eSPORTS: HOW CAN I BECOME A PRO GAMER?
Playing your favourite game all day long instead of going to the office is the dream of many hobby gamers. And the esports scene isn’t only booming, it has become mainstream. The hype surrounding pro gamers has risen to new heights, with streaming playing a major role. Discussions have even taken place about including esports events at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. According to the YouGov study “Gaming and Esports: The Next Generation” published in 2020, 42% of Germans are familiar with esports, with 7% actively interested in them, monitoring leagues and watching game streams. In this blog article, we want to talk about the things you need to become a pro gamer or to improve your skills as a professional.
Your route to esports
People playing esports do precisely what the name suggests: they play multiplayer games on a mobile device, console or PC on a professional basis. They normally focus on one particular game. When choosing a game, you should decide on the basis of your personal taste. There are strategy games like “Starcraft 2”, including MOBAs (Multiplayer Online Arenas) like “League of Legends” and “Dota 2”, as well as first-person shooters like “Call of Duty” or “Counter-Strike”.
As a beginner, you usually start against individual players online and take part in tournaments. Headset on, game on, and off you go. If you get noticed positively or apply after initial successes as a rookie, you can become a member of a professional team. And this is the best option on your path to pro gaming because the team is trained competitively and participates in renowned competitions and events. It is usual for teams like this to live under the same roof as well as training together.
Incidentally, esports talents will also be supported by scholarships in the future. The esports scholarship set up by the Esports Player Foundation (EPF) together with Deutsche Kreditbank AG (DKB) provides coaching and advice in addition to financial support.
…and your route to success: Teams und leagues
The most important tournaments are organised by the publishers of the games themselves, but software companies and even third-party vendors can also be granted licenses to host smaller competitions. Because electronic games, unlike football, for example, do not have a uniform set of rules, regulating things is a little more complicated. And another important point: despite the undoubted level of professionalism, esports in Germany does not enjoy sporting status in the legal sense.
Overview of the most important leagues:
- The International – Dota 2. The best-known league with prize money amounting to tens of millions.
- League of Legends Championship Series.
- Blizzard – Overwatch League.
- ELEAGUE – Counter Strike: Global Offensive.
- ESL Pro Leagues – Overwatch, Rocket League, CS:GO.
In addition to these leagues, all tied to a commercial operator, there have been several attempts to boost recognition and raise the level of professionalism by forming associations. The ESBD (eSport-Bund Deutschland) in Germany is just such an association and, together with the DeSBL, runs its own league for “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive” and “League of Legends”.
In order to play in the leagues, players must join a team. Just as in conventional sports, there are amateur teams and professional teams. For example, the professional German teams in the ESBD are ad hoc gaming, Alternate Attax, BIG, BLUEJAYS, Euronics Gaming, H2K, Final Gaming, Fraport Skyliners, Sprout, Planetkey Dynamics, Playing Ducks, Unicorns of Love, WAR – Wind and Rain and Wise Wizards.
Professional prospects, advantages and drawbacks of a career in esports
Talking about career prospects is still rather difficult at this point in time. After all, nobody knows how this extremely dynamic scene will develop moving forward. On top of this, the esports industry is extremely fast paced, with few opportunities to continue working in the sector even for successful professional gamers – except perhaps as a coach or manager of an esports team.
The advantages:
- Turning your hobby into your day job
- Attractive prize money
- Easy to get into
The drawbacks:
- Long working days
- Short active career
- Limited use for skills outside industry
It’s not yet possible to study or attend courses in pro gaming, but there are study programmes for esports management.
The prerequisites: Talent and commitment
Gaming every day, the best equipment, lots of money, and fame on social media – this is roughly what the dream of an esports career looks like.
But, of course, that is only reserved for the top representatives of this new industry. It starts small and involves a lot of effort. The job as a pro gamer is harder than many people think.
In addition to the countless hours of daily training, there is also analysis on game strategies, team meetings, and the maintenance of your social media accounts or work on behalf of sponsors. Participation in important tournaments also requires an awful lot of travelling. Don’t be under any illusions – there’s a lot more to it than just gaming.
These skills are essential:
- Good responsiveness
- Analytical thinking
- Discipline and resilience
- Technical competence and good communication skills
The last point in particular is more important than you might think. Anyone with experience of gaming in an MMO is familiar with the shambles that often follows the loss of a match or boss battle. Why did it happen? Bad tanking, insufficient damage, lousy healing? Self-criticism is practically non-existent. Anyone aspiring to be a pro gamer needs to quickly rid themself of this kind of attitude. To continually improve and achieve success, you must have a strong team mindset and the willingness to learn.
It’s also really important to opt for an esports game that you enjoyed playing as a hobby. Already being familiar with all the details and possessing the necessary equipment will give you a crucial advantage as a pro gamer.
Getting better: Your pro gaming equipment– from headset to chair
Equipment plays a key role in pro gaming, as it does in real-world offline sport as well. An uncomfortable chair, poor sound from your headphones, distractions in your immediate vicinity – any of these mean you can kiss your match goodbye.
Alongside your main device (PC or console), you need a really good Internet connection and gaming equipment that best suits your needs.
The right combination of mouse and keyboard gives you optimum control and ideal pressure points without tiring you out too quickly. An adequately sized, high-quality monitor will enable you to identify all the important details and quickly react to any developments. Due to the fact that pro gamers remain seated for hours on end, you need a chair that provides good support and ensures a favourable posture.
And because good sound in general, and particularly the sound effects during a game, can play an absolutely decisive role, choosing the right gaming headphones is crucial.
Daily training, of course, will improve your accuracy, reaction times and strategic decision-making – from which your team will profit. With the right equipment, however, you can gain further advantages that also make you a better player.
Success in pro gaming: Strategy or luck?
Is it that little bit of luck that distinguishes moderately successful pro gamers from the stars of the industry? Yes and no.
It is essential for success, of course, that you opt for the right game and the right professional team where you can grow, learn and win. As with any sport, though, strategic considerations are important at the very outset: What am I particularly good at? What exactly do I want to achieve? What are my chances and what can I learn from the mistakes of others?
And, as in any other spectator sport, pro gamers focus on building up a strong presence on YouTube, Twitch and other platforms – a large fan community is more likely to attract sponsors.
So, to sum things up briefly: becoming a pro gamer can be lots of fun and lead to awesome experiences. Getting started takes a lot of effort, of course, but if you can manage the hurdle of at least joining an amateur team, you will soon find out if pro gaming could be a career for you. In any case, we wish you every success!
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