Gaming is a hobby of thousands, with a billion dollar industry supporting its framework. The growth of the industry really came into existence when multiplayer was introduced. And soon it went on to become one of the biggest means of entertainment. The good ole’ days when millions of highly enthusiastic gamers ended up gathering for Counter Strike or Quake LAN parties to battle against each other. Oh boy.
Gaming has evolved a lot since then. And with the evolution of hardware capabilities, games have become more and more complex. I remember the days when a collection of nerds played Counter Strike and Quake at LAN parties. And equally nerdy people sat in the audience, cheering the players. This phenomenon turned out to become what we today, call as “esports”.
Electronic Sports, the sports played on electronic devices, so to say – took a footing among the youth, and later grew to become a thing for all ages with the growth of the gaming industry. With the rise of the industry, there have been far-reaching consequences. Coming as far as remote third-world countries like our own country, India. But things like the entertainment industry was still beyond thought since a very few make it into the industry.
Gaming is an even smaller, more niche portion of the entertainment industry. And the traditional third-world mentality and the protective nature of parents kick in all the time. They just don’t like their kids straying from the beaten path of study and academics.
Despite that, with the evolution of generations, there has been a shift in mindset and increase in acceptance of gaming as a portion of the entertainment industry. There are a large number of opportunities open to people which were not open a few years back.
Now suppose you’re the professional player with skills better than the average Joe playing the games. Then you get to be among the pail sickly ranks of the esports world.
How To Earn From Esports
There are many ways to earn from the industry. Obviously, the most exposed way to do so is to improve your skills and take the game to the next level, and gift others for a share of the prize pools of the tournaments.
Organizing
As far as India is concerned, though esports took some time to take off, there are numerous tournament organisers like COBX Gaming, Playtonia, Nodwin Gaming and so on that are keeping this industry from ranking down.
Currently hosting only tournaments for more popular games like Dota 2, more titles could come in as the viewership demands. If that itself isn’t enough, find a squad for playing, and play along with your mates on the way to the top of the leagues. Sounds interesting, isn’t it?
Score it big, and there’s the probability of you getting sponsorships from big companies and brands who want a piece of the action of these games. Popular teams like Team Brutality, Entity Gaming, Team Signify and others get sponsorship from big companies and brands. The brands do this to get more visibility on the big screens.
If you play niche esports, ‘region locks’ are being removed from events throughout the world, meaning that anyone, from any country, can participate in the tournaments. ESL, MLG, ESEA and others host tournaments regularly, which are not region-bond, attracting gaming talent from around the globe.
Investment
If you have some money to invest and decide to take part in growing the scene in the country (and much beyond), then hosting tournaments always works. There will be companies interested in sponsoring the tournaments, which are why people host esports tournaments – to cash in on the revenue stream from company advertisements. This isn’t a big and diverse field yet, but several colleges throughout India have shown themselves capable of hosting big tournaments with big sponsors. Better the brands sponsoring, more are the prize pools, better are the teams coming for the tournaments.
Streaming
If you prefer a more laid-back approach to streaming, and have some decent knowledge about the games played as esports, you can always perk in as a caster, analyst or a streamer. With Twitch India officially coming out to help streamers make it big through their platform, there has been a steady increase in the number of streamers. You do need some decent hardware to stream though, and that costs some money.
But if you manage to entertain your viewers, while playing the game, then you can apply for partnership with Twitch, after which you can monetize your views and subscriptions. A steady viewership means one or the other guy will always subscribe, while some drop In the cash through donations. If you are knowledgeable about players and have access to insider information, then casting or analyzing is always an option. Analysis requires more research work, but the payouts are handsome.
This is perhaps some of the most secure jobs in the esports industry, as it offers a guaranteed income, which does not fluctuate. If you got powerful lungs that can cheer people on, casting is always a thing. You need to be a fluent speaker, besides one that can speak and dictate events from the match for hours without getting tired. Also, no one likes a boring caster, so spicing it up or making it light is always worth it when you’re casting a professional event.
Casting is another secure job in the esports industry, with the money coming in being regular without fluctuations.
Betting
If you’re more likely to be a snob and try to make a money without working your ass off, the easiest idea is betting. Betting makes people rich or breaks them down to paupers in a matter of days. You know the right bets, you make them and watch as your investment multiplies to thousand times its amount within a few days.
All you need are a few good insiders who have access to secret knowledge about the teams and players, besides a good knowledge about the various teams and players themselves. There are several sites which allow betting, which have a wide assortment of esports titles where you can bet on games and get returns depending on the outcome of the game.
Be wary of having the prerequisite knowledge of predicting properly before you hit the button to confirm your bet, and find yourself out of a fortune because you wrongly analyzed the teams playing the game. Betting is no doubt, one of the riskiest ways to make money. Yet, it is one of the most accessible ways for people around the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_GxPXXLc-w?controls=0&showinfo=0
Conclusion
The ways of entering the industry are numerous, yet very people have the mental capabilities to resist the constant degradation of the industry by peers as well as parents who have little knowledge about its capabilities. In third world countries like India, there still is a stigma about moving into some line of work different from the traditional ones chosen by the parents for their children.
With the change in times, acceptance has increased. But still, India lags behind other third world countries in terms of social acceptance of gaming. Besides that, practising and honing one’s skills takes time.
Many people can play games, but few are really good at it. There is a mountain of difficulties to overcome before one makes a decent amount of money from the gaming industry. And only a few persevere in the thorn-stricken path to the peak of the mountain.
