Valve Offers $1 Million Prize Pool For All Future CS:GO Tournaments

When I was a kid, I was sure that I could make a living off of playing video games. Maybe I'd be testing them, perhaps competing in tournaments, or maybe people would just pay to watch me play. I didn't really think through the details, I just knew that I'd make a living off of doing my favorite activity. While I've never actually achieved that dream, there are definitely opportunities out there. And if you play Counter-Strike, your chances of getting rich off of games just got a little better.

Valve has announced that they are increasing the prize pool of every major CS:GO championship to a cool $1 million. That's a huge change from just three years ago, when the prize pool was a mere $250,000. If you've got the chops, that's a lot of money on the line.

The first chance that players will have at getting the million bucks is at MLG Columbus. If you're not familiar, MLG hosts some of the biggest competitive gaming events in the US. The Columbus event will feature 16 teams that compete for the top prizes.

The prize breakdown goes as follows: The champion gets $500,000, second place gets $150,000, 3rd and 4th place finishers get $70,000 each, and 5th through 8th place each get $35,000. Essentially, half of the teams will walk away with a pretty decent amount of cash, courtesy of Valve. The event will run from March 29-April 3rd.

Source: Valve