Esports, also known as electronic sports, is an increasingly popular form of competitive video gaming. While this type of competition has been around for many years now, it is becoming increasingly professionalised and many gamers are now making lucrative careers out of it. Huge scale competitions now see professional gamers do what they’re great at, accompanied by an audience of spectators. If you’re into gaming, it’s not all too surprising that this career path might have piqued your interest. After all, who wouldn’t want to get paid for doing something that they genuinely love doing? But how do you get into this relatively niche field? Here are a few roles within the area and how to break into them!
Becoming a Player
In order to become a professional gamer, you’re going to have to specialise. There’s no use being a Jack of all trades and a master of none – professional gaming positions are hard to come by, so you’re going to have to really stand out of the crowd to secure a spot. This means that you’re going to have to choose your game of choice early on in the process of becoming a professional gamer. The most common forms of games used in esports are real time strategy games (referred to as “RTS” games), first-person shooter games (or “FPS” games), fighting games, and multiplayer online battle arena games (otherwise referred to as “MOBA” games). So, you might want to consider specialising in one of these.
Becoming a Team Leader
There are a couple of different types of leadership positions in esports. If you aren’t great at gaming yourself, you could become the leader of a great gamer, giving them direction. If you are part of a gaming team, you could be a team leader, helping to pave your group’s way to success. In the past, the idea of studying a degree surrounding the field of gaming would have been considered ludicrous. But nowadays, increasing numbers of universities are offering courses that prepare students for a career in the gaming field. This isn’t all too surprising when you start to look at the sheer amount of money that can be made in this industry. In regards to becoming a team leader, you might want to consider something like a master of leadership. People can be extremely hard to manage and knowing the basics of human behaviour and how to encourage people to follow a particular path or course of action can come in extremely useful if you’re going to be heading a player or team.
Becoming a Caster
A caster is essentially an esports commentator. If you pursue this position, you will make a living from talking about games. You could live stream games and speak over your gameplay, giving your opinion and advice, or you could attend esports conventions and commentate to the crowds. You will need confidence and you will need to familiarise yourself with game-related jargon.
These are just a few different roles that you could pursue in the realm of esports. Hopefully, the above information will help you to land the career of your dreams!
