How Much Do CS2 Teams Earn Monthly?

The dream of a professional career in Counter-Strike 2 seems ideal: grand tournaments, roaring crowds of fans, and impressive salaries. But how realistic are these ideas? How much do CS2 pros make each month? Let’s break it down, based on facts and analysis from 2024–2025.

Team Salaries in 2024

In 2024, analyst Alex "Mauisnake" Ellenberg shared his estimates of the monthly expenses for top CS2 teams. According to his data, which includes the salaries of all five players and a coach, the situation looked like this:

• Vitality — $220,000

• Falcons — $195,000

• FaZe — $190,000

• G2 — $180,000

• Liquid — $175,000

• Astralis — $165,000

• Heroic — $160,000

• NAVI — $155,000

• FURIA — $105,000

• Spirit — $100,000

• Virtus.pro — $100,000

• MOUZ — $95,000

• Complexity — $95,000

• ENCE — $92,000

• BIG — $75,000

• Eternal Fire — $50,000

• The MongolZ — $30,000
  
  

These figures illustrate just how high the cost is to maintain competitive CS2 rosters.

2025: The Salary Gap Widens

In 2025, coach and analyst Aleksandar "kassad" Trifunović spoke about an even greater CS2 salary gap. After GamerLegion’s dominant victory over Team Falcons at PGL Bucharest 2025, he noted:

"One Falcons player earns more in a month than the entire GamerLegion roster does in two months."

According to kassad:

• The entire GamerLegion lineup earns less than $30,000 per month.

• A single Falcons player’s salary in CS2 is around $30,000 per month.

The tournament results clearly showed that money doesn’t always determine the outcome.

It was also revealed that:

• Nikola "NiKo" Kovač was earning over €60,000 per month back in 2023.
  By 2025, his income had risen to around €70,000, including performance bonuses.

Lower-Tier Salaries: Great Talent for Modest Pay

Not all professional players earn six- or seven-figure sums. Young talents and second-tier players often have modest incomes:

• Oldřich "PR" Nový earned around €2,500 with MOUZ NXT and nearly signed a €3,500 contract with BLEED.

• Players like Erik "ztr" Gustafsson and Henrik "sl3nd" Hevesi earn less than €5,000 per month.

• The entire GamerLegion roster combined doesn’t reach €30,000 monthly.

• Even after sl3nd was bought out from Endpoint for over $100,000, his salary remained far from superstar levels.

• Ilya "Perfecto" Zalutskiy, while benched by Cloud9, earned around $50,000 per month despite a reduced contract.

Best and Worst Team Investments

Teams that got the most value for their investments:

• Spirit ($100,000) — IEM Katowice 2024 champions.
  NAVI ($155,000) — PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 winners.

• MOUZ ($95,000) — ESL Pro League Season 19 champions.

Teams with heavy spending but poor results:

• Falcons ($195,000) and Liquid ($175,000) — both failed to qualify for Majors early in 2024 despite massive investments.

Why Majors Should Transition to BO5 Finals

Conclusion

The world of professional CS2 is bright and ambitious, but it also shows that big money is no guarantee of success. Teams that allocate their budgets wisely, focus on good preparation, and build strong teamwork often outperform those who spend millions on star players.

Talent, team synergy, and smart development remain the key factors in achieving victory in Counter-Strike 2.