5 Things to Do if You Want a Professional Gaming Career

These days there are a lot of opportunities to turn your love for video games into an actual career. Even if some people still believe that video games are a waste of time, it is evident that the emergence of professional games has made the beloved hobby profitable. It’s no longer unrealistic to turn your gaming habit into a lucrative career, but it’s not as simple as you may think. Millions of people game daily, but most of them are not making any money from it. Here are five steps you can take to get started on your journey toward becoming a professional gamer.

Narrow Down Your Options

Like most professions, you have to be extremely good at something specific instead of being just OK at many things. With gaming, choosing your game and your platform is a key stepping stone. While there are many fun games that you may enjoy playing, if you want a professional career in gaming, it’s better to choose a specific genre or even focus on one game entirely. You also have to pick a certain platform to game on and focus on getting better at it. Whether you choose PC or PS4, it’s best that you pick your go-to platform and get extremely good at it over time.

Put in the Work

The common misconception is that since it’s the field of gaming, it’s all about fun. But you have to take your craft seriously and put in the hours to improve your skills. Unlike nonprofessional gaming, where you just play whenever you feel like it, you have to put in the hours every day if you want a professional career in gaming. You have to be better than most players to stand out against others in tournaments and get the gaming community to notice you. The more you practice, the higher your chances of actually making it big in the professional gaming industry.

Join a Gaming Community

Joining a gaming community, whether in person or online, is important. Firstly, it will keep you motivated and encourage you to keep going when you feel like giving up. It is also a great way to get noticed by other players and potential sponsors, which can boost you to professional status a lot quicker. You will meet the people who can help you along the way, folks who know the professional gaming industry well enough to guide you to your success.

Invest in Your Gear

While having good quality consoles or gaming gear is not a guarantee of success, it sure helps. You don’t need to update your entire set up but make sure that your gear is not holding you back but instead is making progress easier. Although, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you won’t be able to become a professional if you can’t get your hands on the newest equipment right away. You can take your time with building a setup and getting the necessary equipment; you will still be able to progress if you don’t have the latest, most expensive devices. Instead, make the most of what you can get. 

Start Participating in Leagues and Tournaments

It’s good to attend professional gaming events to see what they’re like and get used to the environment. It is also better to start applying to the tournaments early on to get comfortable playing in the public eye. Whether online or in-person, build up your confidence and start playing! This will get you noticed by industry professionals, and soon enough, you will be getting sponsorship from them for playing your favorite games.

Find a Team

Teams have a much easier time getting sponsorships and building a name for themselves than individual players. Although it is important that you mix with the right people from the start to get into a team, you will enjoy being a part of it. Generally speaking, the better you are at your game, the more you will receive offers to join different teams. But you also have to learn to reach out first, especially as a beginner.  

How to Stay Safe While Trying to Make It in the Gaming Industry

Generally, the professional gaming industry is pretty straightforward. But there still are some scams you need to watch out for. You may get excited to find a sponsorship offer in your inbox but beware that there are a lot of fake companies out there preying on the naive gamers looking to get started in the industry. It’s good to use a VPN since many of these fake offers and tournament applications will actually contain malware. You can avoid infecting your computer with a virus or giving the hacker access to your accounts by using a VPN every time you go online – a VPN means a virtual private network that will reroute your connection through a secure server, disguising your IP address and protecting you against cyber attacks.