Shruti Mehra
Millions of casual gamers from across the globe are beginning to earn a living through professional gaming and the rise of eSports around the world.
The gaming industry has flourished in the past few years with more than 2.5 billion gamers worldwide, a report from Newzoo said.
“Gaming is all about one platform and infinite possibilities,” Akhil Gokul, content head for NODWIN Gaming said. “It is now a long-term thing and it has a good amount of money.”
The eSports industry offers an international platform for professional gamers to participate in tournaments and be part of popular live streaming events.
Esports is associated with many video games from different genres and includes many popular franchises, including Counter-Strike, Dota 2, StarCraft, Overwatch and League of Legends.
Gokul said he frequently encounters gamers failing in the qualifying match for the final tournament, but they continue to play and improve.
Professional gaming requires various skills and involves as much hard work and dedication, just like any other job.
“Nowadays, gaming is not about a fat guy sitting on a couch and munching snacks while playing a video game.” Manish Karki, eSports broadcaster and analyst said.
Karki said he believes gaming has become a livelihood for people, and individuals need special skills to play the games.
The professional gamers undergo training for skill development which focuses on physical competence, exercising, muscle memory, stress management and dieting.
“Gamers are working on their physical strength to uplift their virtual strength.” Karki said.
Training for players also includes strategy development and exhaustive practice sessions before the qualifying tournaments.
The growing number of live streaming platforms like Twitch and YouTube has also helped to create a surge in popularity for online gaming.
Revenues within eSports have continued to grow, developing its own international leagues and tournaments, as well as attracting celebrity athletes as team owners and million dollar award prizes.
The International is one of the biggest eSports tournaments that attracts major gaming teams including Astralis, Virtus Pro, Team Secret and Evil Geniuses.
Esports also has one of the biggest markets for advertising, brand investment, media rights to video gaming and sponsorship, a Reuters report said.
A greater number of people are now considering gaming as a full-time profession as the industry is expected to generate US$1.8 billion in total revenue globally by 2022.