The Top 5 Highest-Paid Pro Malaysian Gamers Of All Time

For many of us, gaming was a huge part of our childhood, and probably still is for many young kids out there today.

However, almost every parent still consider gaming a waste of time. They might have a point though, as only the best of the best are capable of making a living out of gaming.

In fact, professional gamers don’t just make a living out of playing games, the best ones actually earn millions in just prize winnings alone!

Note: All figures are taken from esportsearnings.com. Figures are solely based on prize earnings without accounting sponsorships, salary, tax, and organisation cut into consideration.

Chong "Ohaiyo" Xin Khoo began his 'Dota 2' career in 2012 with MUFC at the age of 19. His big break came in 2013 when he joined the famous Orange Esport Dota 2 team alongside Mushi, kYxY, XtiNcT, and Net. The team managed to make a deep run from the lower bracket to emerge at third place at The International 2013, earning him a cool USD57,488.20 (RM229,950).

2016 turned out to be Ohaiyo's most successful year in his 'Dota' career. He earned USD392,318.80 (RM1.56 million) that year alone, with a huge chunk coming from The International 2016, where Fnatic came in at fourth place.

Currently, Ohaiyo is playing the offlane role for Fnatic.

Hailing from the little fishing town of Tanjung Sepat, Selangor, the 23-year-old became an instant millionaire when his team LGD Forever Young came in third at The International 2017. He brought home USD518,446.20 (RM2.07 million), making up 88.54% of his total earnings.

Ah Fu decided to become a professional 'Dota' player when he turned 20. In an interview with New Straits Times, he said “One day, I told my parents about my plans, and that I would do my best to achieve my dreams. They seemed supportive of my decision and I just went for it... never looked back.” 

Ah Fu moved to China to play for LGD Forever Young in May 2017 and has no immediate plan of moving back to Malaysia for now. He currently plays the support role for the team.

Yeik "MidOne" Nai Zheng, 21, is the youngest one on the list. Even though he entered the professional scene just over two years ago, he is already been hailed as one of the best 'Dota' players in the world. For a brief period, he was the highest-ranked player in the world based on 'Dota's matchmaking rating (MMR).

MidOne began his professional 'Dota' career in December 2015 with Fnatic and helped them to fourth place in The International 2016. He became the first Malaysian 'Dota 2' player to move to Europe when he joined Team Secret in 2016. 

MidOne and his current team, Team Secret, kicked off 2018 in the best possible manner as they won their first tournament of the year, Captain Draft 4.0. Starting the year off by winning USD21,600.00 (RM86,400) isn't too bad, eh?

Currently, MidOne plays the mid role for Team Secret.

If you have been a follower of 'Dota' and 'Dota 2' in the early days, you would definitely know this man. Wong "ChuaN" Hock Chuan picked up 'Dota' as a career way back in 2009 (nine years ago!) when he had to quit playing basketball due to an injury.

ChuaN decided to move to China in 2010 after he received an offer to play 'Dota' professionally with a salary. A year later, ChuaN was approached to join LGD through Jiang "YYF" Cen, whom he described as a "big brother". Later that year, ChuaN moved to Invictus Gaming with three other teammates from LGD.

ChuaN became the first and, at the time of writing, only Malaysian to win The International a.k.a. the most prestigious 'Dota' tournament in the world in 2012 with Invictus Gaming.

Despite being an inactive player since the end of 2016, ChuaN remains the second highest-earning Malaysian gamer. No matter what ChuaN decides to do in the future, he will always remain a legend in the 'Dota' scene forever.

Mushi, Mushi, Mushi. Today, Chai "Mushi" Yee Fung is one of the most respectable and well-known players in the entire 'Dota' scene. Mushi has over 280,000 fans on Facebook and is a role model for many gamers and aspiring pros.

However, pursuing a career in 'Dota' wasn't easy for Mushi as his parents believed that he should've gotten a proper job instead of playing video games for a living. At one point, Mushi’s mother even locked him out of the house for a few hours because he went to play 'Dota' at a cyber cafe. 

"Give me one more year, if I fail, I will find a job," said Mushi to his parents. His parents agreed to his terms, and needless to say, that turned out well for Mushi.

Mushi's career as a professional 'Dota' player started in 2011 when he signed up with Orange Esports.

He came quite close to winning The International on three different occasions, finishing third in 2013 (with Orange eSports), fourth in 2014 (Team DK), and fourth in 2016 (Fnatic).

With Fnatic in 2016, Mushi brought home USD1.4 million (RM5.6 million) in prize money together with Yeik "MidOne" Zheng Nai, Khoo "Ohaiyo" Chong Xin and Adam "343" Erwann Shah and one player from the Philippines, Djardel "DJ" Jicko Mampusti.

He is currently the captain and mid player for Mineski which he joined in March 2017.