KSI and Sidemen Rank Among UK’s Wealthiest Gamers in Sunday Times List
YouTube sensations KSI and the Sidemen have been recognized as some of the richest gamers in the UK, ranking alongside the creators of globally popular games like Candy Crush, Minecraft, and Grand Theft Auto. The Sunday Times’ inaugural Gaming Rich List has placed KSI, whose real name is Olajide Olatunji, and the Sidemen at joint 21st with a combined fortune of £50 million.
Leading the list are the Bukhman brothers, Igor and Dmitry, co-founders of Playrix, who top the rankings with an astonishing combined wealth of £12.54 billion, thanks to hits like Township, Fishdom, and Homescapes. The list features some of the most influential figures in the gaming world, with over a quarter of the entries being under 35, and an average age of 45.
The list also includes other prominent gaming personalities such as PewDiePie, the Swedish vlogger Felix Kjellberg, who is based in Japan but has several companies in the UK. He ranks 25th with a fortune of £45 million.
In the fourth spot are Dan and Sam Houser, the minds behind Rockstar Games and the hugely successful Grand Theft Auto series, boasting a combined fortune of £350 million. Notably, the top 10 also features Riccardo Zacconi, Mel Morris, and Sebastian Knutsson, the developers of Candy Crush, a game that has been downloaded over three billion times since its release 12 years ago.
Among the top earners are also Paddy Burns and Chris van der Kuyl, the developers behind the Xbox version of Minecraft, each holding a fortune of £150 million, placing them jointly in the 11th spot.
The list highlights the gender disparity in the gaming industry, with only three women making the cut. The highest-ranking woman is Wendy Irvin-Braben, co-founder of Frontier Developments, who, alongside her husband David, holds a joint worth of £175 million, placing them 10th.
Other notable entries include Debbie Bestwick, the former CEO of Team17, known for games like Worms and Overcooked, who ranks 13th with £130 million. Tamsin O’Luanaigh, co-founder of the virtual reality company nGames, also made the list, coming in at 28th with a joint worth of £26 million.
Robert Watts, who compiled the Sunday Times Gaming Rich List, noted that while making a fortune through video games may seem like a dream to many, the list reveals the real-life success stories of those who have turned that dream into reality.
