5 video game billionaires and how they made their fortunes

Given the enormous growth of the video game industry in the last couple of decades, it is not surprising that some video game entrepreneurs have gotten filthy rich in that time, with some even becoming billionaires and having more millions than you can shake a stick at.

And even if there’s a well-known saying that claims money does not bring happiness, it is hard to argue that becoming a billionaire makes putting up with life’s inconveniences a bit easier at least, and this is something that these 5 billionaires who made their fortunes in the video game industry must know for sure.

5. Victor Kislyi ($1 billion)

If one thing is clear, is that in the world of online multiplayer games, there’s World of Tanks and then there’s everything else. The game lets players choose from a variety of tanks based on real-life models and is immensely popular in countries like Russia, as it allows players to recreate historical battles, letting many fulfil that boy’s fantasy of driving their own tank on a battlefield.

World of Tanks is made by WarGaming, a Cyprus-based company run by Victor Victor Kislyi, a man who’s been into gaming since boyhood and has said to have been inspired by games like Sid Meier’s Civilization as a kid. And Victor Kislyi has risen to fame and fortune thanks to World of Tanks, a game that is free to play but is monetized by add-ons, which players can purchase to gain an edge in the game’s exciting tank battles. This business model has been a wild success, making Kislyi a billionaire in 2016. But perhaps gamers should not be jealous of his fortune as the man claims to live a modest lifestyle, and has shown his commitment to making World of Tanks a better game for its legions of fans worldwide.

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Next: 4. Markus Persson ($1.3 billion)