What is the Salary of a Professional Speedrunner?

Dedicated speedrunners who play games quickly for fans and prizes can earn up to 6 figures annually if they build a large enough audience. However, average speedrunning salaries are generally much lower until you reach top-tier status.

As a passionate gamer and content creator myself, I have researched what it takes to make big money speedrunning professionally. While it is possible to earn a comfortable full-time salary playing games fast, it requires exceptional skill and personality to build an audience.

How Much Do Top Speedrunners Make?

The highest-paid professional speedrunners easily clear over $100,000 per year from a variety of gaming income sources:

• Twitch & YouTube – Top subscribed speedrun streamers earn up to $300k per year from subscriber revenue shares, donations and ad payouts.
• Sponsors – Major brands pay upwards of $5k per social media post or livestream endorsement. Red Bull and game publishers sponsor top talent.
• Tournaments – Record setting speedrun VODs can win 6-figure prize pools at events like Awesome Games Done Quick.
• Merch – Popular speedrunner merch like t-shirts can generate tens of thousands in fan support.

However, it takes serious dedication to reach top-tier speedrunning salary levels:

• Hours Watched – The highest-paid speedrun personalities have cultivated over 100 million lifetime views across Twitch and YouTube.
• Skill – Optimizing games down to 4-5 minute Any% speed runs requires endless grinding to shave off seconds. Expert gameplay commentary keeps audiences engaged for hours daily streaming.
• Personality – Building real connections with fans via camaraderie, humor and updates on life outside gaming is key.

Let‘s break down each of the major gaming salary components for professional speedrunners:

Twitch & YouTube Revenue

As full-time gaming streamers, top-subscribed speedrunners make most of their income from fan support on Twitch & YouTube.

Twitch shares a majority of subscription and advertisement revenue with Partners:

• Twitch takes approx a 30% cut of all subscriptions, with Partners earning $2.50 of $3.50 monthly subs.
• Many fans also donate direct to streamers via PayPal links or services like Patreon.

Based on subscription revenue sharing alone, having 2,500+ consistent subscribers allows full-time streaming as a speedrunner. Of course ad views, sponsors and donations add to earnings.

YouTube supplements income further, especially for uploaded speedrun VOD highlight revenue. Approximately $2 – $7 per 1,000 views is common:

• Popular videos can earn $2-$3 CPM.
• Average videos fall closer to $1 per 1,000 views.
• Short form, mobile gameplays tends to be less profitable.

So within the context of a speedrunner YouTube channel with 10+ viral VOD highlight videos earning an average 3 million views annually, estimated yearly revenue could reach around $30k per year.

Sponsorships & Tournament Winnings

Sponsors and tournaments provide two additional significant income streams for professional speedrunners:

• Sponsors – Speedrunners with strong personal brands often secure deals to promote products live on stream or social media. Top streamers easily make $5k+ per dedicated sponsor endorsement. Red Bull, SteelSeries headsets & game studios sign popular personalities.
• Tournaments – Events like Games Done Quick offer individual level prize pools up to $10k for record speed runs. Top overall tournament payouts can exceed $250k total.

Take prominent speedrunner GrandPOOBear for example:

• POOBear has 30k+ YouTube subs and 2,500+ Twitch subs which brings over $100k in estimated streaming income per year.
• Based on regular product endorsements, sponsor deals likely add around $30k or more annually.
• And POOBear has won numerous GDQ and standalone speedrun events with over $75k in career prize winnings.

So as a collective estimate, over $200k per year in revenue from his personal brand and speedrunning skill is very feasible.

Merchandise Sales

Lastly, merchandise represents an additional income stream for popular speedrunning gamers. Products like t-shirts, hoodies, mugs and posters featuring their personal logos allow fans to directly support their favorite personalities.

Smaller niche creators see a few thousand dollars per year from merch. But prominent gamers like Summit1G generate huge apparel profits given their millions of fans:

• Many of the most followed streamers on Twitch have product lines updated bi-annually.
• Profit margins can easily eclipse 30% with major clothing brands handling fulfillment.
• For example, selling 25,000 merch items per batch with $15 average profit would mean $375k yearly.

So while not every speedrunner prioritizes merchandise, it can provide six-figure income supplementation for top gaming celebs.

Speedrunning Salary Tiers

As we can see from the various income streams detailed, speedrunning professionally offers incredible salary potential in the gaming industry. However, achieving top-tier earnings is unrealistic for most entering the niche.

Here is an overview of estimated speedrunner salary tiers:

Reaching the highest levels of professional speedrunning income requires world-class skill and charisma. But even earning supplemental income equivalent to part-time jobs is achievable for those starting out.

Building an initial viewer base always represents the most difficult hurdle. But with passion for mastering iconic games quickly, sprouting personalities can evolve into full-time gaming celebrities earning dream salaries.

The road is long, but the payout for dedicated speedrun pros can be life-changing. As gaming content continues growing into a multi-billion dollar industry, increasingly lucrative careers emerge for standout creators.