In my last life, I will happily admit that I was dreaming to be a professional gamer. The idea of playing your favourite game and getting paid to do so had so much allure. Who wouldn't want to do that? Sounds like a dream job right?
Well, the fact of the matter is, professional gaming despite it's monumental growth, remains a niche and the total amount of money in the game is barely enough to sustain a living for even the top 5% of the players. Yes, I'm aware of the glittering success stories of the players who make dazzling amounts of money and enjoy very successful gaming careers, but that can be said of any professional sport too. How many people do you think play football and actually make a really good living doing that out of the total number of people who also play that sport? Not very many.
Unfortunately the stats are even worse for professional gamers. The sheer number of players is mind boggling considering that only a decade or two ago, it was only available to the more affluent people who could afford gaming computers and fast internet connections. Today, just about anyone can load up fortnite, league of legends, dota et al. and play the game with crystal clear graphics and smooth game play. And that's the issue, out of the millions and millions of people who actually play the game, only a handful of people actually make sustainable amounts of money to continue playing it full time.
What do you have to sacrifice to become a pro-gamer?
It is a given that being a professional in anything requires full dedication, but at what expense? Gaming is typically something the adolescent have a particularly affinity to and most professional players had already climbed to the top of their respective ladders well before they're 20. These are crucial years because the decision you make will determine pretty much the rest of your life.
Many gamers are so focused on gaming and chasing that pro-gamer dream that they forego their basic education as well as considering their other options if pro-gaming doesn't work out. This has a knock on effect once you age past pro-gaming prime years.
Those with natural affinity and talent tend to rise to the top, but also not without extreme dedication of time and practice. The rest chasing the dream are left essentially putting in hours that will never be available to them again. Crucial hours where they could be developing skills for a career they could have for the rest of their life.
I was one of those dumb pre-pubescent teenagers who thought pro-gaming could be a reality, and I was even top 3 in the country for the game that I played. I hindsight, I regret spending quite so much time grinding a game which led to nothing but rage, social anxiety, and delayed progression in otherwise useful subject areas.
All of this is not to say, don't dream of being a pro-gamer, by all means, if you're well inside the top 1% and feel that you have a real natural affinity to games, then you'll know. But for the rest? The people that are pretty good, but spend all their time playing in hopes of being at the top of the game? Well, this is your wake up call. Don't be in your 20's and 30's looking at all your friends in stable jobs, ever improving careers and wondering why you got nothing but a mediocre gaming resume to show for your youth.