Comments on: Professional Gaming http://werkkrew.com/2008/08/27/professional-gaming/ Insights on Philosophy, Psychology, and Technology Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:00:59 +0000 hourly 1 By: MooGoo http://werkkrew.com/2008/08/27/professional-gaming/comment-page-1/#comment-135 MooGoo Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:10:01 +0000 http://www.werkkrew.com/?p=221#comment-135 I read an article in a gaming magazine about professional gaming recently. According to this article, only about 300 people in the world currently make a decent living solely playing videogames. That is an incredibly small amount. It also said that for most of these people, the salaries they get paid are little better than you'd get for flipping burgers full time at McDonalds, that they rely on prize money for the bulk of their income. So it would seem being a pro gamer is hardly a "buy a house/raise a family" stable job. But I doubt many people expect it to be, and I'm guessing that people who do vie to be teh most pr0 are in it for the the love of gaming and the potential for attention and acknowledgment of their skillz. So they have no backup plans for when they fail? It's not like everyone who has a college degree has decent jobs that they don't hate. Backup plans are only worthwhile when you have obligations such as family and debt. Hopefully most 15 year old gaming starlets do not have these burdens, and when they wash out and have their dreams crushed in a couple of years, they will still have time to pick up the pieces and move on with a normal boring life. Bad priorities would be some mid 30's dude with a house, wife, and kids, quiting his job so he can train to become the next Guitar Hero Champion of the world. And as an aside, kids really should drop out of high school. Seriously, it is a total waste of time. I only wish I dropped out and just got a GED. Wasting your time trying to become the greatest videogame player evar is far better than wasting your time sleeping through yet another American History class. I read an article in a gaming magazine about professional gaming recently. According to this article, only about 300 people in the world currently make a decent living solely playing videogames. That is an incredibly small amount. It also said that for most of these people, the salaries they get paid are little better than you’d get for flipping burgers full time at McDonalds, that they rely on prize money for the bulk of their income.

So it would seem being a pro gamer is hardly a “buy a house/raise a family” stable job. But I doubt many people expect it to be, and I’m guessing that people who do vie to be teh most pr0 are in it for the the love of gaming and the potential for attention and acknowledgment of their skillz.

So they have no backup plans for when they fail? It’s not like everyone who has a college degree has decent jobs that they don’t hate. Backup plans are only worthwhile when you have obligations such as family and debt. Hopefully most 15 year old gaming starlets do not have these burdens, and when they wash out and have their dreams crushed in a couple of years, they will still have time to pick up the pieces and move on with a normal boring life.

Bad priorities would be some mid 30′s dude with a house, wife, and kids, quiting his job so he can train to become the next Guitar Hero Champion of the world.

And as an aside, kids really should drop out of high school. Seriously, it is a total waste of time. I only wish I dropped out and just got a GED. Wasting your time trying to become the greatest videogame player evar is far better than wasting your time sleeping through yet another American History class.

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