Does Professional Gaming Have a Future?

Q&A: Tips for Going Pro, from the Pros

Prizes might not be what they were, but there are still plenty of good reasons to try to take your gaming to the next level; with skill and commitment, you can still make a decent living – but what qualities does this require? We talked to Paul ‘RedEye’ Chaloner, Team Dignitas’ David ‘Zaccubus’ Treacy and 4Kings’ Jack ‘Callisto’ Mason to find out. Michael ‘ODEE’ O’Dell and Ian ‘Javax’ Leckey also provided good advice.

bit-tech: What qualities do you need to make it as a successful professional gamer? Dedication? Team spirit? Raw talent?
Zaccubus: Like football or any other sport, you need dedication, talent, hard work and the focus to see what you want and achieve it in the best way you can.
Callisto: The most important element is practice, practice, practice. If you aren’t playing, someone else will be – and they’ll be getting better than you! You have to maintain a consistent setup and play as much as you possibly can to make sure that your hand-to-eye coordination is spot-on and you know what to do in various situations. If you’re playing a team game such as Counter-Strike or COD4, your aim is only as important as your teamwork and tactics. You have to play selflessly and make sure that you’re effectively completing the role you’ve been given.
RedEye: Most of all, I think you need to be professional in what can be a very immature world to succeed as a top eSports star. Obviously, you need an innate talent for the game you play, but I also think you need more than just the ability to dominate at one game.

bit-tech: So is it better to focus your energies on one game, or develop skills in several titles and genres?
RedEye: I think you need to be a professional gamer rather than a professional Quake player or a professional Counter-Strike player. These guys are the ones who make a living out of eSports and go on to bigger things.
Zaccubus: The answer is both yes and no. In my personal opinion, if you play an FPS game such as Quake or Unreal Tournament in a one vs one style then switch to any other FPS, you’ll have a better game sense in other FPS games, but switching to an RTS from an FPS will always be difficult. So long as you stay to one genre, you should be able to adapt quickly to others like it.


bit-tech: How much hard work and practice does it take to make it in professional gaming?
Zaccubus: A lot of people think gaming is very easy to pick up on a pro level, but it can take years before you can even consider going semi-pro. It took me years of gaming before I joined a big, well-known team, and you have to have a lot of patience. When you’re learning, you’ll have to take a few beatings. Even as a pro, you have to take some. Learn, and move on from it.
Callisto: Every competitive pro gamer is there because they’ve spent years working hard on improving their game and gaining experience. Whatever the game is, the more you play it, the better you will get. Watch replays of the top players and study how they play. Find out what works, and what doesn’t, but most importantly, work on your own skills.

bit-tech: How would you advise anyone wanting to take up professional gaming to start?
ODEE: For a new player, I’d advise them to play a game that they like enough that they’ll love playing it day in, day out. Getting noticed is the hardest thing in gaming, so you need to put yourself about a bit, but it helps to learn the ropes in the smaller divisions or leagues. SGL, ESL and Enemy Down are good places to start.
Javax: A player should play a game because they enjoy it – that’s how everyone starts out. There’s no point in playing a game solely for the money involved, as you won’t succeed. The first step is to find a team of friends with whom to play regular matches in leagues such as the UKeSA Open Division, the SGL, EnemyDown or the ESL. There’s a multitude of leagues for different games, so there’s never any shortage of organised matches. To raise your profile, you need to attend LAN competitions. The most popular LAN event in the United Kingdom is, without a doubt, Multiplay’s iSeries.
Callisto: No-one will come out of nowhere onto the pro gaming scene. You have to play hard, and you have to stand out above others. Going to LAN tournaments and putting in notably impressive performances starts people talking, and will always lead to bigger things. Finally, you only improve by playing against better players. Make sure you play against people whom you consider more skilled than yourself, and you’ll soon find that you’re beating them.

bit-tech: Is it worth it? Will we ever see a gaming David Beckham or Tiger Woods?
Javax: Definitely. There are players who have six-figure annual incomes from salaries and tournament prize money. The players who normally earn the most are the most marketable players who don’t just focus on playing their game, but offer their services back to the community by writing blogs, appearing at sponsor events and engaging with fans. These players drive the sale of merchandise and become more valuable to their teams.
RedEye: You can make a career out of it, but it’s perhaps a lot harder now, even if there are more tournaments and teams than before. If you’re exceptional, you’ll stand out, but it takes hours of practice and dedication, as well as skill. What I love about video games is that same feeling you get when watching football in a pub; you watch and think ‘I could have scored that’. I feel the same way while watching a Counter-Strike match, or any other game when someone misses what I think is an easy shot. Gaming is far more accessible than football though. If you think you’re good enough, jump in and play now in a league at a pretty high standard.