Growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, most kids could only dream about making a living from video games. Today, that is no longer just a dream. With eSports taking the main stage and becoming known as a sport worldwide, professional gaming is an actual career that can pay quite well. However, like with any sport, the road to becoming a professional gamer is tough and requires a lot of hard work.
The competition to become a professional gamer is as tough as that of any pro sport. You have dreamers from all over the world who have spent countless hours playing and imagining becoming professional. You need to stand out in front of them all, and here are some tips on how to do just that.
Practice
Before you start to practice, you need to make sure you focus on one particular game. This will help you channel all your time and energy into one thing and allow you to learn every little bit of it. Once you have done that, you can start your practice.
By “practice,” we don’t mean play for 2-3 hours of the day like you normally might. We mean actually practice, which means spending up to 10 hours a day just playing the game. Make sure the game you select is one you truly love, otherwise you will find yourself becoming demotivated quickly.
When you practice, you not only study your own technique but others as well. By studying how others play, you can adapt your gameplay, improving it. You will know how to compete against different types of strategies which will help your competitive game.
Don’t Quit Your Job Just Yet
Breaking it to professional gaming is hard, so don’t go quit your job when you decide to follow this career path. You don’t have to be a full-time professional to earn from gaming. You can start by live streaming your games, and if you are good and entertaining, you might develop a fan base. Even then, you won’t get paid well enough to quit your day job, but you will be able to scale back. The paychecks you can rely on won’t come until you make it to the big competitions, so don’t think you can immediately leave your regular job and dedicate all your time to gaming.
Practice Some More
We can’t emphasize this enough; keep at it and practice. If you have the talent, you can further enhance it by practicing and becoming better.
Join Gaming Communities
There are numerous online communities you can join to meet fellow gamers. You will find current and aspiring professional gamers in these same groups. Major cities like New York, Beijing, and Toronto have a growing gaming community with numerous tournaments throughout the year. These groups will also keep you updated on upcoming competitions so you can actively participate.
Through these communities, you can network and reach out to multi-gaming organizations that sign players on to their teams, which will help jumpstart your professional gaming career. The road to going pro is a long one, but this will give you a place to start.
