light-years away as a whole from support foreign scene has.
TL+ Member
739
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
Bearded Elder29904 Posts
December 24 2015 09:35 GMT
#32
On December 24 2015 15:05 BreAKerTV wrote:
Faker easily gets 200k USD a month, if not from playing for SKT, definitely for streaming.

Heh. Give me a good source for it and I'll get you a bottle of fine whiskey. If not, stop spreading misleading informations please.
WriterSalty oldboy that loves memes | One and only back-to-back Liquibet Winner
-Kyo-
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
Japan1926 Posts
December 24 2015 09:36 GMT
#33
All the people on the $300k over 3 year salaries died out
Anime is cuter than you. Legacy of the Void GM Protoss Gameplay: twitch.tv/kyo7763 youtube.com/user/KyoStarcraft/
TL+ Member
Jealous
Profile Blog Joined December 2011
10310 Posts
December 24 2015 09:44 GMT
#34
On December 24 2015 18:36 -Kyo- wrote:
All the people on the $300k over 3 year salaries died out

Did this happen in SC2 as well as BW, or just BW?
"The right to vote is only the oar of the slaveship, I wanna be free." -- бум бум сучка!
ClanWars
Profile Blog Joined February 2014
United States330 Posts
December 24 2015 09:50 GMT
#35
As people have already pointed out in the thread, the sample size sucks and they deliberately cherry-picked their top salaried players and ignored their B-teamers. KeSPA is misrepresenting their numbers.

Make no mistake. Lotta Korean players getting paid very little.
SHOUTcraft Kings - Official account.
OtherWorld
Profile Blog Joined October 2013
France17333 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-12-24 10:03:28
December 24 2015 09:59 GMT
#36
On December 24 2015 16:13 Liquid`Snute wrote:
from a non-Korean perspective ~$3000+/month seems to be a crazy strong baseline sc2 salary, especially if it's on top of free housing etc o_o good for the 25 listed in the sample size.

You really think $3000/month for someone who works every single day 12h+/day is good? According to my quick calculations it makes ~8€/hour, which is more than 1.5€/hour less than the minimum wage in France^^

edit : though I guess it's pretty good compared to many "real" athletes' salaries.
Used Sigs - New Sigs - Cheap Sigs - Buy the Best Cheap Sig near You at www.cheapsigforsale.com
ZAiNs
Profile Joined July 2010
United Kingdom6525 Posts
December 24 2015 10:03 GMT
#37
On December 24 2015 18:59 OtherWorld wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 24 2015 16:13 Liquid`Snute wrote:
from a non-Korean perspective ~$3000+/month seems to be a crazy strong baseline sc2 salary, especially if it's on top of free housing etc o_o good for the 25 listed in the sample size.

You really think $3000/month for someone who works every single day 12h+/day is good? According to my quick calculations it makes ~8€/hour, which is more than 1.5€/hour less than the minimum wage in France^^

You can't really equate playing StarCraft and flying to and playing in tournaments to regular working hours.
aQuaSC
Profile Joined August 2011
717 Posts
December 24 2015 10:04 GMT
#38
On December 24 2015 18:59 OtherWorld wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 24 2015 16:13 Liquid`Snute wrote:
from a non-Korean perspective ~$3000+/month seems to be a crazy strong baseline sc2 salary, especially if it's on top of free housing etc o_o good for the 25 listed in the sample size.

You really think $3000/month for someone who works every single day 12h+/day is good? According to my quick calculations it makes ~8€/hour, which is more than 1.5€/hour less than the minimum wage in France^^


You forgot to take free housing, food, coaches and free trips into your quick calculations, and you could support your 12h+ work day with some schedule (I believe that some play that much, but you can't compare sc2 to a regular work, or if you can, how exactly does it compare?).
TL+ Member
OtherWorld
Profile Blog Joined October 2013
France17333 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-12-24 10:06:50
December 24 2015 10:04 GMT
#39
On December 24 2015 19:03 ZAiNs wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 24 2015 18:59 OtherWorld wrote:
On December 24 2015 16:13 Liquid`Snute wrote:
from a non-Korean perspective ~$3000+/month seems to be a crazy strong baseline sc2 salary, especially if it's on top of free housing etc o_o good for the 25 listed in the sample size.

You really think $3000/month for someone who works every single day 12h+/day is good? According to my quick calculations it makes ~8€/hour, which is more than 1.5€/hour less than the minimum wage in France^^

You can't really equate playing StarCraft and flying to and playing in tournaments to regular working hours.

Yeah, on second thought I edited my post. After all, many sportsmen, even ones good enough to get Olympic medals, have salaries way below 3K$/month, and that's when they can afford not to have a job to survive

On December 24 2015 19:04 aQuaSC wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 24 2015 18:59 OtherWorld wrote:
On December 24 2015 16:13 Liquid`Snute wrote:
from a non-Korean perspective ~$3000+/month seems to be a crazy strong baseline sc2 salary, especially if it's on top of free housing etc o_o good for the 25 listed in the sample size.

You really think $3000/month for someone who works every single day 12h+/day is good? According to my quick calculations it makes ~8€/hour, which is more than 1.5€/hour less than the minimum wage in France^^


You forgot to take free housing, food, coaches and free trips into your quick calculations, and you could support your 12h+ work day with some schedule (I believe that some play that much, but you can't compare sc2 to a regular work, or if you can, how exactly does it compare?).

Yes, your points are true. For the schedule, my only source is DLO's interview with Solar (here : http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/starcraft-2/470686-solar-interview-at-msi-beat-it ), where Solar states : "Now I play like 40-50 games a day. That's around 12 hours."
Used Sigs - New Sigs - Cheap Sigs - Buy the Best Cheap Sig near You at www.cheapsigforsale.com
aQuaSC
Profile Joined August 2011
717 Posts
December 24 2015 10:16 GMT
#40
On December 24 2015 19:04 OtherWorld wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 24 2015 19:03 ZAiNs wrote:
On December 24 2015 18:59 OtherWorld wrote:
On December 24 2015 16:13 Liquid`Snute wrote:
from a non-Korean perspective ~$3000+/month seems to be a crazy strong baseline sc2 salary, especially if it's on top of free housing etc o_o good for the 25 listed in the sample size.

You really think $3000/month for someone who works every single day 12h+/day is good? According to my quick calculations it makes ~8€/hour, which is more than 1.5€/hour less than the minimum wage in France^^

You can't really equate playing StarCraft and flying to and playing in tournaments to regular working hours.

Yeah, on second thought I edited my post. After all, many sportsmen, even ones good enough to get Olympic medals, have salaries way below 3K$/month, and that's when they can afford not to have a job to survive

Show nested quote +
On December 24 2015 19:04 aQuaSC wrote:
On December 24 2015 18:59 OtherWorld wrote:
On December 24 2015 16:13 Liquid`Snute wrote:
from a non-Korean perspective ~$3000+/month seems to be a crazy strong baseline sc2 salary, especially if it's on top of free housing etc o_o good for the 25 listed in the sample size.

You really think $3000/month for someone who works every single day 12h+/day is good? According to my quick calculations it makes ~8€/hour, which is more than 1.5€/hour less than the minimum wage in France^^


You forgot to take free housing, food, coaches and free trips into your quick calculations, and you could support your 12h+ work day with some schedule (I believe that some play that much, but you can't compare sc2 to a regular work, or if you can, how exactly does it compare?).

Yes, your points are true. For the schedule, my only source is DLO's interview with Solar (here : http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/starcraft-2/470686-solar-interview-at-msi-beat-it ), where Solar states : "Now I play like 40-50 games a day. That's around 12 hours."


I hope you didn't take my post as an attack on you or anything :s

I believe that Blizzard is trying to emulate a little what was happening in Korea when BW was gaining popularity. Big prizes can draw attention and possible small infrastructure not focused on "making content" or "creating stories", but on playing the game. Good stories are created on their own. And I still hope that foreign scene can be competitive to Korean when it's developed from the bottom, not when it's about picking best local players and boosting them up in Korea like it happened in beginning of SC2 - there were tendencies to do that even with Lilbow for last Blizzcon, or at least it was mentioned, where they initially wanted to use Korean environment to let him practice for it. But in the end he didn't practice at all ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
TL+ Member
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 4h 37m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
RuFF_SC2 197
NeuroSwarm 141
StarCraft: Brood War
ggaemo 96
NaDa 29
JulyZerg 13
Dota 2
capcasts153
LuMiX1
League of Legends
JimRising 643
Counter-Strike
tarik_tv3312
minikerr9
Other Games
summit1g11597
shahzam393
ViBE113
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick1108
BasetradeTV83
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 17 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Hupsaiya 80
• Sammyuel 78
• davetesta44
• Kozan
• Migwel
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• sooper7s
• intothetv
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
StarCraft: Brood War
• Azhi_Dahaki28
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota21477
League of Legends
• Doublelift5412
Other Games
• Scarra2046
Upcoming Events
RSL Revival
4h 37m
Cure vs Rogue
Maru vs TBD
MaxPax vs TBD
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
11h 37m
BSL
16h 37m
Afreeca Starleague
1d 7h
Wardi Open
1d 7h
Replay Cast
1d 21h
Sparkling Tuna Cup
2 days
Kung Fu Cup
3 days
The PondCast
4 days
Replay Cast
4 days
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
5 days
CranKy Ducklings
6 days
BSL
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Escore Tournament S2: W1
WardiTV Winter 2026
NationLESS Cup

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
CSL Elite League 2026
ASL Season 21
CSL Season 20: Qualifier 2
StarCraft2 Community Team League 2026 Spring
RSL Revival: Season 4
Nations Cup 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026

Upcoming

CSL 2026 SPRING (S20)
IPSL Spring 2026
Acropolis #4
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
CCT Season 3 Global Finals
IEM Rio 2026
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.