The 15 Highest-Earning Video Gamers (And How Much They Make)

Ninja began his career as a professional esports player, playing Halo 3. It wasn't until he gradually switched over to Fortnite, however, that he began to really increase his fame, subscribers, and viewer count. His channel is one of the most subscribed-to on Youtube.

What pushed Ninja to such heights? Many think it was the infamous stream with Drake, Travis Scott, and JuJu Smith-Schuster, where he broke Twitch's viewer count record that solidified his place atop this list. He currently has around 16 million Twitch followers and is the most followed streamer on the platform.

PewDiePie started his Youtube channel in 2010, with his first videos being mostly Let's Play style walkthroughs of horror games. Fans immediately took to the comedian's sense of humor. Just three years later, PewDiePie became the most-subscribed to Youtube channel. He's recently been involved in some heated controversies around not-so-politically-correct things he's said in his streams.

Since his humble origins making gaming videos, PewDiePie has appeared on numerous talk shows, starred in original series, and made deals with Facebook and Youtube for original content. Even amidst some rough controversies regarding some of the things he's said in the past, PewDiePie's audience continues to grow and stand by him. Just see the image above to get a sense of his support.

Preston (aka PrestonPlayz on Youtube) is one of the youngest on the list. He earned his real fortune showing off hacks to earn diamonds and in-game currency in the popular game Minecraft. Since his start, he's stayed consistent with Minecraft-content aimed at both hardcore crafters and a general audience.

Preston's start on Youtube more than 10 years ago was certainly a slow one. It took a long time to build up his audience with Minecraft, Call of Duty, and good-natured pranks. While gaming has been his bread-and-butter, it's his vlog content that pushed him over the top with earnings. Fans, it turns out, really flocked to this good-natured youngster!

Hawaii-born Youtube sensation Markiplier first won fans' hearts with * let's-play style walkthroughs of survival-horror games like Five Nights at Freddy's*. He has a comedic and jovial personality that drew the attention of Youtube's audience.

Since his humble origins on Youtube, Markiplier has co-hosted and produced numerous series. Like other YouTubers, he expanded his content to include sketch-comedy, voice-overs, and exclusive appearances. He's also well-known for his successful charity streams, where he's raised more than $3 million for cancer research.

Shroud (aka mEclipse) is a Canadian-born streamer and Youtube content creator. He first became known for playing professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with Cloud9. Since then, he's stomped at almost new first-person shooter he could get his hands on and is well-known for his superior aiming ability.

With a Twitch following of more than 8 million and a Youtube subscriber count of more than 6 million, Shroud has proved that expert gameplay will attract the attention of FPS fans. While he has earned quite a bit from esports tournaments, it's really his own content that has been his main revenue source. Recently, he signed an exclusivity deal with Microsoft's streaming platform, Mixer.

English-born Youtube sensation, DanTDM, creates content specifically targeted at children. He plays games popular with kids like Pokemon, Minecraft, and Roblox. He's also a graphic novelist and writer.

It's hard to quantify just how popular DanTDM is with kids. He's even won a few Kid's Choice Awards for his content. He started his own series for YouTube Red called DanTDM Creates a Big Scene in 2017 that features various actors and influencers. However, most of his earnings come from his Youtube channel, which has over 24 million subscribers.

Canadian-born Vanoss really made a name for himself playing Grand Theft Auto V, from which he derives his signature logo. He dropped out of college to pursue his YouTube ambitions full time, much to his parents' dismay but saw success only a few years later when he signed with Jetpack, a multi-channel network.

VanossGaming has his irons in many fires. Not only does he continue to record gaming content for his YouTube channel, but he also serves as the creative director for the game Dead Realm and stars in the YouTube Red series Paranormal Action Squad and Alpha Betas. Needless to say, Fong can afford a pretty sweet haircut.

The Irish-born Jacksepticeye began humbly as a YouTube content creator. It wasn't until the ultra-popular PewDiePie mentioned Jacksepticeye that his channel really began to take off. He's known for his comedic vlogs and Let's Play videos of popular games.

Jacksepticeye became one of the initial members of PewDiePie's network, Revelmode, which might explain his controversial defense of the anti-Semitism of PewDiePie. He's now on the Disney Digital Network, hosting conferences and gaming events run by Disney. He's also known for doing many charity streams that earned many millions for charities worldwide.

Betar is an American-born Twitch streamer known for his broadcasts and play of various first-person shooters like Counter-Strike and Fortnite. He has an unbelievable 6+ million followers on Twitch.

With the release of Fortnite, many Twitch streamers saw their numbers skyrocket. And Betar reaped the same benefits, becoming one of the most popular streamers for the game. He's since signed a deal with Monster Energy and has even appeared with Ninja in a Super Bowl commercial.

American-born Nickmercs began his career in the late 2000s with his expertise in Gears of War and later as a professional Halo esports athlete. He's well-known for his aggressive playstyle and dialogue on his Twitch streams and YouTube videos.

Moving past his origins in Gears and Outlast, Nick joined first the infamous 100Theives as a content creator, next to the FaZe Clan. He's had numerous offers from other streaming platforms but stuck with Twitch. He's accrued earnings from Fortnite tournaments, but most of his earnings come via his YouTube channel and Twitch following.

Chilean-born Germán Garmendia is the owner of two successful YouTube channels: HolaSoyGerman and JuegaGerman. Combined, his channel subscriber count is over 80 million! He is one of the biggest Spanish-speaking YouTubers and personalities.

Fans enjoy Garmendia's unique sense of humor and have supported him even amidst controversies involving sub-botting. He's won the "Icon of the Year" prize from MTV Millennial Awards in 2014 and 2015. He appears in the Spanish-dubbed version of the Ice Age movie, as well.

While KSI has certainly grown beyond his gaming origins, he began his career with gameplay videos of FIFA. He's an English-born rapper, gamer, comedian, and boxer. He has more than 33 million subscribers and 8 billion views on his two YouTube channels.

Beyond the money he earns from his YouTube content, KSI has also released rap albums and boxed other streamers like Logan Paul on PayPerView. His boxing career alone has garnered him huge sums of money. He regularly runs charity-streams devoted to preventing suicide.

Salvadoran-born YouTuber hosts a Spanish-speaking known for his comedic gameplay of many survival-horror games. His channel features a wide variety of games and gameplay, and he is one of the most popular Spanish-speaking YouTubers.

Fernanfloo got huge over the past few years. He recently announced that he would be working with the famed game developer, Capcom, on a Resident Evil 2 remake. Since incorporating Twitch into his revenue stream, he's seen his annual revenue skyrocket over the past few years. He's also starred in an Ecuadorian film, Dedicada a mi Ex.

ElrubiusOMG is a Spanish-Norwegian Youtuber who, like many others on our list, found success making Let's Play and vlog content. He first garnered fame with his Elder Scrolls 3 walkthrough videos and later through various other games and sketch comedy.

His YouTube channel currently has over 8 billion views and 38 million subscribers! He regularly has celebrity guest appearances on his channel (such as Will Smith). Like many others, his Fortnite content helped him break records for viewership and followers. And...oh yeah...YouTube is making a movie about his life.

Spanish-born De Luque began his career in 2008 uploading Minecraft videos to his Spanish-speaking audience. And while he's diversified his game content offerings some since he first started more than 10 years ago, he continues to release quality Minecraft videos that leave his fans rolling on the floor, laughing! I mean, just look at this GIF to sense of his humorous nature.

Minecraft money equals huge money, apparently, for many on the list. Du Luque's YouTube channel is the second most subscribed YouTube channel in Spain with a whopping 32 million subscribers. As you can see in the picture, he's definitely able to make light of all of the success he's had.