Gamble all day on the game console, PC or mobile phone? For some young people that would be the absolute dream. For eSports players, this dream has become a reality. But how do you become a professional in the field of eSports?
eSport has left the trend phase in recent years and is now considered a serious sport. The term “sport” is somewhat misleading. Dueling is also common in normal games, not just in sports simulations, such as the popular soccer game FIFA from EA Sports. There are no exact figures on how many professional eSports players are currently active worldwide. In Europe, the estimated number is more than 20 million. According to the eSport-Bund Deutschland eV (ESBD), there are around three million professional eSports players in Germany. Ascending trend.
And one more number: In 2021, almost 500 million people watched eSports events via Twitch, the best-known streaming platform for eSports. By 2025, the number is expected to grow to around 650 million. There is a lot of potential in the field of eSports.
Which games are eSports?
In addition to the popular sports simulations such as FIFA soccer, Madden NFL/American Football or NBA 2K basketball and various racing games such as Gran Turismo or Assetto Corsa Competizione, there are even more eSports genres.
- Real Time Strategy Games: Dota, League of Legends, StarCraft, Warcraft III, Smite, World of Tanks.
- Shooters: Counter Strike, Halo, Quake, Overwatch, Paladins, Fortnite, PlayerUnknown’s Battleground, Rainbow Six Siege, Battlefield, Call of Duty, Unreal Tournament.
- card games: Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
- Miscellaneous: Farming Simulator, Auto-Battler, Pokemon, Tetris.
Every single genre requires very specific skills. In a real-time strategy game, the players and teams have to react tactically, with foresight and quickly to unforeseen situations. A cool head helps in the often chaotic game situations.
In the classic shooter games, you need a good strategy, a lot of stamina and patience as well as a certain accuracy, even over long distances. Most games are designed as first-person shooters, i.e. in single-player mode. Shooter games also have the subcategory Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA). Teams fight for victory and have to be tactically clever to defeat the opposing team.
This distinguishes professional eSports players
Most successful eSports professionals have focused on a specific game from a very young age. First successes and fame in countless online matches follow. Talent scouts and other professional players are always bustling with the live events. Those who then play their way up the rankings can hope for an invitation to a trial session.
There is no official training to become an eSports player. The only basic requirement: not just to be good at your favorite game, but to be excellent. This includes, for example, mastering the entire control system with all the tricks and tricks almost blindly. After all, it’s later in tournaments or in league competitions against the best of the best.
In order to be one of the top players in your field, you need a lot of stamina and training discipline. It may be fun to gamble on the game console for a few hours a day from time to time. However, eSports professionals train 8 to 12 hours a day. Some professional teams are now even renting their own apartments so that their own players can prepare for upcoming competitions in a targeted and undisturbed manner.
Also Read: Counter-Strike Star “Magisk”: “Other Sports Don’t Fill Stadiums”
Game, sport and prize money
Many Bundesliga clubs in Germany are now also represented in the eSports sector with their own teams. the Virtual Bundesliga has existed since 2012 and is a cooperation between the German Football League (DFL) and the FIFA developer EA Sports. Here, the virtual teams from Hertha BSC Berlin, Hamburger SV, Schalke 04, VfL Bochum, 1. FC Kaiserslautern and VfB Stuttgart, among others, fight for the German eSports Championship.
There are now numerous eSports events in various genres worldwide. The prize money at eSports tournaments has increased immensely in recent years with the growing popularity. At many events, the participants are now fighting for prize money in the million euro range. At the competition The International, the official Dota 2 World Championshipthere is a whopping 46 million euros in the prize pool.
Contact points for prospective eSports professionals
Want to gamble? If you want to try yourself as an eSports player, you should take a look here:
- gamer transfer: This is where gamers meet to arrange training games together.
- ESL Play: Contacts can be made with various teams on the Electronic Sports League website. The categories range from beginner to professional.
- eSports Federation Germany eV: The official e-sport association for all players in Germany.
If professional fame in the field of eSports is not enough, there is still the possibility to develop exciting and tricky games yourself. If you want to program games yourself, the best thing to do is read the story by app programmer Kirsten Tischer.