Skillz says the top mobile esports winners took in $33 million over the past decade.

Skillz: Mobile’s top esports athletes won $33 million in the past decade

The top mobile esports athletes won $33 million in the past 10 years, according to mobile esports platform Skillz. And seven of the top 10 players are women.

Skillz said that the No. 1 player in the world for its mobile esports platform in 2019 is Jennifer “HestiaX” Tu. She ranks sixth on the list of the world’s top-earning esports players across the entire esports industry. She won $3.96 million in 2019 and $5.33 million during the past decade in mobile esports.

Top mobile esports athletes of the decade:

The top mobile esports winners of the decade.

“The growth of esports prizes and prestige reflects a new digital age where billions of people are playing mobile games,” said Andrew Paradise, CEO and founder of Skillz, in a statement. “The top 10 mobile esports athletes of 2019 have tripled their earnings, winning $24 million compared to the $8 million of 2018’s top players — a testament to the growth of Skillz and esports as a whole.”

Top mobile esports athletes of 2019

The top mobile esports winners of 2019.

“I never imagined that I’d become one of the top mobile gamers in the world,” said Jennifer ‘HestiaX’ Tu, a Harvard University senior, in a statement. “Skillz lets me flex my video game talent and take it to the highest level, competing against millions worldwide.”

Esports prizes have also increased across the board, increasing by 32% from 2018 to 2019. Esports athletes such as Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf, the 2019 Fortnite World Cup champion, earned $3 million this year in a single tournament — winning more prize money than Tiger Woods did at the 2019 Masters.

The top Skillz competitors are ranked based on total tournament prizes won by each player, excluding any entry fees paid to enter those tournaments.

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.