STACK #188 June 2020

GAMING FEATURE

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ESPORT BE A GOOD

Fortnite

The full lowdown on the essential need-to-know of what’s involved in the ever-growing esports scene. Words Nathan Lawrence

N aturally, it helps that there are some big prize-pool purses to incentivise starry-eyed young ones to want to pursue a potentially lucrative career as the next big esports household name. After all, the Fortnite World Cup 2019 had a prize pool of US$30 million, and then 16-year-old American Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf took home a cool US$3 million in winnings. Meanwhile, in a completely different gaming genre, Dota 2 ’s The International 2019 edged closer to US$33 million, with Aussie Anathan “ana” Pham’s current approximate total earnings sitting at more than US$6 million. Not bad for someone who’s yet to turn 21. Given esports is continuing its meteoric rise in popularity, here’s the skinny on what you need to know.

Dota 2

DIGITAL ATHLETES Like ‘electronic mail’ to ‘email’, ‘esports’ is the shorthand term for ‘electronic sports’. While some may scoff at the seemingly paradoxical term ‘digital athletes’, the reality is that professional esports players train just as hard (if not harder) than sports athletes. It’s not just physical-versus-digital training, either. These days, physical health and mental wellbeing are also part of the equation for top-tier esports players and the teams seeking a competitive edge. If you’re ever having trouble motivating your

budding esports hopeful kids to exercise or take a break from gaming, you can tell them that performance perks are part and parcel with physical fitness. That said, one of the perks of esports is competitors don’t have to be the pinnacle of physical excellence, and it’s open to players of different ages and genders. With an estimated 81 per cent of children playing games around the world, and crazy year-on-year growth that should see esports hitting $1.8 billion by 2022 – as part of an overarching $180 billion gaming industry – it’s understandable why more and more kids are seeing esports as a viable pathway.

Non-player characters Playing as a professional player may be the goal, but the size of the esports ecosystem means there are plenty of other related career pathways to pursue. Pro players can also create and/or stream content to subsidise earnings. Retired mid-20s players can go on to be coaches or analysts. There’s work on the production side of things, too, for crew, hosting or event management. In terms of the game publishers, there’s also PR, social media management or brand management.

JUNE 2020

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