TL;DR
- Twitch’s 2021 data leak revealed CSGO streamer earnings from 2019-2021, though accuracy remains debated
- gAuLeS leads dedicated CSGO streamers with $2.86M, leveraging Brazilian audience and esports background
- summit1g earned $5.85M as a variety streamer with CSGO origins
- Anomaly’s $908K supports his case-opening content strategy requiring significant investment
- Regional factors heavily impact earnings, with CIS streamers like s1mple earning significantly less despite popularity
The competitive world of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has produced some of Twitch’s most financially successful content creators, with several CSGO personalities ranking among the platform’s elite earners. The streaming landscape underwent unprecedented transparency following a major security breach that exposed detailed financial data across thousands of channels.
This comprehensive leak included precise income figures for numerous CSGO-focused streamers, providing rare insight into the economic potential of gaming content creation. While the data’s reliability has been questioned by various industry figures, it offers valuable perspective on streaming revenue distribution.
| Alexandre “gAuLeS” Borba | $2,863,780.63 |
| JohnPitterTV | $1,215,717.01 |
| Anomaly | $908,794.96 |
| Erik “fl0m” Flom | $727,817.81 |
| TrilluXe | $533,493.81 |
| Jacob “Pimp” Winneche | $330,978.72 |
| Ricardo “boltz” Prass | $215,659.82 |
| Jean “mch” Michel D’Oliveira | $204,424.49 |
| Fillipe “bt0” Moreno | $147,729.10 |
| Leonardo “Laski” Arroyo | $87,433.38 |
| Doutora | $73,356.05 |
| Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo | $69,382.55 |
| Malek “maleK” Bennouioua | $68,396.27 |
| Natacha “nahzinhaa” Hessel | $68,351.21 |
| André “tiburci0” Rossetto | $67,823.44 |
| Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev | $64,082.68 |
| aimbotcalvin | $52,061.29 |
| WarOwl | $51,452.88 |
| buster | $44,646.07 |
Covering the period from September 2019 through September 2021, these figures primarily represent revenue generated through subscriptions, advertising placements, and virtual currency bits. Industry analysts note that additional income sources like sponsorships, merchandise sales, and tournament winnings aren’t included in these totals.
Streamers have expressed conflicting opinions about the data’s accuracy, with some claiming inflated numbers while others suggest underreporting. Twitch officially acknowledged the security incident but hasn’t verified the authenticity of the leaked financial information or confirmed whether payout details were part of the exposed data.
Alexandre “gAuLeS” Borba emerges as Counter-Strike’s premier streaming earner, reportedly generating $2,844,985.18 during the two-year period, positioning him among Twitch’s overall top revenue generators.
His professional background includes competitive experience in Counter-Strike 1.6 during the esport’s developmental era. As a key member of g3nerationX, he competed with one of Brazil’s dominant squads during their peak performance period. His competitive journey concluded with the original mibr organization, where he transitioned into coaching before fully departing professional play.
Obrigado por hoje! Amanha é o dia!!
— Gaules (@Gaules) October 7, 2021
Currently, gAuLeS operates Twitch’s largest non-English broadcasting channel, maintaining strong connections to the CS:GO competitive ecosystem through gameplay and occasional tournament commentary.
However, his influential platform hasn’t always been utilized constructively, exemplified by a 2020 incident where he made unsubstantiated cheating allegations against Chaos Esports Club competitor Simo “Leaf” Mykkänen following a victory over MIBR. He subsequently issued apologies for the claims, though only after Leaf faced weeks of harassment from Brazilian CSGO enthusiasts.
Jaryd “summit1g” Lazar’s reported earnings of $5,847,541.17 across the two-year timeframe present an interesting categorization scenario for “CSGO streamer” definitions. From a technical perspective, arguments can be made that he represents the category’s top performer, having generated more than twice gAuLeS’s revenue during the identical period. He ranks as Twitch’s third-highest compensated creator, trailing only former Overwatch professional turned variety streamer Felix “xQc” Lengyel and the Dungeons and Dragons focused Critical Role channel.
While currently recognized primarily as a variety content creator, veteran viewers remember his competitive CSGO background. He invested considerable time navigating North America’s regional competitive circuit, with his most notable campaign occurring in 2017 as part of Mythic. That particular Mythic lineup attracted substantial Twitch viewership, featuring fellow streamer Erik “fl0m” Flom, who himself ranks 139th among Twitch’s highest earners.
summit1g isn’t unique among popular Twitch personalities who initially built their reputations through CSGO. Former professional player Michael “shroud” Grzesiek’s earnings data was also exposed, revealing impressive figures that might have competed with summit1g’s totals absent his experimental period with the Mixer platform.
Anomaly’s reported Twitch earnings of $908,794.96 over the two-year period support his distinctive content approach. While numerous dedicated CSGO streamers populate the platform, Anomaly arguably represents the most specialized CSGO personality currently broadcasting. This distinction stems from his dual-focused content strategy that combines traditional gameplay with extensive case unboxing sessions.
His streaming format features elaborate celebrations for premium item reveals while overlooking the numerous standard-grade NEGEVs, MP7s, and Galils obtained during these openings.
The actual expenditure required to produce his content streams remains undisclosed, as his most popular broadcasts involve launching hundreds or even thousands of weapon cases in single sessions. Consequently, maintaining consistent revenue streams becomes essential for supporting his distinctive broadcasting methodology.
Throughout the documented timeframe, Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev generated $64,082.68 from his Twitch activities. One of the most significant revelations from the Twitch data exposure was the dramatic variance in streamer compensation based on geographic location.
North American and European creators predominantly control Twitch’s upper income tiers, with select South American personalities interspersed. Conversely, representation from Russian, Korean, and Japanese streaming communities remains limited among top earners, with virtually no presence from Southeast Asian regions.
Although s1mple appears among Twitch’s highest-earning broadcasters, his positioning at rank 3,415 highlights these regional disparities.
Typically, professional esports competitors don’t achieve high rankings among top-earning streamers due to irregular broadcasting schedules. s1mple maintains regular streaming activity and consistently attracts substantial viewership as one of Twitch’s premier Russian-language channels. However, these factors prove insufficient for securing elevated positions on the platform’s revenue leaderboard.
s1mple’s situation isn’t isolated. Russian streamer Buster, distinct from Virtus.pro professional competitor Tımýr “buster” Tólepov, commands similarly large audiences but earned only $44,646.07. This pattern extends beyond CSGO, as legendary Dota 2 professional Danil “Dendi” Ishutin fails to rank within the top 10,000 highest earners despite maintaining strong viewership metrics.
Action Checklist
- Analyze regional market potential before committing to full-time streaming
- Diversify content strategy beyond pure gameplay to increase revenue streams
- Establish consistent streaming schedule to build reliable audience and income
- Research additional revenue sources beyond Twitch payouts
- Monitor industry data leaks and reports for market intelligence
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