Want to Become a Professional Gamer? Here's What You Should Know About Making Money Off Gaming
The gaming industry is worth over a billion dollars. Yes, you read that right—a billion dollars.
Video games used to get a bad rep, as being a useless pass time that turned your brain to mush (or maybe that is what your parent would say to you.) However, now, it is a well-respected sport that takes a lot of concentration, expertise, and discipline.
Esports has become increasingly investable, with many leagues making large profits that attract investors and fans alike. A professional gamer was once the myth of rebellious adolescents, but now it is a full-fledged gold mine.
Here's how professional gaming works.
First, You Have to Find How to You Want Play
Being a professional gamer does take time and motivation; the key to doing it successfully is finding what games you are passionate about and good at.
Find your niche, a lot of games, like League of Legends, are supersaturated in the esports world. However, this does not mean that it is impossible to become a professional at it. If you want to go the traditional route, then you have to find a game that you are good at and learn the ropes.
This means practicing the best combinations and leveling up, in addition to battling worthy opponents. Most games have a tier system, and once you get to a certain level, you are matched to others at the same level as you.
Now That You Know the Game, It's Time to Find Your Strength and Find a Community
Most competitive games offer a variety of positions within the showdown, and you may find that you do better as a melee or even a healer. Finding what role you do best is crucial because it allows you to hone into your shot of being a viable asset to a professional team.
This all means that you are competing against your peers, and can climb the game ladder until you are on the highest level. After this, you may be able to be scouted out for a professional position.
If you want to be found by a coach, you may want to look into discord servers or even amateur teams in your community that hold tournaments. This not only gives you the experience of competition with a ton of eyes on you but also gives you the experience of working in person with a team.
Professional esport leagues are beginning to resemble traditional sporting events. Between the fans chanting, the lights shining on you, and the overall competitive energy in the air, the line between esports and real sports have become blurred.
The two worlds have begun to coexist, and with esports becoming a monster industry, it shows no sign of slowing down. You have to find how you want to play the game and then play it well.
Make Sure You Have the Gear
It's no secret that being a professional gamer requires only the best technology and peripherals. If you want to go pro, you may want to consider investing in a solid gaming desktop that can perform well on high settings.
In addition to having a proper desktop, you also want to make sure you have a gaming chair for optimal comfort - see this gaming chair under 100 - plus a gaming mouse, and a keyboard. Having these components are crucial because if you plan to spend hours a day perfecting your gaming technique, you want to make sure you are comfortable while doing it.
Various gamer-driven brands offer exceptional performance in their products. Professional gamers even endorse most of these brands, so you know that the quality is there.
Having the right gear will set you up for a painless experience, and will also get you in the headspace you need to be in when you are gaming.
How Do Professional Gamers Make Money?
Ah, yes. The million- or in this case, a billion-dollar question.
So, now that you know what you want to play and you have the gear, you now want to learn how professional gamers make their money.
Making money in professional gaming is very similar to traditional sports. Professional gaming leagues offer sponsorships, investments, and tournaments won. These all come together to form a professional gamer's revenue.
However, that is only the traditional route. If you do not want to play on a team, you can always become a streamer. The streaming software Twitch has become immensely popular for amateurs, professionals, and even veteran gamers.
If you do decide to go with Twitch, be sure to use a Twitch bot to help you be more competitive, and these other ways to get Twitch followers.
Streaming as an Income Stream
By streaming on Twitch, you can be a professional gamer without even signing a contract. Twitch offers onlookers subscriptions, so they pay a monthly fee to get extra content from your streams (and even those infamous emotes.)
Additionally, you can also promote ads on Twitch, this way you can pocket that sweet, sweet revenue. Twitch is an excellent resource because it offers a run and entertaining environment for gamers to watch other players.
Being a Twitch streamer is a great way to keep a long career as a professional gamer, as the average length of a professional gamer career is about two years. Though this may be a disheartening reality, maybe players still keep their fanbase alive and well through streaming or even posting their content on YouTube.
Additionally, professional or not, you can also participate in esports betting. You may be thinking, what is esports betting but it is the same as traditional sports betting. You go to an online bookmaker, select esports, and then place your bet on an event that is taking place.
All in all, there are various streams of income that professional gamers can acquire. If you're looking to go pro, make sure you are knowledgable on these resources so you can use them to your advantage.
Can You Be a Professional Gamer?
With this knowledge, you have the resources you need to be a professional gamer, go on, and level up. With dedication, practice, consistency, and gear, you can be a successful gamer professionally.
Want to learn more about the professional gaming world? Our website has information on esports, its origins, and how esports betting works.