Diaoge exposes S8 season IG players' salaries, which are even lower than office workers. President Wang is actually very stingy.

Brother Diao exposes IG players’ salaries in Season 8, which are even lower than regular office workers. President Wang is actually quite stingy. Recently, streamer “Brother Diao” reminisced about his early club experiences during a live broadcast, discussing the salary situation of IG players back then, sparking discussions among many veteran esports fans. He said that, in his memory, the base salaries of IG team members were not high; ordinary players earned about 8,000 to 9,000 yuan, and the captain around 10,000 yuan. Later, he discussed with the club management hoping to unify everyone’s salaries so that there wouldn’t be too much disparity due to different positions.

According to him, initially, the club wanted to pay the captain a higher salary, but he believed that a team of five players fighting side by side, and match wins and losses are the result of team effort. If there was a significant income gap among teammates, it could affect the team atmosphere. After multiple discussions, the salaries gradually adjusted to a more uniform level. This detail surprised many netizens because, in the public impression, esports clubs are often backed by capital, and players’ incomes should be quite substantial.

In fact, if we go back more than ten years, the overall environment of the esports industry was completely different from today. At that time, professional leagues were just starting, sponsors were limited, and streaming platforms had not yet formed mature monetization models. Many clubs, although quite well-known, had unstable income sources, so the salaries offered to players were usually basic. The real big earnings came from tournament prizes and commercial activities.

Brother Diao also mentioned in the live broadcast that after the team achieved some important results, the club did not, like other teams, significantly increase bonuses or raise base salaries. This surprised many fans because, in many people’s minds, IG was associated with Wang Sicong, and the outside world generally believed that the club had ample funds. However, from the interviewee’s description, the management approach back then was more about “controlling the overall salary structure” to prevent a few high-paying teams from disrupting the salary balance across the league.

This approach actually reflects a reality dilemma of the early esports industry. Many clubs were worried that if one team significantly increased salaries, others would be forced to follow, leading to rapidly rising operating costs. Therefore, some management preferred to maintain a relatively stable salary system rather than constantly raising salaries to retain players.

However, from today’s perspective, such treatment seems somewhat “simple.” Top esports players now earn vastly more than in the past. Besides club salaries, they also have income from streaming contracts, endorsements, and commercial activities. Compared to professional players earning hundreds of thousands or even millions annually today, those early players earning only a few thousand to around ten thousand yuan seem to support their careers purely out of passion.

Because of this, when these stories are brought up again, many veteran players feel emotional. The development of the esports industry to its current scale is inseparable from that generation of players who persisted under less favorable conditions. It was their efforts in gradually increasing the influence of competitions that led to the prosperity of the entire industry later on. What are your thoughts on this?