Gaming superstars earn millions by playing or streaming video games
Today’s eSports gaming stars earn thousands of dollars an hour to play games such as Fortnite, Overwatch and Apex Legends — and there are plenty of Aussie gaming superstars who are rising to international stardom from the comfort of their own homes.
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When Eileen Bell was a teenager competing in video gaming tournaments, they were held in high school halls and contestants had to bring in their own computers in the boot of their cars.
“We’d sit around and set it up and then play for hours and then unpack it all at the end. That was what a gaming tournament looked like back then,” said Bell, a semi-retired pro gaming circuit celebrity who is now a financier at Westpac.
Now tournaments are screened live around the globe to millions on major channels such as ESPN.
Players are signed to professional teams backed by global multinationals such as Kraft Foods and Comcast.
In some cases, eSports teams are owned by famous sporting franchises such as the Dallas Cowboys or New York Yankees.
In Australia already two football clubs have recently bought in on the action — the Adelaide Crows and the Essendon Bombers — which both now have interests in the Australian eSports league (AEL).
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Facilities are built for players to train. Nutritionists ensure players stick to a healthy, highly-regulated food plan. Personal trainers put players through daily workouts and gaming coaches are on hand 24 hours per day.
Welcome to the new world of eSports gaming.
“I think if you told us a decade ago where gaming would be at today I don’t think anyone would believe you,” said Bell.
Today’s eSports stars earn thousands an hour to play games such as Fortnite, Overwatch and Apex Legends.
Aussie superstar Trill — real name Ashley Powell — this week became just the third Australian to sign on to the elite Overwatch League with a base salary of $50,000 and is now playing for the Dallas Fuel.
That salary doesn’t include prize money. The 22-year-old Powell has already amassed more than $3 million.
Sydney University student Damien Chok — aka Kpii — is contesting the fourth leg of an international pro-circuit tournament in Paris in the lead up to the Overwatch Pacific Showdown in Shanghai later this month Chok has racked up more than $1 million in earnings.
He is frequently joined on winning teams by Melbourne’s Anathan Pham — another of Australia’s biggest players on the world gaming scene who has won $3 million in prizemoney playing Dota2 (the sequel to the original smash hit game Defence Of The Ancients).
What makes the Aussie success so remarkable, according to former professional Overwatch player-turned player-manager Ben Lehane, is that fact they have risen to international stardom despite Australia’s famously notorious handicap of the internet lag.
It’s understood a lag of between one and two seconds exists between Australia’s internet speed and that of Europe and the US, making it excruciatingly difficult for our gamers to compete.
“It puts us at a huge disadvantage because unless you are competing with the really good guys overseas, you aren’t improving,” Lehane said.
“You’re not getting that match experience that you need. So for some Australians to make it at all, it’s incredible really. We are over-achieving in a big way.”
But perhaps the most lucrative part of the video gaming world is streaming.
This lets anyone watch celebrity gamers at work — any time of day or night, seven days a week.
In the past few years streaming has exploded, giving rise to a new kind of celebrity who earns millions from demonstrating game strategy or road-testing games.
And none are bigger than “Ninja”, a 24-year-old American called Richard Tyler Blevins who reportedly earns about $500,000 per month in subscriptions.
He was also paid $1 million by Electronic Arts to road-test Apex Legends.
Max Garrett is a soccer-mad schoolboy from Newcastle who sees Ninja as the gaming equivalent to, say, Lionel Messi.
Not surprisingly, he wants to follow his lead. His mother and manager Jacquie thinks he has the potential.
Already Max has signed to a pro eSports team and holds a world ranking in Pokemon.
He is 11 years old.
“He definitely has the potential to be that big but it’s really whether or not it stays of interest to him … he is very young,” said Ms Garrett, who has changed her career in marketing and communications to start her own gaming management company GGWP Academy.
She now guides Max’s burgeoning career, monitoring his streaming sessions and intercepting trolls and potential approaches from paedophiles.
“He does not stream for one second unless I am moderating,” she said.
“There are certain buzzwords to look out for. And he knows never to give out his name or location.
“It’s all a matter of censuring, which I do while he plays but as he gets older he is learning to self-censure and control his image.”
She also limits Max’s gaming to two hours per day, adding that in every other aspect he is a ‘normal kid’.
“He still goes to soccer training. He still goes to swimming. He does everything regular kids do. He is mentally and physically healthy and while he is happy to play and he is enjoying it then I am happy.
“But I am aware how fickle kids can be and if he gets to a point where is loses interest then that’s okay too.”
Originally published as Gaming superstars earn millions by playing or streaming video games
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