Inside The Life of A Professional Gamer

 Gaming for a living??

Yes, people play games to earn money. From the years of 1958 to 1997, gaming had been seen as a hobby. However, this may have been due to the absence of interactions with other players. Once the internet was introduced to gaming, tournaments and championships with prices were widely set up around the world (especially the United States). With the esports industry growing at significant and sustained levels year-over-year, the existence of full-time competitive esports athletes has exploded – especially as increased competition has exacerbated the need for around the clock training and management of top talent.

How do they earn money?

Prize money is the fundamental way gamers make a profit. Private ventures are set up with deep-pocketed investors to raise this prize money. Most times prizes from the range of $500,000 to $2,000,000 float around the fliers of these gaming tournaments. This then motivates other individuals to buy tickets to watch in the arena or watch online. Through the views from these streaming platforms, gamers already make a fortune. 

However, some gamers are independent in the sense that they monetize on their own and have an individual brand name. An example is IceManIsaac. IceManIsaac is recognised on Twitch, YouTube, Tiktok and even Twitter as a professional gamer. Although he does not dwell in any gaming brand such as Faze or OpTic Gaming, he makes money from the views of his streams on YouTube and the rest. 

• IceManIsaac's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoT7FaR2QO-YSplT4N5UIbg 

  

Finally, gaming doesn't have to be your career choice or profession. Most people are advised to learn other trades if you're going into gaming in order to be able to bounce back if it isn't quite a success. 

As for me, I just play games for fun!

- Dew Abiakalam