How to become an esports player

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Lifehacker talks about the first steps to a career as a professional gamer.

1. Select a game

If you wanted to become an e-sportsman, then you most likely have already decided on the discipline. If not, just try some of the championship games. The most popular are Dota 2, CS: GO, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, Fortnite, League of Legends, and StarCraft 2.

Cybersport tournaments are held in dozens of games of different genres: strategy, shooters, fighting games, racing, sports simulations, and so on. A good option might be a project that more of your friends are playing because it’s easier to figure out the rules and mechanics with them. The main thing is to remember that the more popular the game, the greater the prize pools of championships for it.

2. Play a lot

This is an obvious but most important point. To truly succeed, you need to treat the game like a job - at least part-time. You need to train for at least 4-5 hours a day. It is better, of course, to devote at least 40 hours a week to the chosen discipline, but half of this time will be enough for a start. Among the established e-sportsmen, it is considered normal to spend 16 hours a day in the game.

3. Study the game

Of course, just playing is not enough. It is necessary to live the game, study and research it thoroughly. Know all characters, all classes, modes, types of weapons, possible tactics, even minor changes added in new patches.

Any piece of information about the project and how it works can be the reason for winning or losing a match. You can search for this knowledge on thematic Wiki portals and forums. Another good source is broadcasts of championships or pro players. There is a lot to learn from watching the pros and listening to commentators.

4. Find the command

Depending on your luck, this step can be very simple or very difficult. Teams are usually searched for in thematic communities and on sites dedicated to the game. To find the right team, you need to soberly assess your skills. Pros are unlikely to want to take an inexperienced player. And being on the same team with people who play worse than you is simply unprofitable: they will not be able to teach anything and will drag you down.

This is one of the difficulties. All players must be of approximately the same level to be able to develop together. In addition, you need to converge on characters, views on life. After all, if everything works out, you will have to spend thousands of hours with these people in the real and virtual worlds.

Perhaps you are lucky, and the team will organically form from a group of friends, or the right people will find you themselves. But if not, just keep searching. Post topics in forums and communities. Sooner or later, you will come across suitable players.

5. Take part in online championships

In addition to major tournaments like International or DreamHack, there are thousands of smaller events around the world every year. Teams of various levels participate in them - from beginners to professionals.

Most of these championships are online. To participate in them, you just need to register on the site and submit an application. There are special services that allow you to track new tournaments and register for them. For example ESEA and FACEIT. On some of these platforms, you can study your statistics of victories, hits, kills, and so on.

6. Get the attention of sponsors or team representatives

To start making money from esports, you need to either get sponsorship for your team, or get into a team that already supports brands.

If you want to be successful, develop, improve your skills, participate in competitions that seem suitable for your level. When you get enough wins, you will be noticed.

If you dream of getting into a famous team, you need to gain an audience. It is worth creating pages on social networks, channels on Twitch and YouTube, regularly broadcasting your workouts and posting recordings of successful matches.

This activity has two functions. First, broadcasts can be a source of income: viewers send donations, and brands and companies order ads. Secondly, representatives of well-known teams follow what is happening in the competitive community and know all the major streamers. If you are good enough, you will be contacted and offered a place in the team - if not in the first team, then in the second or third. In any case, you will start getting paid just to play.