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- Play Esports for a living, earning money by winning tournaments or through sponsorship
- You'll need to be dedicated and a highly skilled player to reach the top
- Opportunities to travel and to switch into other careers in the gaming or media industries
Professional Esports athletes compete in Esports competitions as a job, usually focusing in on one game or sport. You might play as a self-employed individual, entering tournaments to win prize money and earning additional money from sponsorship or advertising deals, or you might be signed to a professional Esports team where you work for a specific company or sponsor.
DAY-TO-DAY DUTIES
- Training to build up as much gameplay experience and knowledge as you can
- Engaging with fans - many professional Esports athletes have successful Twitch and/or YouTube channels
- Participating in competitive tournaments and relevant press activity to fulfil your obligations to sponsors
DAY-TO-DAY ENVIRONMENT
You may be asked to relocate to a particular area and you might live in a 'gaming house' with your other team members. There may be opportunities for international travel.
You'll need
There are no set requirements for this kind of role, other than that you need to be an extremely skilled Esports player. You can build up your skill and knowledge yourself by playing your chosen game, but it takes real dedication and many, many hours of gameplay to reach professional standard so you'll need to be really committed. For those who are really dedicated though, this can be a fantastic route to a highly paid career in an exciting and growing industry. You'll need to be highly skilled to reach the very top.
To get started you'll need to find an Esport that you enjoy and have some ability at and then train hard. You may also want to start to build your own media presence by setting up your own YouTube or Twitch channels and starting to engage an audience. Skilled players with strong follower numbers on social channels are more likely to attract better advertising and sponsorship deals.
As in many sports, amateur players often start out by playing in amateur teams and tournaments and this is where they are scouted by professional teams.
Some professional Esports players work with an agent who negotiates contracts for them to help them get the best deal.
CAREER PROSPECTS
After being an Esports athlete, you could go on to become an Esports coach or a shoutcaster/host.