Remember when you were a kid and you just wanted to be the best at Super Mario? Spent all your time perfecting your skills, practicing your speed running, only to be told that it’s not worth anything? You’ll never be able to support yourself on how many Koopas you can kill in less than a minute? Yeah, well guess what mom? That’s bullshit. If you’re into gaming, then you know that Twitch streaming is where it’s at. Some of these guys make a killing at just being awesome at video games and streaming it live, while others do some NSFW things while playing to get some extra attention. Either way, it’s money in the bank.

In case you’re not familiar with Twitch, it’s a pretty novel concept. Gamers stream their games while they play and people subscribe to those channels. The streamer then gets a cut of that subscriber fee (between $2.50-$3) per person, plus tips, donations, sponsorships and ad revenues. They can also monetize their gaming through other channels such as YouTube and Instagram. So yeah, it’s a killing. What makes things muddy, however, is that subscriber numbers are only available to the streamer, so there’s no way to know how much money an actual Twitch streamer is making, unless they disclose it. There’s only rumours and basic math based on available information (Eg. for every 1000 followers, 1 is assumed to be an actual subscriber). In any case, these are the top earning Twitch streamers of 2018, courtesy of TwitchMetrics.net I”m starting a Twitch channel tomorrow.

15) Warframe: Average Weekly Followers: 395K- Average Weekly Viewers: 20,360- Estimated Weekly Income: $1,000-$1,200

14) Dakotaz: Average Weekly Followers: 1,216K- Average Weekly Viewers: 20,708- Estimated Weekly Income: $3,000-$3,600

13) RiotGames: Average Weekly Followers: 2,874K- Average Weekly Viewers: 20,227- Estimated Weekly Income: $7,200-$8,600 (distributed among the various streamers in this channel)

12) Alanzoka: Average Weekly Followers: 725K- Average Weekly Viewers: 21,358- Estimated Weekly Income: $1,800-$2,200

11) Lirik: Average Weekly Followers: 2,080K- Average Weekly Viewers: 21,943- Estimated Weekly Income: $5,200-$6,200

10) RiotGames Turkish: Average Weekly Followers: 511K- Average Weekly Viewers: 23,656- Estimated Weekly Income: $1,300-$1,500 (distributed among the various streamers in this channel)

9) DreamHack CS: Average Weekly Followers: 1,340K- Average Weekly Viewers: 23,550- Estimated Weekly Income: $3,350-$4,020 (distributed among the various streamers in this channel)

8) DrDisRespectLIVE: Average Weekly Followers: 2,224K- Average Weekly Viewers: 24,888- Estimated Weekly Income: $5,560-$6,670 Rumour has it that he’s pulling in between $200-$500K a month from donations, subs, sponsorships and ads.

7) Shroud: Average Weekly Followers: 3,046K- Average Weekly Viewers: 34,384- Estimated Weekly Income: $7,600-$9,100 The same rumours put Shroud at $100K+ at the end of the month.

6) sodapoppin: Average Weekly Followers: 1,883K- Average Weekly Viewers: 35,378- Estimated Weekly Income: $4,700-$5,600

5) Overwatch League: Average Weekly Followers: 914K- Average Weekly Viewers: 35,210- Estimated Weekly Income: $2,300-$2,700

4) TSM Myth: Average Weekly Followers: 2,115K- Average Weekly Viewers: 42,050- Estimated Weekly Income: $5,300-$6,300

3) RocketLeague: Average Weekly Followers: 683K- Average Weekly Viewers: 63,248- Estimated Weekly Income: $1,700-$2,050

2) Bungie: Average Weekly Followers: 519K- Average Weekly Viewers: 87,809- Estimated Weekly Income: $1,300-$1,560

1) Ninja: Average Weekly Followers: 6,121K- Average Weekly Viewers: 105,977- Estimated Weekly Income: $15,300-$18,300 If the name sounds familiar, he’s the guy who played Fortnite with Drake and is reportedly making over $560,000 a month on Twitch.