AS parents, we would have been worried when our children spend most of their time playing video games instead of focusing on their studies on the notion that this isn’t going to help them earn a living.
Guess what? Time has proven us wrong!
In recent times gamers have been earning in the millions just by playing in gaming matches.
Gaming has gained popularity and prominence so much so that it has been recognised as a sporting activity (electronic sports) with inter-country tournaments that offers lucrative prizes being held.
If your gaming skills are particularly exceptional, you might consider going pro.
Professional gamers or eSports athletes have been around since competitive gaming was introduced, but it’s now a career worth pursuing thanks to the changing perception around it.
It was recorded that the winning team of the International 2019 tournament consisting five members, picked up US$15.6 mil (RM64.6 mil). Each of them took home more than Tiger Woods at the 2019 Masters (US$2.07 mil).
Professional gamers don’t just earn from prize pools. Popular ones can add to their revenue by streaming their practice gameplay on Twitch (world’s leading live streaming platform for gamers) and endorsing video game-related products.
Twitch subscribers to these gaming celebrities would have to pay a fee, which is split 50/50 between streamers and Twitch. Twitch streamers also gain ad revenue (between 70 US cents and US$2.50 per thousand views, depending on the ad type and how popular you are).
Meanwhile, game testing is a legitimate job that requires one to play games, and is often seen as a gateway to the industry as a whole.
Game designer and programmer Jackson Leong who worked for local games development company Gamerlang told FocusM in 2018, that while the video game industry is growing in the country, most developers now tend to focus on smaller projects or take up outsourced tasks from bigger developers.
“Our company hires part-time play-testers occasionally, but for the most part, we perform the tests ourselves and rely on player feedback to fix bugs and issues,” noted Leong.
According to Investopedia, the gaming industry is immense, in fact, larger than the movie and music industry combined, and it is only growing.
As per safebettingsites.com, a portal launched to help protect consumers against unlicensed betting sites, video game revenue topped US$10.7 bil (RM44.3 bil) in September 2020.
Analysts have predicted by 2022, the gaming industry will generate US$196 bil (RM397.4 bil) in revenue and the market value would reach US$256.97 bil (RM1.06 tril) by 2025.
Realising the potential, investors are also eyeing a slice of the billion-dollar pie.
According to portal, eSports investment value rose by 714% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) in Q3 2020 to reach US$1.33 bil (RM5.38 bil).
The total M&A and investment transaction value for the three-month period was US$17.54 bil (RM72.61 bil).
All that said, the next time your children express interest in starting a career in the gaming world, don’t be so quick to discourage them. They might just make it big. – Nov 6, 2020
