eSports took over the gaming industry by a storm. Global audiences in eSports are increasing every year, more tournaments get featured and prize pools are growing faster than ever. According to Newzoo 2018 report, with the current growth trajectory, the eSports economy will reach the size of $1.4 billion by 2020. As the market develops, new career opportunities arise on the horizon. Some of the jobs offer more hands-on experience connected with the gaming, some offer more business or marketing oriented roles. Let’s examine the top career destinations and see how you can fit in.
Professional Gamer
Although rather obvious, being a professional gamer remains one of the most desired jobs in the eSports sector. Well, who wouldn’t want to make money by playing the favourite games on the prestigious level? Professional gamers earn a regular salary which may depend on the team they play for. Unfortunately, pro teams keep the information about compensation sizes under lock and key. What is known, however, is that gamers are also compensated by winning the tournaments and streaming. For example, for the International 2018, Dota 2 team OG won $11,234,158 for the first place. Streaming can also be highly rewarding – single channel subscription cost is $4.99 on Twitch, where the streamer is paid half of this amount for each subscriber.
So, how to jumpstart a professional gamer career? Besides having a passion for the video games and a very high individual gaming skill level, it is important to get noticed by eSports organizations. Professionals usually start off in the amateur or minor tournaments to get the track record or by actively streaming on the respective platforms. Although this sounds pretty easy, not all gamers make it to the top, so truly standing out is the key here.
Caster or eSports Commentator
Another job in the eSports industry that is worth mentioning is a shoutcaster, or simply caster. Casters provide the live commentary during the match, highlight special moments, conduct pre and post-game analytics and sometimes interview pro players. It is a great and exciting job to do, with the average salary of $62,000.
To become the caster, you should have an in-depth knowledge of at least one game (the more – the better) and certainly have great communication and analytical skills. In order to land this job, you have to get noticed just like in the case of professional gaming. We advise networking hard. For instance, you may reach out to the tournament organizers (e.g. on Twitch) and offer them to help with commentating. Likewise, you can record the casting on the past games in order to showcase your skills. Keep in mind, that creativity pays off here quite well.
eSports Coach
Like in the traditional sports, eSports coaches constitute the backbone of every pro team.
Coaches work with the players, help them identify their strong and weak sides, organize the training, assist in strategy development, analyze the rival teams and so on. Usually, coaches are expected to possess very deep understanding of the game and even some level of personal gaming skill. Coaches have to keep up with all the news, updates, changes in meta to make sure the team adapts appropriately. Last but not the least important requirement is being good at people’s management, particularly teaching and communication.
There are many ways to become an eSports coach. Oftentimes, former or retired eSports players go into coaching to stay in the industry. For those who think of the coaching as the entry-level job in eSports, this might be a little more difficult. New coaches should start looking for the amateur or small eSports organizations to gain the sufficient experience.
The salaries of eSports coaches vary depending on the eSports organization. For instance, as for the year 2015, Team Liquid was looking for a head coach for its League of Legends team. Back then, the organization was ready to pay from $32,000 to $55,000 yearly, with several extra perks. We may presume that the salaries for eSports coaches are even higher now if taking into account the overall eSports market growth.
Sales
Sales jobs in the eSports industry are quite similar to others. When it comes to eSports, sales managers are usually responsible for organizing ticket sales, hardware sales, arranging sponsorship agreements, building the relationships with the customer base, helping the brand to grow and so on.
Unlike previously mentioned jobs, landing a job in sales can be done without doing something extravagant. It is recommended to have a related degree, possess strong interpersonal and communication skills, have a good understanding of the eSports business etc. Sales managers in eSports earn around $40,000 on average, but this may vary. The work time is the casual 9 to 5.
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