Competitive gaming, or more familiarly known as “esports” is a rapidly growing sector around the world. Similar to traditional sports such as football or badminton, the competitive spirit amongst players is still intense to be the best in the arena. Extending far beyond the traditional gamer playing in their room, the esports arena has grown into a multi-billion industry that not only serves as entertainment, but also a new avenue of business opportunities for those who wish to dip their toes in competitive gaming.
In the past few years, we’ve seen an obvious shift in people’s decision to turn their hobbies into a career. The courageous and daring have long been following their dreams and making a living doing what they love. From the playful and humble gamer like Soloz and the Mobile Legend Bang Bang (MLBB) sifu, Dato M Nasir, the possibilities are endless for those who dare to step into the esports arena.
Even if you’re a full-time student with a couple years of study left to complete or a full-time employee at a major corporation, it’s never too late to pursue your dream of becoming an esports player. However, you’ll need to master these crucial steps first to make your callsign stand out from the rest.
Pick Your Platform
This is the first step in figuring out whether you want to become a competitive esports player on mobile, desktop, or console platforms. When deciding which platform to use, do keep in mind that there is an array of games selection, genres and communities to consider and participate in. But you should never underestimate each platform over the others as they do have their respective pros and cons when it comes to competitive gaming.
Mobile esports doesn’t need a hefty financial commitment at the beginning with games that are easily downloadable through application stores worldwide. Image by MD Aizat.
For those who want to ease into becoming mobile esports athletes, it’s possible for them to get their feet wet in the industry with titles like Player Unknown’s Battleground Mobile (PUBG Mobile), MLBB, and Clash Royale – all of which feature competitive leverage without requiring a hefty financial commitment at the beginning. These games are easily downloadable through application stores worldwide such as HUAWEI AppGallery that enable gamers to conveniently download the games and test their capabilities through one of their most recent releases, the HUAWEI nova Y90. The phone stands out from other entry-level smartphones as it is equipped with a 40W fast charging function and 6.7 inch Edgeless FullView Display – offering the most ideal gaming experience for newbies.
Pick Your Game
There are two schools of thought when it comes to selecting the appropriate game for you to begin with: select a game that is on the cusp of becoming popular, or go with a game that is already well-known and widely played.
When choosing a game for professional play, it’s helpful to choose one that is already well-established as an esports – League of Legend: Wild Rift, Free Fire, and Call of Duty: Mobile are all esports with enormous, devoted fan bases with lucratively sponsored competitions running throughout the year. On the flipside, these communities tend to be more difficult for outsiders to break into as they have long established their teams and fan bases to accommodate the existing ones.
On the other hand, in newly emerging games, players can contribute to the game’s development by exploring it and advancing the meta stage, which is typically more dynamic and accessible to a range of play styles. For example, the original players of popular games like Rocket League and Player Unknown Battlegrounds have risen to the top of the esports scene. Nonetheless, the competitive atmosphere of a game could fizzle out due to lack of interest and developer’s update to challenge the players, forcing the players to look elsewhere.
When choosing a game for professional play, it’s helpful to choose one that is already well-established as an esports. Image by MD Aizat.
Practice Makes Perfect
We’re all aware of how the greatest esports’ athletes like to brag about how hard they train. Hence, it is evident that you will need to put in a lot of time in your practice if you want to reach the top of the esports industry as professional players routinely devote at least ten hours per day, six days a week to hone their craft. If you want to make it in esports, you have to be willing to give up pretty much everything to make sure that you are able to invest that amount of time and effort into your mechanical and strategic gaming skills.
But don’t overdo it though; downtime is just as crucial for keeping your energy up. But you should also consider how factors like your body position, diet, and sleep schedule can affect your long-term performance as a competitive gamer.
You need to put in a lot of time in your practice if you want to reach the top of the esports industry as a professional esports athlete. Image by MD Aizat.
Streaming is Everything
Even if you are already the best player in the world, no one will know about it unless you make yourself heard and seen. You need to get your name out there and establish a presence on the streaming platforms like Twitch and YouTube Gaming. Some of the now popular streaming icons such as PewDiePie, Ninja, and Mr Beast started their career with daily streams of their gameplay.
Creating a streaming channel for yourself allows everyone from everywhere to spectate your gaming abilities and also your creativity to keep them coming for more. This will allow you to build your own fan base and supporters that will eventually become their own community revolving around your progress as an esports athlete. Many esports stars have even gotten sponsorship deals due to their amusing or charming streams as well as their mad gaming skills, so don’t be hesitant to show off your personality.
Join the Community
Pro-gaming is about the community as much as it is about individual skills. Spend some time snooping on forums and other sites where players socialise before committing too much effort to learn the nuts and bolts of a specific game. The process of becoming a professional player may not be for everyone, but the experience will help you determine if it is for you.
It’s important for your profession that you enjoy the company of other players, as this will help you immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the game. Players need to communicate with one another to stay up with the ever-changing meta and innovate upon it, thereby giving back to the community of which they are a part. In addition, a strong reason for long-term investment in a game is the presence of a vibrant and supportive community.
It’s important for your profession that you enjoy the company of other players, as this will help you immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the game.
esports is unique in that a player’s performance does not depend on physical attributes such as height, strength, body type, or speed. Everyone is capable of doing exceptionally well at the highest levels of any game, be it MLBB, League of Legends, or any other game. The playing field is now level when it comes to aspects such as gender, culture, and location thanks to esports. This inclusion of participation contributes to the allure of esports as well as the development of fan bases all over the world.
