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eSports in Russia - statistics & facts

The term eSports, or electronic sports, defines computer game competitions that can be played individually or in a team by amateurs and professionals. Russia followed China and the U.S. as the third highest earning eSports nation. In 2021, Russian players won a total of nearly 22 million U.S. dollars in prize money at tournaments. Furthermore, Russia had the eighth highest number of active competition players among territories worldwide. The revenue of the eSports market in the country was estimated at 35.1 million U.S. dollars in 2022 and was expected to continue growing in the following years.

Leading eSports games and players in Russia

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) and Dota 2 were the eSports disciplines with the highest number of Russian eSporters competing in professional tournaments. As of August 2022, four teams specializing in Dota 2 were among the 10 highest earning professional eSports teams in Russia, with Team Spirit and Virtus.pro occupying the two leading positions. Moreover, Dota 2 players Yaroslav Naydenov (Miposhka), Magomed Halilov (CoLLapse), Alexander Khertek (TorontoTokyo), and Mikhail Agatov (Misha) also made it to the ranking of the 10 leading eSports players in the country in 2022. The ranking’s leader, Danila Yakovenko (Malibuca), competed in Fortnite tournaments.

Video game streaming in Russia

The audience of eSports competitions in Russia was forecast to decline by 2.9 million users in 2022 as a result of restrictions on Russian teams and players due to the invasion of Ukraine. However, it was expected to recover in the following two years and surpass 14 million in 2025. YouTube Gaming was the most popular game streaming site in Russia, used by nearly half of consumers in 2022. It was followed by Twitch, Vk.Live, and Yandex.Efir. Dota 2 led the ranking of the most streamed games on Twitch in the Russian language, at nearly 337 thousand hours in the past month as of February 2023.

Impact of the war in Ukraine on eSports in Russia

In response to the war in Ukraine, the European Esports Federation (EEF) and BLAST Premier banned Russian professional eSports teams from competing in their tournaments. Further restrictions were placed by FIFA, Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Rainbow Six Siege. The Electronic Sports League (ESL) sanctioned the eSports organizations affiliated with the government, while the League of Legends (LoL) Continental League in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was cancelled. Twitch stopped paying Russia-based streamers, leading some users to switch to Trovo, the second most popular game streaming platform in Russia in July 2022.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, Mar 8, 2023

Key insights

Forecast eSports revenue in Russia
4.1bn RUB
Highest grossing eSports segment in Russia
Sponsorship & advertising
Russian-language Twitch streamer with the most average concurrent viewers while live
Nix
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Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Revenue of eSports market in Russia from 2017 to 2027, by segment (in million U.S. dollars)

Video Gaming & eSports

eSports revenue in Russia 2017-2027, by segment

Reach of the eSports market in Russia from 2017 to 2027, by segment (in million users)

eSports

eSports reach in Russia 2017-2027, by segment

Leading professional eSports teams in Russia as of March 2, 2023, by total prize money earned in the main discipline (in 1,000 U.S. dollars)

eSports

Most successful eSports teams in Russia 2023, by earnings

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