In the last decade, video games have evolved from just something to do to pass the time. Esports are growing in popularity and many competitive leagues have been established with huge audiences and massive cash prizes.

It’s now possible to make a living as a professional gamer. Some of the most popular esports games in the world right now include titles such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, and Overwatch.

To be a successful esports gamer, you need to have incredible reaction times and a grasp of all of the game mechanics. Plus, you need a great team to work with.

It’s not enough just to be good at games. To be a professional esports player in the top leagues, you need to have an unparalleled understanding of your game of choice. For this reason, it is rare to find players who compete in multiple games. Most esports players are known for playing a single title.

Become a player

According to CasinoGuide, becoming an esports competitor is probably the hardest way to get into the industry. There are so many people competing for spots on the top teams that your chances of making it are slim.

You would probably need to be within the top 1% of players for any specific game to stand a chance. This means you should already have achieved the top rank in online play. If you’re not able to do that, then we are sorry to say you probably don’t have what it takes to compete at the highest levels.

Become a streamer

You don’t necessarily have to be the best to make a living playing competitive games. There is also a market for streaming yourself playing popular video games. Successful streamers can get thousands of viewers at a time and they can also make thousands of dollars in donations.

Some streamers are known for their in-depth knowledge of how the game they play works, but some of them are just known for having an entertaining personality. If you can’t cut it as a professional player, you might be able to make it as a streamer.

Work as a commentator

Just like real-world sports, esports have commentators who explain what is going on and give facts about the game and the players. Good commentary can make all the difference in making viewers engaged with the game, particularly in complex games like League of Legends where not everyone watching is going to understand everything that is going on.

A good commentator needs to be able to explain complex game mechanics in a way that is simple to understand. A lot of commentators start off by commentating for lower level games and they work their way up to commentating for bigger ones.

Event organiser

Of course, there are many other roles in the esports industry. For example, you might get involved in organising the actual events themselves.

In the last 10 years, esports events have grown massively and so has the need for event organisers. Not only do you need to make sure there are enough facilities for the spectators, but you also need to make sure the technical side of things is up to standard. Issues with the local network could be devastating, so there are a lot of logistical things you need to consider.

Becoming an esports event organiser is not so different to become an organiser in any other industry. You need all the experience you can get in running successful events.

Social media manager

A successful esports team is about so much more than just being good at the game. Just like football teams, esports teams are a brand in themselves.

Since these games are centred around online play, it’s vital that teams have good online presence. It’s also important that teams don’t generate any bad press due to things that are said online.

Most successful esports teams will need a social media manager who can run things like the team Facebooks page and Twitter accounts. Again, the key thing here is having experience. You will need to have a tried and tested reputation for running successful social media pages.

More than just games

As you can see, there’s so much more to esports than just playing games. In the last decade, a huge industry has sprung up. If you’re not good enough to be a top player, that doesn’t mean you can’t become part of this exciting new industry.