Skillz Announces Top Mobile eSports Winners of 2016

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Skillz, the worldwide leader in mobile eSports, today announced the top mobile eSports winners of 2016. The Skillz platform runs over 500,000 tournaments a day for more than 10 million players. The top winners in 2016 stood out amongst the large user base by dedicating their time and energy to win over $1.8 million.

The top finisher, LLYW999, is from Michigan. However, California is the most represented area, with three of the top ten players hailing from the state. The remaining victors are residents of New York, Texas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma. On average, the top ten players competed in 16 different Skillz-powered games during the year, and played at least one tournament 275 days out of the year.

Top Winners in 2016

1. LLYW999 – $390,323
2. Chris_930 – $201,591
3. Jwrober – $180,982
4. Jerd – $175,308
5. 2016xxww – $162,215
6. RoseLe – $160,771
7. Cdolma – $158,729
8. greenboo – $149,315
9. mammo19 – $143,345
10. roseliu32 – $137,539

Nine of the top ten winners qualify for the top 100 players across the entire industry based on total prizes won in 2016, according to eSportsEarnings.com. The top mobile player, LLYW999, was the 5th highest eSports earner in the U.S. By comparison, the top "League of Legends" player, Faker, has averaged just under $225,000 per year since he started competing in 2013, and the top "Counter Strike: Global Offensive" player, f0rest, made $137,650 in 2016.

"Our players spend an average of 58 minutes a day competing on the Skillz platform, nearly double the 33-minute casual mobile gaming industry average," said Andrew Paradise, CEO and founder of Skillz. "Mobile eSports are growing to comprise a larger part of the industry every day. In fact, 2016 was the first year that one of the top five eSports was a mobile game."

Skillz rewards players at every level of competition through acclaim, social recognition and prizes. Organized competition is the first step in transforming a game into an eSport, and a gamer into an athlete. The Skillz platform makes fair and fun mobile eSports competition accessible to everyone, allowing the world's 2.1 billion mobile gamers to become eSports competitors.

"The money I've won from mobile eSports has gone to everything from medical bills to a new car," said Alex Heitmann, the top winner on the Skillz platform in 2016. "I own a carpet cleaning business, but it's nice to know that the hours I spend playing eSports also amount to something that I can consider a profession. It's the combination of money, fun and competition that keeps me coming back."

For more information on Skillz-enabled games and implementing mobile eSports competitions, visit www.skillz.com or email [email protected].

About Skillz
Skillz is the leading mobile eSports platform, connecting the world's 2.1 billion mobile gamers through competition. As the eSports provider for over 3,000 game studios, Skillz accounted for more than 30 percent of all eSports prizes awarded in 2016 while broadcasting over 40 million minutes of gameplay to spectators worldwide. Skillz makes games better by powering the competitions that players love and giving developers the chance to turn their game into the next great electronic sport. Founded in 2012, Skillz is headquartered in San Francisco and backed by leading venture capitalists as well as the owners of the New England Patriots, Milwaukee Bucks and New York Mets. To learn more, visit www.skillz.com.

Press Contact
Roxie Bostwick
PR Manager
Skillz Inc.
[email protected]

SOURCE Skillz

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