E-Sports Professionals

The world of professional e-sports can be exciting and rewarding. Top e-sports professionals play in front of thousands of people and travel to other cities—and even other countries—to compete. It can be exhilarating to play before big crowds, meet fans, and develop relationships with fellow players. The chance to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money is not too bad either.

On the flip side, these benefits only come to a very small percentage of e-sports professionals, and there are also drawbacks to trying to enter and find success in this field. It takes hours and hours of constant play to build your skills, and investing all of this time offers no guarantee that you’ll hit the big time. Sitting in front of a computer for long periods of time is not good for the human body. Both professional and amateur gamers complain of back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome (damaged nerves in the hands), and a variety of other maladies as a result of constant game play. Burnout is common in this field, and it is rare to find e-sports professionals who can perform at a high level past their early 30s. Anyone aspiring to become an e-sports professional must be aware of both the pros and cons of this career.

Some e-sports professionals compete from home, while many others travel to tournaments and compete in front of thousands of fans. There are also leagues (like the NBA or NFL) in which e-sports professionals are part of a team that competes together for prizes. Many of these leagues provide free housing to their athletes so that they can live and practice together. Being away from home and frequent travel to tournaments may be appealing for some people, while it may be a turn-off for others.

Males comprise a majority of e-sports professionals. This male-dominated atmosphere may be off-putting to females who are interested in becoming e-sports professionals.