Former SK Gaming and MIBR CS:GO pro Fernando ‘fer’ Alvarenga has revealed the highest salary he has earned since he started playing.
As the esports industry has grown over the last decade, so has the amount of money that top players earn. With only a few exceptions, salaries in esports are kept secret, and they might only represent a fraction of what players earn.
Last week, former CS:GO player Kenny ‘kennyS’ Schrub revealed that each player attending the Major is likely to earn at least $150,000 through the sale of the event’s in-game items. The five players who win the event, he estimated, could make between $500,000 and $1 million.
Speaking on his stream, fer revealed that his first salary, back in CS 1.6, was just R$ 200 ($40 USD) a month. Fast forward a few years and he was earning approximately $1,000 USD a month at Keyd Stars, though part of that salary was used to cover the team’s expenses in the United States. After that, as his team became one of the best in the world, his salary skyrocketed, hitting $42,000 USD at one point.
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fer did not mention which of the teams he represented offered him that salary. fer is one of the most accomplished CS:GO players in the Americas, with over $1 million in career earnings and two Major titles, both won in 2016.
The Brazilian has been inactive since the 2022 IEM Rio Major, which he attended with Imperial alongside his longtime teammate and friend Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo. Before that, he played for teams like Luminosity Gaming, SK Gaming and MIBR, making HLTV.org’s top 20 Player of the Year ranking in 2016 and 2017.
When asked about how much money a tier-one CS:GO player makes these days, fer gave an estimate of $30,000 USD.