Top 10 Highest-Paid Professional Female Video Gamers

The professional video game world might be a boys’ club with male gamers accounting for over 70% of frequent viewers and players — and there aren’t a lot of women playing video games professionally. When video games were first developed, the industry was not expected to be a lucrative career option. But over the years, the scenario has changed.
The women who are playing professionally, are certainly making a name for themselves.

Let us take a look at the top 10 professional female gamers in the world.

10. Alice ‘Ali’ Lew — $8K

Alice Lew goes by the name Ali in the community and is a strong contributor to the SK-Ladies Counter Strike Team, which is one of the most well-known names in the game. Lew has helped her team in beating every big contender in Counter Strike. Her first tournament was in 2006, in which she won $800. Two years from then, she partook in the competition again, this time, to earn $4,000. With five tournaments under her belt, there’s no telling how far to the top she’ll go and how many thousands of dollars she’ll potentially earn.

9. Alana ‘Ms. X’ Reid — $10K

Alana Reid is recognized by the name Ms. X in the gaming community and is considered one of the fiercest women to watch out for in the gaming arena. This Canadian woman, who is just one tournament old, took home a whopping $10,000 when she crushed the competition in the game Quake III Arena and successfully secured the position of a runner-up, facing tough competition. Her total earning from gaming worth $10,000 was won by her in this single tournament, showing great skill.

8. Livia ‘Lifje’ Teernstra — $14K

Livia Teernstra assumes the name Liefje when she enters the virtual world of the games. She left her fellow gamers with surprise with her stunning performance in a competition held in New Zealand where she played Quake and Unreal Tournament. She then moved to Europe where she dominated a competition playing the game Dead or Alive 4. She took third place in both tournaments and $14,000.

7. Jamie ‘Missy’ Pereyda — $15K

Jamie Pereyda, a simple-looking girl from the United States, is not so simple once she has a hands and mind in the game of QuakeCon III. Pereyda is known in the world of video games by the name Missy, a strong contender in the game of her choice. She destroyed her fellow gamers at California’s Ms. QuakeCon Quake III competition. In just one tournament, she won a whopping sum of $15,000, her total prize money.

6. Rummy ‘Hafu’ Wang — $16K

Rumay Wang goes by the name Hafu in the gaming world, and is a World of Warcraft world champion. In only 4 tournaments playing the legendary PC role-playing game, she won more than $14,000. While the rest of the world — well, the gaming world, at least — wants to step into her shoes, she has chosen to explore other areas, and taken up Bloodline Champions, in which she has made $2,000 from one tournament. Her total earning is $16,000.

5. Vanessa Arteaga — $20K

Vanessa Arteaga is considered a superstar in the field of video games and was picked first in the draft of the Championship Gaming Series’ list of players for the video game league. She is known to excel in the arena of fighting games, with Dead or Alive 4 being her beat. She took home a cash prize worth $15,000 as the championship prize money in 2008. One year before, she was the champion again in one tournament for the same game that awarded her $5,000. Not a bad payout for playing video games, although it’s safe to assume the competition was extraordinary.

4. Sarah “Sarah Lou” Harrison — $50K

Known in the gaming community as Sarah Lou, Sarah Harrison is the only woman from Britain who have secured a position among the top earning professional gaming women. In 2008, she played one tournament for Dead or Alive 4 and came out at the top. Thanks to her skill, a strong team and countless hours of practice, she won the tournament and took home $50,000 in winnings. She chose Dead or Alive 4 because of its simplicity and cleanness and emerged champion in the one tournament she played, all thanks to the perfect collaboration between her own skills and a strong team, backed by regular practices.

3. Marjorie “Kasumi Chan” Bartell — $55K

Marjorie Bartell, a Software Engineering major, assumes the avatar of Kasumi Chan, inspired by Dead or Alive’s Kasumi. She herself is a Dead or Alive 4 player, and she was on the team that became the Dead or Alive 4 champion in 2007. She walked out of the tournament $50,000 richer. One year before that, she earned herself a runner-up spot for Dead or Alive 4 and won $5,000 for a total of $55,000 in her gaming career.

2. Sasha “Scarlett” Hostyn — $102K

Sasha ‘Scarlett’ Hostyn, one of the most prolific and highly competitive female gamers in the world. Her skillset is sharp especially in StarCraft II, and is a diligence gamer and was dedicated to practising which has certainly paid off — not only in terms of renown in the gaming community but very literally in a healthy amount of cash prizes. She has partaken in about 30 tournaments since 2011, she has won over $100,000 playing StarCraft II. She is known as one of the best StarCraft II players in the world.

1. Katherine “Mystique” Gunn — $122K

Katherine Gunn, who goes by the name Mystik in the world of games, is the highest paid female gamer. In only three years of competitive play of both Dead or Alive 4 and Halo: Reach, Gunn blasted fellow competitors, she defeated top contenders and placed 3rd in 2007, bagged $15,000, and obtained a 3rd position with $7000 in 2008. But everything changed for Gunn in 2010 as she hit the limit and became the highest paid female gamer playing Halo: Reach, earning $100,000, besides fame. In her short career, she is already worth $120,000.

What do you think about these top female video gamers? Let us know in the comment section down below.