UKTerrorist

Professional Gaming: Myths, Facts and Reality

Nearly a lifetime ago in gaming terms, the names of gamers such as Sujoy, Hakeem and Fatality first began to gain fame, money and media attention. Since then the pro-gaming myth has become a target and a cause for hundred's of thousands of youths worldwide to cut school, put their social life on hold and spend hours every night refining their skills. But what exactly is a pro-gamer and why do so many of today's players aspire to such a dream?

First I will try to identify a pro-gamer. To truly understand how to define a professional gamer we must firstly define the opposite, which would be an amateur gamer. Amateur is defined in the Concise Oxford Dictionary as "one who cultivates a thing as a pastime." Then under 'professional' the dictionary explains a professional in relation to games/sport to be "playing for money" (cricketer, golfer etc.).

As you can see a Professional gamer in these terms would simply be someone who plays computer games and earns money from it. However I'm sure many would be quick to point out the huge difference between the 12 year olds who won a £20 CS 2v2 tournament at their local LAN center last weekend, and Jonathon 'Fatal1ty' Wendel, three times CPL World Championship winner, due to appear on MTV later this month.

So, unable to find an 'official' definition that could apply to gaming I began to ask a few of the UK's well known figures of their opinion of what a professional gamer is.

My question was:

Here are a few of the responses:

They both seem to agree that a Professional gamer is someone who plays computer games and either has a salary or makes enough money to live on from playing games. This includes related matters such as sponsorship deals that would not have occured if they had not been playing games.

Now we have a higher understanding of what a professional gamer is I think it would be about the right time to answer the question on the lips of parents, teachers, employees and girlfriends. Why do so many of today's youth, the majority of which are male, want to become professional gamers?

I was unable to really collect my thoughts on this apart from the obvious notion of being paid to play games. However, last Wednesday I finally had some inspiration on the matter. I was taking the 45-minute rush hour (4:30pm) train from Victoria to Crawley station. I was in this carriage, and I looked up from my magazine and glanced around. Everyone in the carriage was male, wearing a suit, aged 35 – 55. Most of them were reading a newspaper, The Daily Mail being the paper of choice and all of them were silent. There was no real human sound except the odd mobile phone. Even then these calls would just be the missus reminding her husband to get an extra bottle of milk or something similar.

As I looked up from my magazine a second I finally noticed a common feature in every man in this carriage. They were miserable! All of them, they were clearly fed up of their £20,000 - £50,000 jobs, sitting at a desk behind computers all day, and most of all, they were miserable with a 30 – 60 minute train journey they had to make both ways every day.

Is this really what my generation wants to go to university for? Is this a satisfying, fulfilling way to live life? Did these people really expect their life would turn out like this when they were of my age (17)?

Before I go completely philosophical on you all here, I want to consider something. Could it be possible that gamers are driven towards professional gaming as a new and exciting outlet to avoid becoming their parents? The days of 5 generations of butchers or farmers all from the same family are long gone. Yet so are the days of teenage rebellion, so could parents coming home from jobs it appears they hate, to bills they don't want to pay and then tasks they don’t want to do have a deterring affect on the teenage mind with regards to what he desires to do with his life in the future?

Let's move on from that line of thought now to another one, role models. Professional gaming itself has many role models for everyone to look up to. These role models demonstrate how to not only win a lot of money from playing computer games but also the fame that can come with that.

I believe that with regards to sponsorship role models could be doing a lot more to endorse products. Believe it or not many people will buy the same equipment that the top players use because of the placebo effect. A bit like when people download Heaton's config and suddenly believe they have really improved. The fact is it has made very little, if any difference to their game. With equipment that is not as true. Mice, mouse mats, headsets and computers are all fantastic opportunities for companies to make money through sponsoring the top players. This could be a genuine good thing for these role models, as they would then have more than enough money to survive rather than just the tournament earnings.

There is a side affect to role models, whenever your watching them play or watching their demos, they make the game look easy, perhaps a little too easy. As a result people are unwilling to respect the amount of time, dedication and natural skills it takes to get to that level. Instead they simply believe that if they play the game long enough then they will get the free trips to Korea/Dallas the 'millions' of pounds/dollars and the MTV appearances. I am not claiming that in all cases they are wrong, it is possible if they dedicated enough time to it this could happen. However the dream is so great at present that it has a side effect of people skipping school, grades plummeting, reclusives and many nice girls confined to the side lines.

Perhaps these role models themselves should take on a more active role of informing people exactly what it requires to become a professional gamer, especially in terms of dedication. Although it sounds corny, like when you see a major league baseball star telling kids "don't take drugs" perhaps you could have a similar thing in esports with the top players giving out positive messages such as "finish school first!"

Too many websites when writing about a top professional gamer focus on the positive aspects of his life and career. I think sooner rather than later it would be important to take a look at the family of this gamer, the grade cards of this gamer, the ex-girlfriends of this gamer, perhaps even the appearance of the gamer. A professional gamer must have to make many sacrifices so let's take a look at them. Unfortunately, and I must be careful about the context I put this in, we will not see 50 year old gamers with damaged wrists or arthritis for many years yet. I say unfortunately simply because it would be of such a benefit to those wanting to join the 'elite' club. Much akin to the 'stop smoking' government adverts we see on T.V. frequently.

Another aspect of professional gaming and this one appeals to me especially, is also related through gaming role models. This is the opportunity to travel the world playing games. Korea, Norway, Germany, USA, South America, Taiwan there are major tournaments in many countries throughout the world. It must seem like a very exotic perk of the profession. Visiting new countries, meeting new people, exploring strange cultures, it is always portrayed in a very fun and entertaining light for the professional gamer in the media. For once I really cannot complain, this would be a big driving factor for me if I were looking to become a professional gamer.

It would be very hard to examine reasons why gamers would want to become professional without the most obvious answer, it's fun. There is no argument anyone can make with the above statement. Games are made for the enjoyment of the user. What could sound better when your playing your favourite game with the thought at the back of your head that soon, very soon, you will be getting paid for this. It must sound like the easiest job ever.

Sadly once again there is a downside. Do you really imagine that playing a game will still be fun when you play it for eight hours a day? To research this theory over the last Christmas period I set aside two days and played Counter-Strike for 8 hours on each of the two days. After just 4 hours on the first day I was fairly fed up of the game. Sure my skills improved, most noticeable my reaction time, but playing constant gather after gather or public servers just became so tedious I almost decided to give up on the whole thing. However I stuck with it so I could have a great understanding of what a game goes through in preparation before a major tournament.

After the first day I was simply not interested in playing anymore. My hand was just itching for a remote control to turn on The Simpsons. My left shoulder was in a small amount of discomfort and my eyes seemed a little out of focus when turning away from the monitor quickly. After 8 hours on the second day I had become a bit more patient with the game and was able to stand playing it for more intense, longer periods. Boredom had become less of a factor in stopping the game and I even joined in a clan game after the 8 hours had passed. However these 16 hours of Counter-Strike in two days had taken their toll, I was getting very worried about causing some damage to my shoulder and wrists, my eyes were ok now. It did not end there either. The next day I woke up with a very bad headache, bordering upon a migraine. However I do not know if this could be related to my intense two days of gaming.

What I learnt from this research was that the 'fun' aspect of gaming vanished very quickly and instead is replaced by a more dedicated approached. I must stress at no time did I give anything less than my best; I never used a tmp or any other such gun. If a wannabe pro-gamer was able to find the best position to sit in and enough spare it could be more than possible to become a pro-gamer. However it is not as fun as when you are playing with a few friends online or at a netcafe or anything.

There are many people out there with no real intentions to go to university or pursuing any other form of further education. Some people are simply destined to drop out of the usual means of education no matter what. Gaming can often give them an excuse to do so. In gaming they can throw themselves into it in a quest for professionalism. If it was not gaming why these people left education then it would be something else, just something that could make them avoid the coursework/essay. I know this because I often used to do something very similar. If I had an essay due for the next day and a Clanbase Counter-Strike game that night then I would usually pick the Clanbase Counter-Strike game and find ways to justify it in my mind.

Back to the point, gaming can be used an excuse to not only drop out of their education but to also avoid the effort of getting a proper job. This is obviously a short-term solution until the individual either finds something meaningful to do with their life, or a job with a good salary, if such a thing can be found with a lack of education. Sadly though many gamers only think of the short term so becoming a professional gamer, or claiming to become one, will be particularly appealing for a while as you can delay beginning your real life. Yes real life, as in car, mortgage, jobs, taxes, children...

I think an appealing aspect of gaming itself is that in that time you can "pretend" to be older. For example you can make minor sponsorship deals with server companies and pretend you are a proper businessman, or you can write articles for gaming websites and pretend to be a journalist. You can convince yourself that the skills you are developing at this level will help you in the future. Clan leaders may gain experience at this level for future man management tasks. You can help run leagues and tournaments and add that to your CV. There are so many possibilities. Meanwhile all this is driving the game further towards professionalism.

Recently I read a very good article on gamespy regarding Korean gaming. Having been lucky enough to attend the last World Cyber Games in Daejon I believe it would be an idea to look out how professional gaming has evolved in Korea recently. Let me refer to a section from the article mentioned above:

Although people have some disposable income, most families don't have enough to buy their own PC, or space to comfortably fit it in their home. Instead, they purchase time at Internet centers, known as "PC Baangs" (pronounced 'bongs.')

Unlike in the U.S., PC Baangs are major social hubs. "It's a mainstream part of youth culture," Herz explains. When Korean kids and teens need to get out of their crowded homes to hang out with friends, they walk to their local PC Baang. Young adults go there to chill with friends the way Americans go to bars or clubs. Even the layout of the place is social: typically the booths are set up with a loveseat attached to two PCs, so guys can sit with their girlfriends.

I think this article is a little bit too quick to dismiss this sort of culture existing in the UK. However from the many LAN centres I have been to I have seen friends hanging out there. I remember LanArena in Maidenhead used to be a great social point for many of the local youths. Sadly this is still only a small majority of the UK’s youth population, and bringing a girlfriend to a LAN centre would leave you very much single. The difference about professional gaming in Korea is that it has a much bigger foundation. It actually appeals to the greater mass of the population and they will watch games like Starcraft and enjoy watching them.

I was at the WCG 2002 Starcraft final, it was held in a huge auditorium of about 500 people and every single seat was taken. Even outside it was packed with people pressing against each other hoping to catch glimpses of the game or the two competitors. The media attention was intense, especially once the game had ended, the winner was surrounded, more so than many film stars would have been if they had been in attendance. So how did the grand final of Korea’s most popular game play out? Sadly I can't say, I fell asleep.

Another good example of how much bigger professional gaming can be in Korea was during the tournament itself. A top gamer was sitting at a desk signing autographs. In front of him were about 50 young children most aged 8 – 15 all waiting to get an autograph with this star. Many people would say it would be easier becoming a professional gamer in Korea than in Europe/America. I disagree, in Korea being a professional gamer is much like being a football/baseball star. It would be nearly impossible of making it and the chances of actually getting to the very top are extremely slim. It is a lot easier to compare the desire to become a professional gamer in Korea to our desire to become the next David Beckham or any other major sports star.

Elsewhere in the world professional gaming for an average player is much more of a possibility. Sujoy was able to achieve a lot not by being the best player in the world, but simply by being one of the first professional gamers in the world. This window of opportunity for most people is still open but it will gradually close. As professional gaming becomes more and more recognised would it be harder to become a pro-gamer due to the increased number of players?

Professional gaming is emerging more and more into the models familiar with professional sports today. Slowly but surely each brick is being laid and then the next one on top of that. A good example of this is eSports-pro. A company started by Paul Meakin formerly of Nocturne(.LTD), eSports-Pro was founded with some very good intentions, good ideas, and a very good businessman at the helm. As I recall the company even went as far to mention a player's rights within a team and transfer fees. I think the latter of these would best be described as learning to run before you can walk.

"The company will act as a promoter for e-gaming teams across Europe, that it works for; offering commercial advice, gaining sponsors (both physical kit and cash sponsors) for the teams involved, brand policing the teams PR and over all view, issuing PR statements about the teams activity and creating financial revenue for the team from the teams web sites via my business interests, business interests of the other partners in this venture and business associates across Europe."

eSports-pro was another company which awakened the professional gaming dream again in many gamers, only this time the dream was brought closer to reality. I can not decide whether it was what eSports Pro said or what they did, but professional gaming did seem to becoming more of a reality again. I spoke to Paul Meakin to determine exactly how successful the project had been so far.

A rather mixed response there, he does tend to agree that gamers do not appreciate the dedication it requires to become professional. Yet he also believes that some gamers are not ready for the 'next step'. However esports pro is still learning both from its mistakes and successes. Even if Paul Meakin does not believe there are any professional gamers yet I have no doubt there will be an individual soon which will in his books classify as one. The impact which eSports Pro makes upon professional gaming and if it did give more gamers a desire to become professional will probably not be known for another couple of years.

I asked Thorin, a friend of mine who works (and get paid) for gamers.nu. A top gaming website in it’s own right.

From this, Thorin and myself appear to be in agreement about a lot of things, we both would secretly like to be professional gaming for "the dream" but not for the hard work that goes with it. Thorin also supports the view that the media are perpetuating a myth about the great professional gaming life.

What can I now conclude from all of this? Professional gaming to some people is on its way and to others is already here. I would love to say that professional gaming is constantly moving forward, but a glance at Sujoy’s old website and wonder what happened to his professional gaming career? He was the focus of the UK media attention when it came to professional gaming. Now despite the odd appearance on Lan Jan or a sci-fi show the attention has somewhat fizzled and he is currently running the VGA with Dominic Mulroy.

Professional gaming like most other things still depends upon money. If the economy slows down like 2000 – 2001 then professional gaming will also be on the decline. Professional gaming hangs upon a thread at times, one big economical meltdown will scare off the big companies from pumping the money into the competitions.

As long as the prizes for competitions keep growing so will the media interest, the number of teams, and the sponsors. It is the competitions that keep professional gaming alive.

Winning a competition is a dream that will keep gamers wanting to become professional. The minutes after the competitor has just won the world championship will be the same minutes that gamers will spend countless hours training for. In the future expect professional gaming to expand and normal youths wanting to become professional gamers but for a different reason. Because they love the games they play and are naturally talented at games.

Let's hope professional gaming gains the respect it so desperately need in so many different areas before too many gamers ruin their lives in this quest.