Is E-Sports a genuine career choice?

[Thordenhime]

Alright so heres the debate.

Should participating in gaming tournaments such as the LCS (league championship series), ESL Counter Strike tournaments for prize money be seen as a genuine career move?

My opinion is that if you can earn some real money and you have sponsors and a team backing you up it is certainly a valid career choice to be making just this past year a world tournament for a game called DOTA2
had a prize pool of 18 million dollars.

So what do you think?,Post your opinions below.

[Kyle]

eSport participation is a career move, yes, but it's not a sustainable one. Many games demand some physical prowess and dexterity which are going to naturally deteriorate as the player ages. Get your money and choose a different career, sure, but don't consider esports a valid career imo since retirement age is generally in the late 20s.

[Oddy]

It's a short career yes, but as a professional gamer you will most likely last 2-3 years. Its constant stress and allot of training. sure you get a heavy wallet if you play for the right team but then again you wont be rich enough to get old on the money. Most players havent finished school either so its a short career.

[Minion?!]

Personally.. I feel that there are new careers all the time popping up, and with technology REALLY dominating in the careers front.. I feel that maybe this is one way forward in the world?

I know that people like Youtubers make a living off creating short videos every week/day.. who would have thought that would have been possible even 5 years ago? I understand that being a Youtuber is probably more of a sustainable way of income to compared to these competitions.. but I honestly do feel that it is a very strong possibility for the future! :)

[Akeel]

sounds like a v fun career but you wouldnt make very much lmfao?
you could record videos of gameplay or play games for cash but i guess it just depends on how active u r and how good you are, anyway i dont see it as an actual career... online gaming cant be taken seriously it's as bad as playing football on habbo for rl money lol x

[Artpops]

Of course not. I wish I could be paid for being twenty pounds over/underweight and doing nothing but pressing a few buttons on a keyboard/remote control. What makes matters worse is the consequence of losing your job - you've spent years doing nothing but being an obese couch potato with a skill set worth nought, so how do you intend on getting one when your 'e-sporting career' will inevitable fail? Anyone who kids themselves into believing that they're going to work in this field successfully, or work in this field period, are probably fat, deluded, 12 or all three.

[GoldenMerc]

Yeh i'd say its a career, right now in this day of age its acceptable. But as Kyle said currently it isn't sustainable without doing a sub job like Youtube also (Very like how the optic team do it)

[Bionic...]

I'd say that it's a career and for the people that have the job I'm sure It's very exciting initially and seems appealing to many people but I'm sure that the awe wears off after a while and it becomes just as tedious as any other job. Many LCS Stars have explained their feelings towards their job eg : TSMs Bergsen often claims that his life is ran by his job and he never gets the time to do other things because he plays around 16 games of league a day which are on average 30 minutes each . I think that it'd be very stressful and very poor wage at times for example pros are often seen streaming and taking donations. However as just with everything if you make it to the top it could be VERY rewarding !