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Top 10 countries with the highest earning prizewinning esports players (Data)


Paxful has analyzed the highest-earning prizewinning esports players from around the world to see which countries have the most esports players per million and where the world’s top gamers are earning more than their country’s average monthly salary.
- China has the highest earning prizewinning esports players in the world compared to salary with gamers earning 1237% of the average wage in the country.
- UK gamers earn on average 225% of the average UK salary.
- Belarus has the most prizewinning esports players per million with 1011.4 esports players per million people in the country.
- The UK has 51.2 prizewinning esports players per million.
- Switzerland is the cheapest country to be a gamer when comparing popular console prices with the average national salary.
The 10 countries with the highest-earning prizewinning esports players
- Prizewinning esports players in China take the lead with the highest earnings compared to the country’s average salary (1237%).
- UK ranks 27 with gamers there earning 225% of the average UK salary.
Rank | Country | % of average salary |
1 | China | 1237% |
2 | Philippines | 1145% |
3 | Brazil | 1014% |
4 | Jordan | 879% |
5 | Argentina | 557% |
6 | Bulgaria | 534% |
7 | Pakistan | 528% |
8 | United States | 515% |
9 | Lebanon | 501% |
10 | Ukraine | 493% |
27 | United Kingdom | 225% |
The 10 countries with most prizewinning esports players per million
- We analyzed the number of prizewinning esports players per million against the population of 109 different countries.
- There are more prizewinning esports players in Belarus than anywhere else in the world.
- The UK comes in at number 24 with 51.2 prizewinning esports players per million.
Rank | Country | gamers per million |
1 | Belarus | 1011.4 |
2 | Malta | 565.8 |
3 | Iceland | 315.8 |
4 | Finland | 279.7 |
5 | Denmark | 274.7 |
6 | Sweden | 258.2 |
7 | Norway | 173.4 |
8 | Estonia | 156.6 |
9 | Latvia | 111.6 |
10 | Singapore | 110.7 |
24 | United Kingdom | 51.2 |
The 10 cheapest countries in the world to be a gamer
- To calculate how affordable a console is, we measured the retail price of each console against the average monthly salary in each country in this study.
- Switzerland takes the top spot in our affordability ranking.
- The UK comes in at number 20 when comparing the console prices to the national average salary.
Percentage of salary | |||||
Rank | Country | Nintendo Switch | iPhone SE | PC | Index |
1 | Switzerland | 6.5% | 7.6% | 16.3% | 3 |
2 | United States | 8.4% | 11.2% | 28.1% | 6 |
3 | Singapore | 9.0% | 13.3% | 30.7% | 9 |
4 | Australia | 10.0% | 14.4% | 33.7% | 13 |
5 | Japan | 10.7% | 16.2% | 34.7% | 18 |
6 | Denmark | 11.2% | 16.6% | 30.9% | 18 |
7 | Hong Kong | 10.2% | 15.0% | 44.7% | 25 |
8 | Canada | 12.4% | 18.6% | 35.8% | 26 |
9 | UAE | 12.7% | 17.7% | 40.8% | 31 |
10 | Germany | 13.9% | 20.4% | 37.0% | 35 |
20 | United Kingdom | 15.0% | 21.4% | 48.2% | 55 |
Methodology:
- The sample of esports players in our analysis consists of every prizewinning player from countries with $20,000 or more in historic tournament wins.
- Esports earnings are sourced from the top-earning players per country for 2019, with a maximum sample per country of 100 players’ earnings
- The retail prices of the products were gathered from various sources, including official brand websites and regional online stores.
- The cost of the gaming PC in our analysis is based on the cost of a Dell G5 Gaming Desktop with a GTX 1660 graphics card.
- Prices may reflect the retail price for a console that is shipped from an international retailer.
- Average monthly salary data was sourced from Numbeo.
- Index score – Countries ranked as a cumulative price ranking per gaming hardware; a lower score = more affordable country.
Source: Latest News on European Gaming Media Network
This is a Syndicated News piece. Photo credits or photo sources can be found on the source article: Top 10 countries with the highest earning prizewinning esports players (Data)

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WSOP Europe Heads To Prague In 2026
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World Series of Poker’s premier European event to be hosted at Hilton Prague from March 31 through April 12
The World Series of Poker® Europe (WSOPE) is proud to announce its new home for 2026: the Hilton Prague in Czechia. The event will take place from March 31 to April 12, 2026, in partnership with King’s Casino Prague.
Continuing its tradition of awarding the most coveted prizes in poker, the 2026 WSOPE will feature 15 gold bracelet events. The full schedule, including event details and buy-ins, will be released soon.
“It’s an exciting rebirth of the World Series of Poker Europe in Prague,” said Ty Stewart, Chief Executive Officer of WSOP. “We have a big ambition to elevate this festival to one of the very best in the world and look forward to welcoming players to a great poker city next April.”
WSOP Europe: A Tradition of Excellence
Since its inception in 2007, WSOPE has celebrated poker excellence across Europe, with past host cities including London, Cannes, Paris, Berlin, and Rozvadov. The list of Main Event champions includes some of the biggest names in the game: Annette Obrestad, John Juanda, Elio Fox, Phil Hellmuth, Adrian Mateos, Kevin MacPhee, and Jack Sinclair.
The 2026 event will also incorporate the revolutionary WSOP+ app, the digital platform designed from the ground up to enhance the player experience.
Further announcements, including exciting online promotions aimed at attracting players globally, will be shared on WSOP.com and via WSOP social media in the coming months.
Exclusive Satellite Tournaments at GGPoker
Players will be able to satellite into the 2026 World Series of Poker Europe exclusively via GGPoker, the World’s Biggest Poker Room. WSOP Express satellite tournaments are available now, offering players a direct path to this amazing event in Prague and other WSOP live events across the globe.
The post WSOP Europe Heads To Prague In 2026 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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Payments Under Scrutiny: Polish Example
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Online gambling continues to thrive in Poland, despite the country’s strict regulatory framework. Virtual casinos and betting platforms still attract players with the promise of easy access and quick winnings. Yet, their operations would not be possible without the involvement of payment institutions that process transactions for entities operating outside the boundaries of the law. Behind the scenes lie not only questions about compliance with Poland’s Gambling Act, but also serious concerns about money laundering and the potential financing of criminal activity.
PSPs Legal Responsibility
The key question remains the legality of actions taken by payment institutions that handle transactions linked to illegal online gambling. Do they, even unintentionally, help such operations thrive? Under Polish law, payment service providers are required to monitor and limit high-risk transactions. In practice, this means that every deposit or withdrawal connected to unlicensed gambling activity should be treated as a red flag. Special attention is also given to transactions made through popular mobile payment systems such as BLIK. While BLIK itself is not a payment institution under Polish law, the banks and financial operators using it are and it is they who bear responsibility for preventing the flow of funds that may support illegal gambling activities.
Clear Legal Framework, Limited Excuses
Polish law leaves little room for speculation here. The register of domains used to offer illegal gambling, the ban on processing payments for unlicensed operators, and the penalties outlined in the Fiscal Penal Code and Criminal Code set clear boundaries of responsibility.
The Anti-Money Laundering Act (AML) and the EU Regulation 2023/1113 require payment institutions to actively monitor transactions, block suspicious transfers, and cut off risky relationships. Guidance issued by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF/UKNF) and the National Risk Assessment, along with its sectoral annex, describes typical abuse schemes and makes it clear that payments directed toward online gambling should be treated as a major warning signal. In practice, this means that financial channels supporting illegal gambling must be identified and shut down before the funds return to players as so-called “winnings.”
And this principle is now being actively enforced. Recently, the Financial Supervision Authority (UKNF) went a step further, issuing a sector-wide warning urging payment service providers to block financial flows to unlicensed operators. In response, Polish payment providers have begun withdrawing support for illegal gambling sites and removing payment options such as BLIK from unlicensed platforms.
The Hardest to Detect: The Intermediary Role
The flow of funds into illegal online gambling can take many forms, depending on the relationships between the parties involved in the transaction. The most difficult to detect, however, is the scenario in which a payment institution acts only as an intermediary within a larger payment chain transferring money between other financial service providers without directly serving the payer or the recipient. Even in such cases, the institution is not exempt from its obligation to continuously monitor and analyse all transactions.
Depending on the type of payment, it should apply different verification methods, all aimed at determining whether executing a transfer on behalf of another provider could, in practice, end up funding entities that organize illegal online gambling. The institution must obtain information from the ordering provider about the recipient, determine whether it is engaged in gambling related activity, and verify its legal status. If red flags arise during the analysis such as missing data in the payment chain, a domain listed in the official register, or the absence of the website from the list of legal operators the transaction should be paused or rejected and properly escalated. This includes raising the risk level, notifying the relevant authorities, or even terminating cooperation. When dealing with correspondent relationships involving other institutions, including those based within the European Union, heightened caution is essential.
Grey Market Fuelled by Inaction
Illegal online gambling would not exist without the support of the payment system. Although the law clearly defines the obligations of financial institutions, in practice it is often these very institutions that knowingly or not enable the flow of money into illegal online gambling. This is why effective identification and blocking of such transactions is crucial, especially within complex payment chains where tracing the connections can be most difficult. Every transfer made in support of illegal online gambling represents not only a legal risk but also real support for the shadow economy that thrives on the lack of vigilance within the financial sector.
This article was supplied by:
Marek is a founder and a head of the legal team at RM Legal Law Firm and Gaming In Poland, jointly providing multidisciplinary and multijurisdictional support for leading international gambling operators in the Polish, European Union, and African markets. His gambling practice includes regulatory support at the pre and post-licensing stage, IT, and taxation services, as well as the unique service of performing a function of a gambling representative. RM Legal is the only law firm in Poland representing offshore companies operating legally in the Polish gambling market. Apart from gambling Marek specializes in corporate commercial law and international investment projects.
The post Payments Under Scrutiny: Polish Example appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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Galaxsys Expands Leadership Team with New Head of Partner Management
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Levan brings over 10 years of leadership experience, including a decade in the iGaming industry, covering both B2C and B2B markets. Throughout his career, he has held key executive roles in Commercial, Product, and Management, successfully building and scaling iGaming products, driving significant revenue growth, and establishing strong partnerships worldwide. His experience spans multiple regions and includes collaboration with leading operators and platforms.
At Galaxsys, Levan will lead the partner management strategy and development, strengthening collaborations with operators worldwide and supporting the company’s mission to deliver innovative, high-impact experiences.
Levan Kavtaradze, the newly appointed Head of Partner Management Department, commented: “I’m truly excited to join Galaxsys at such an important time in its growth journey. My focus will be on building strong, long-lasting relationships with our partners and helping them succeed through collaboration and innovation. I look forward to working closely with our broad network of partners worldwide, understanding their needs, and ensuring that our products and services deliver real value to them. Together with the talented team at Galaxsys, I’m confident we can create new opportunities and achieve new heights.”
Teni Grigoryan, Chief Sales and Partner Management Officer, added: “Welcoming Levan to Galaxsys has been one of the most confident decisions we’ve made. His expertise and human-centered approach, combined with a sharp business mindset and innovative ideas across both product and commercial areas, will be a powerful addition to our team. I’m confident he will foster seamless collaboration internally within our commercial department and externally with our valued partners. We’re excited to see the impact he will make as our new Head of Partner Management.”
With Levan’s appointment, Galaxsys aims to further strengthen its commercial and partner strategies, ensuring operators receive innovative products, seamless integration, and exceptional support.
The post Galaxsys Expands Leadership Team with New Head of Partner Management appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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