Expert Article , Haochen Shi

Gaming For Living: The eSports Frenzy

Playing game professionally is no longer a wild dream

Imagine that you can turn your hobby into a professional job. You can work from home or anywhere you like, and there is no work time requirement. What is more is that you can even become a celebrity with large fan base at the same time earn a sizable income of more than five figures. Most people would concur that this matches a description of an ideal job. Professional gamer is the profession that matches this description. Become a pro gamer is the perfect career for someone with a deep interest in video games.

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How did it all start

eSports, which probably sounds unfamiliar to most of the people reading this, is a term for playing video games competitively at the professional level. eSports includes various genres of video games such as first/third person shooting(FPS/TPS), real-time strategy(RTS) and multiplayer online battle arena(MOBA)(Wikipedia). Today, eSports commonly takes the form of online or offline organized professional tournaments all around the world. eSports companies host tournament such as The International(TI), the Intel Extreme Masters(IEM), Battle.net World Champion series(WCS) and Electronic Sports League(ESL) year-round for professional players, and attracts millions of viewers both online and offline. Professional Gamers compete during these tournaments for the prize money and the acclaims from zealotic eSports fans around the world.

Competitive gaming first appeared in the late 90s, when FPS game Half-life populates the video game world. During that time, many of the competitions tended to focus on sports game and FPS. It was until the rifeness of “StarCraft: Brood War” developed by Blizzard Entertainment that RTS games tournaments begin to exist. However, eSports tournaments remained on small scales in the 90s. At the beginning of the new millennium, Professional video game competitions reached their zenith after a decade with the rise of both more popular competitive games and more popular tournaments (Dot Esports).

Multi-game competitions such as The Electronic Sports World Cup(ESWC) and World Cyber Games(WCG) were the most popular ones. These organizations introduce the concept of professional gaming to different countries and bring gamers worldwide altogether. These organizations founded these tournaments base on the conviction that video games are not just for leisure but should become a profession just like traditional competitive sports. Gamers that participate in eSports should be considered as athletes as well.

With the worldwide expansion of eSports tournaments and the rising of the prize pool for each of them, making a living by playing your favorite video game no longer seems like an adolescence wild dream. With this childhood dream coming true, many of the hardcore gamers aspire to become pro gamers. However, there are many challenges for professional players than merely playing video games.

How to become a professional eSports player

• Pick Your Game.

Like I mentioned before, there are many types of video games that have professional competition. FPS and MOBA games are the most popular ones. FPS games focus more on instantaneous reflections, whereas MOBA games focus more on teamwork, communication, and strategy. Therefore, pick the game that fits your type and passion is a critical first step.

• Join a club

After you can excel in your game and become the top one percent, you can move onto join one of the professional gaming clubs. With the development of eSports, clubs that bring professional gamers together begin to exist. The Evil Geniuses from North America, Team Liquid from Europe and LGD Gaming from China are some of the best-known eSports clubs. These clubs operate just as any professional sports club from traditional sports. They provide a base salary for each signed player and arranges daily affair for their gamers.

Gamers from the same club live and practice together under strict schedule to ensure the best performance during professional tournaments. For a professional player, there are typically three areas of income: base salary, prize money, and streaming income. The latter ones are highly unreliable and fluctuant, often dependent on the gamer’s performance and their ability. Therefore, earning base salaries and having a club that supports them is essential for a player to make a living.

• Hone your skills

As the eSports industry sprouts, many talented gamers join the class of pro gamer. Top competitors will split the prize pool for each tournament with the champion getting the most significant portion. Majority of the gamers are disqualified early in the tournament. Top tier gamers will have to put a ton of hard work to stay competitive to secure sizeable money from the prize pool and even win championships. Dedication and determination for winning the game motivate pro gamers each day during practice.

• Connect with the community

Another essential income for pro gamers comes from streaming revenue. And the stream viewers come from the eSports community around the world. Over one billion of players around the world form the community that supports the entire eSports industry. Successful professional gamers in the gaming community are just like celebrities in our society. Famous gamers stream their daily video games to thousands of fans and viewers through websites such as Twitch.tv. Successful gamers such as Jaryd “Summit1g” Lazar and Michael “Shourd” Grzesiek can attract millions of viewers through their incredible video game talents and skills (Urgo). Professional gamers need to stay connected with the community whether through forums or social media to communicates with fans and expand their fan base. No one can become successful by practicing in a vacuum.

The Future of Professional Gamer

Most definitely, the eSports industry is expanding ever faster in 2018. Several video game giants announced their plan on bringing more games to the competitive level. The global eSports audiences have reached over 300 million. Many fortune five hundred companies show their interests in joining this eSports frenzy. Alibaba, one of the wealthiest companies in the world, has started its own eSports league in the world, and many NFL and NBA teams announced their plans to attend the party and forming eSports leagues for their corresponding sports as well (Barth).

Intel brings eSports competitions to the Pyeongchang winter Olympics is another step for eSports to join the Olympic family(Ioc). The International 2017, a tournament for MOBA game DotA2, had a world-record prize pool of over 24 million dollars and each of the champions claimed over 2.5 million. The top tier pro gamers are making over seven-figures income, and the average professional player income passes five figures. This vibrant industry is creating a lot of opportunities for people who are dedicated to video games. And being a professional gamer is most certainly no longer a wild dream for those hardworking and talented.

Work Cited

Barth, Nicholas. “The NBA, MLS, and NFL Enter Esports With New Competitive Leagues.” Twin Galaxies, 4 Dec. 2017, www.twingalaxies.com/feed_details.php/138.

Dot Esports “The Evolution of ESports.” Dot Esports, 3 Aug. 2017, dotesports.com/league-of-legends/news/the-evolution-of-esports-7693#list-1.

Ioc. “Intel Brings Esports to PyeongChang Ahead of the Olympic Winter Games.” International Olympic Committee, IOC, 2 Nov. 2017, www.olympic.org/news/intel-brings-esports-to-pyeongchang-ahead-of-the-olympic-winter-games.

Urgo. “Top 10 Twitch Users by Followers.” Top 10 Twitch Streamers Sorted by Followers - Socialblade Twitch Stats | Twitch Statistics, socialblade.com/twitch/top/10/followers.

Wikipedia “ESports.”, Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Feb. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESports.