How is it like to be a professional esports player?

Getting paid to play online games competitively is probably among every PC gamer’s deepest dreams. But how exactly does that happen? Is it really that fun to play videogames as a job? Let’s see below.

The electronic sports industry has grown tremendously over the years, raising over $1.1 billion in 2019 alone. Recent estimates show that there will be over 3 billion gamers worldwide. In fact, even major sports betting websites like Novibet already have sportsbooks for many popular esports out there, like League of Legends, Valorant, Rainbow Six: Siege and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

One thing all these games have in common is that they are teamplay games. Meaning that each player has their own role and should train and perform just like in any other professional sport. In each team, there will be a coach and a team leader, who will be responsible for giving the in-game callouts and establishing a strategy to win.

Esport athletes will practice on average 10 to 12 hours a day both individually and with their team in order to perfect their abilities. If they are not playing, they will be either discussing and creating new strategies or watching previous games to see what their opponents are doing. Also, whenever there is a new update or patch that changes any aspect of the game, such as physics or damage, they should adapt and work around a new strategy.

Some of the biggest esports organizations in the US and Europe have dedicated teams for each videogame title, who will be playing it full time and receiving sponsorships from large and reputable brands, like electronics manufacturers or energy drink labels, for example.

Beginners must be wondering how a good player gets spotted and drafted into a professional team. In many cases, it happens with the help of a coach. If you are really considering going pro, then having professional guidance with connections in the scene will certainly help a lot.

Also, getting into esports require not only time commitment, but a considerable investment into computer gear. Even though many professional players started out with low-specs computers and non-gamer peripherals, many games nowadays can’t really be played right unless you have the right gear.

Investing in a computer with a good processor and dedicated graphics card will be the basic requirement in most computer games. A gaming mouse and keyboard can certainly help as well, but these should come in after you have a PC capable of running such titles. Still, this is necessary to practice at home or just casually play games. If you are on a team, a decent computer will most likely be supplied to you. In tournaments, every player will be using the same computer to not give anyone unfair advantage.

For every competitive game it is necessary to have a monitor with high refresh and frame rates. If your opponent can see you before you do not because of your own reflexes, then you are at a disadvantage, even if it is by milliseconds.