We’re taking a look at the earnings of the top Call of Duty eSports players to see how they compare to salaries in the US and UK army. We’ve found a complete injustice in that pro COD gamers are paid more. This shows you that salaries in our society are random and behave more like a casino dice than reflecting the real social utility of the work that people do.

Call of Duty is the world’s most popular first-person shooter game, with the series selling over 250 million copies, and sales topping over $15 billion.

In recent years, the eSports industry has seen incredible growth, from $325 million in 2015 to $696 million for 2017, and it is estimated to be worth $1.5 billion by 2020. Competitive video gaming has become a career choice for quite a number of players who take eSports seriously.

Last year, the highest earning Call of Duty player was Matthew Piper who won a total of $286,300 in tournament earnings playing Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. Piper’s largest prize from a single tournament was $150,000 when he helped his team to win the 2017 Call of Duty World League Championship.

How do they compare?

So, how does they compare? The Top 10 Call of Duty eSports players earned on average $166,105 (£119,560) from total tournament prizes in 2017.

United Kingdom

The Top 10 Call of Duty eSports players earn over £100,000 more than Recruits in the UK Army (£14,931), who are soldiers in training and over £80,000 more than Sergeants (£33,490). Sergeants have a senior role of responsibility, promotion to which typically takes place after 12 years depending on ability. Sergeants typically are second in command of a troop or platoon of up to 35 soldiers. Most importantly soldiers take a gamble with their lives every day, whereas the worst that can happen to a gamer is a respawn; hardly the same casino odds.

United States

The Top 10 Call of Duty eSports players earn over $140,000 more than Privates in the US Army ($19,199), the lowest military rank and over $130,000 more than Staff Sergeants ($35,698) who are generally placed in charge of squads which are typically made up of 4 to 10 soldiers.

UK Army Salary by Rank & Top 10 COD Gamers Average Tournament Prize

Rank	Salary
Recruits (in Phase 1 training)	£14,931
Private	£18,488
Lance Corporal	£25,524
Corporal	£29,768
Sergeant	£33,490
Top 10 Call of Duty Gamers	£119,560*

*figure converted to GBP from 166,105 US Dollars, correct as of Wednesday 7th March 2018.

 

US Army Salary* & Top 10 COD Games Average Tournament Prize

Rank	Salary
Private (E1)	$19,199
Private (E2)	$21,521
Private First Class (E3)	$25,510
Specialist or Corporal (E4)	$29,185
Sergeant (E5)	$32,029
Staff Sergeant (E6)	$35,698
Top 10 Call of Duty Gamers	$166,105

*based on 4 years experience

Sources:

https://www.goarmy.com/benefits/money/basic-pay-active-duty-soldiers.html

https://www.esportsearnings.com/games/455-call-of-duty-infinite-warfare

https://apply.army.mod.uk/what-we-offer/regular-soldier/benefits

Conclusion

There you have it, salaries in life behave more like a game of chance at Casumo casino and don’t reflect the social value of the job. You can make more money dodging virtual bullets than real ones with the top Call of Duty eSports players being paid more than soldiers in the US and UK army.