The world of eSports is in what appears to be a continuous and rapid rise in popularity. Its viewership continues to increase exponentially, professionalism of player’s increases with competition and the amount of people placing an esports bet is increasing exponentially.
Esports has grown in both viewership and revenue over the past decade tremendously with further investment coming into eSports from brands looking to set up lucrative sponsorship deals, due to the increased quantity of engaged audiences.
The Rising Star of eSports
According to market researcher NewZoo, global eSports revenues for competitive gaming are set to reach almost $1.1 billion and audiences are expected to grow to 474 million in 2021 with. They expect the total viewers to grow with a compound annual growth rate of 7.7% to 577.2 million in 2024.
In 2015 it was estimated that there were fewer than one million people workd wide aware of eSprots in a viewership capacity. ESports have since been through a rapid rise of awareness and engagement to around 1.8 billion in 2019. The viewing numbers continue to rise across the globe hand-in-hand with the revenue.
With the massive growth in eSports, the competitors have turned professional and their daily lives are filled with rigorous training and a demanding tournament schedule. A professional will specialise in one, maybe two games and commit to perfecting their ability with both in-game and physical training.
Practice is repetitive, with players challenging their team mates and rivals in the same game to record, then analyse after. Ensuring that they are at the top of their game tactically and functionally as a team is vital to eSport success.
Lack of sleep and hours of practice come hand-in-hand with becoming a professional gamer. While specialising in a specific game, those who have made it to the professional level have played an unimaginable number of hours in the same game.
The professional eSports gamers are now training similarly to traditional sports athletes in certain sense. Ensuring that they do not get lost in a world within their screen, it is imperative to exercise their body and mind in order to remain sharp and focused during competition time.
Health is Crucial
ESports host, Frankie Ward says “eSports teams are beginning to bring their routines in line with more traditional sports. Counter-Strike team Astralis, for example, has a coach, sports psychologist, and a physiotherapist. They also have a nutritionist and a sleep doctor that they can access, should they need extra help.”
The importance of physical and mental health for these gamers is vital in their pursuit of victory ensuring that they are able to focus for long periods and prevent strain or injuries that come long periods of time in front of a computer.
As players reach the higher levels of the game they often see the importance of stepping away from the game and having a more rounded social life.
Cody Sun of Clutch Gaming Academy places scheduling as being a one of the skills that is vital to master in order to continue as a professional gamer. “It’s really hard for us to only have six hours of sleep and practice constantly. I feel like our current approach, or at least the direction of our approach, is making sure we have a healthy lifestyle, and healthy mindset, and then just be really efficient with the practice.”
The vast amounts of money coming into eSports have encouraged more and more young people to focus their time on games like Dota2.
Who Earns the Big Bucks?
John Sundstein is the highest earning eSports gamer in the world with total earnings of around $7 million, mostly coming from playing Dota2. He has recently moved to Portugal from his native Denmark and as captain of his team OG, he has bought the two new members to live with him to help with training.
Those on Sundstein’s team (OG) are among the highest earning players in eSports. Jesse Vainikka from Finland and Anathan Pham from Australia are the second and third highest earners respectively in eSport. They have both played a part in OG showing the importance of a good team and group strategy to make a successful career in eSport.
Gamers are drawn to the large sums of money available in tournament prizes. Some high-level competitions such as The International has a $40 million prize pool while the Fortnite Word Cup will have a $20 million dollar prize pool.
Team salaries are on average $3,000 to $5,000 monthly in the gaming hotbeds of China and the U.S. Players can even get health insurance and retirement plans through their teams. Alongside salaries, teams will bring in further income through sponsorship.
What can be difficult for gamers is that their hobbies have become careers and it can be difficult for a person to learn how to separate work and pleasure. After having spent their adolescence playing games continuously outside of school, professional gamers often need to learn and discover new interests and hobbies, especially ones involving exercise.
It is vital for those who plan to become professional gamers to learn how to work well with others in order to be a strong team player. To compete in the biggest tournaments, each member of a team must fulfil their tasks and support each other, not just go for glory and individually.
Professional gaming is a dream for millions of young people across the globe and understanding the discipline and hard work that goes into being a professional is vital in order to maintain balance.
