Not too long ago, I woke up to the sounds of a cheerful radio producer who, following a Sydney Morning Herald article, had discovered the wonders of professional gaming. The chance for four young Australians to travel for free to Los Angeles and receive US$75,000 for their fifth place finish at the Call of Duty world championships was a revelation, and she wanted to know more.
What was absent in my breakdown for talkback radio, however, was precisely how many routes are available for Australians to convert their love of gaming into a professional pursuit.
As the potential for gaming grows through the sales of next-generation consoles, smartphones and exceedingly cheap computer parts, developers and publishers have realised the increasing value of redirecting their marketing budget into community-driven tournaments, opening doors for prospective gamers around the world.
But it isn’t just traditional franchises like Call of Duty and Battlefield helping to drive the growth of eSports. More and more developers are creating games specifically targeting fans of competitive gaming, with the millions channeled into League of Legends and Dota 2 alone, titles that exist purely for the thrill of competition, helping hundreds in Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania turn their passion into a career.
Streaming: the new frontier
A key element in this new industry has been the rise of streaming and the advertising revenue associated with that. Ten years ago, it was only possible to make a living as a professional gamer through revenue gained from tournament earnings or endorsements, the latter often requiring a major win beforehand.
With the prevalence of YouTube and Twitch these days, even gamers with mediocre skills can make a reasonable crust if they can foster a strong enough fanbase.
Jeffrey ‘Trump’ Shih, a 26-year-old who began streaming when Blizzard Entertainment’s Starcraft 2’s popularity was at its highest, makes a full-time living streaming Hearthstone, the free-to-play collectible card game from the same studio.
Others supplement their living as a professional gamer with a stream. Many League of Legends players, such as the members of North American eSports organisation Team SoloMid, do this, with over 478,000 followers and 146 million channel views for the personal stream of TSM’s coach, Brian ‘TheOddOne’ Wyllie.
But while Australians might not boast viewer numbers or salaries approaching their foreign contemporaries, there are certainly no shortage of routes to get started. Annual, developer-backed tournaments for Call of Duty and League of Legends have become a staple on the local gaming calendar. The latter, following a live finals at Sydney’s Supanova anime and comic festival, has seen five Australians earn a trip to Cologne, Germany, to compete in a wildcard event.
A truly international affair
Two teams from Cologne will earn a spot at the League of Legends world championship finals, held later this year in Taipei, Singapore and South Korea. The grand finals will take place in Sangam Stadium, the same venue used for the semi-finals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, which seats almost 67,000. Tickets are expected to fly out the door, commensurate with South Korea’s long-standing affinity for professional gaming.
South Korea has long been the Mecca of eSports, having televised professional leagues for Starcraft: Brood War and Starcraft 2 for well over a decade. A number of Australians have travelled to the region at various points to test their mettle. Andrew ‘mOOnGlaDe’ Pender, who has earned over $33,000 over the last few years through Starcraft 2 alone – which doesn’t account for his winnings and efforts as a former Warcraft 3 professional – is currently working as a commentator for the SK Telecom Proleague, after multiple appearances as an on-air guest and a competitor.
Seoul is attractive to Australians because of its location: a one-way trip doesn’t cost thousands of dollars and it’s close enough for gamers to be reasonably competitive in online matches, skill differences notwithstanding. But even the jet lag of a 20-hour flight to Europe hasn’t stopped Australians pursuing their professional virtual ambitions.
Europe has some of the more eye-catching events. By far the most intriguing on the gaming calendar is the conclusion of the GT Academy, a global tournament where the winners of Gran Turismo qualifiers from around the world meet up at Silverstone in the United Kingdom for a real-life racing boot camp. The winner is then given a racing license of their own and a spot in the 24-hour Le Mans endurance race, along with a pathway into a new life as a proper racing driver.
Not to be outdone, North America remains an essential part on the global eSports circuit. The Major League Gaming (MLG) circuit has been a prominent destination for Call of Duty, Starcraft and Halo players for years, with the same Australians mentioned at the top of the article finishing ninth at MLG’s regular Californian stop in Anaheim.
They were originally going to miss the tournament, with their Australian sponsor unable to cover the higher cost of flights resulting from the ongoing FIFA World Cup. But a major American organisation, Curse Gaming, brought the Australians under their wing, giving them access to their global fanbase, wider sponsor reach, and fatter bank balance.
The largest of them all: EVO 2014 and The International
EVO 2013: Moments from Richard Li Media, LLC on Vimeo.
The two biggest events on the calendar will take place this month, with the Evolution fighting game championships and The International, a tournament dedicated to Valve’s DOTA 2 that features a prize pool larger than the ATP’s US Open, dominating the next couple of weekends.
Nearly 2000 gamers registered just for EVO’s Ultra Street Fighter IV tournament, with 836 foreigners representing 45 countries, the host nation not included. It’s the largest collection of competing nationalities at an event since the World Cyber Games in its heyday. 28 Australians are travelling overseas to take part, which will be the largest contingent travelling from Down Under to a single event in memory.
But nothing matches the sheer size and spectacle of The International, an event that has adopted the crowdfunding beast for its prize pool. First place is a staggering US$4.773 million. The runners-up will walk away with a cool US$1.4 million, with just under US$1 million set aside for third place. US$50,000 is still a major prize for tournaments around the world, but nearly that much will be given at The International to teams finishing ninth and tenth.
Over $10 million in total prize money and growing.
It speaks volumes for just how mature gaming and eSports is becoming, particularly from the funding side of things, where legions of older gamers are happily emptying their pockets just to spectate community-driven events and tournaments.
Traditional media may not fully comprehend the scale and scope that is eSports for decades to come, but it’s a trend that is continuing to gain ground at home and abroad. Twitch.tv, for instance, broadcasts to 35 million unique users a month only two years after launching, providing a streaming platform that is an increasingly attractive goldmine for advertisers, developers and gamers alike.
Australia already has access to a piece of this evolving digital pie. With such an array of pathways available for prospective professional gamers, it won’t be long before society is forced to officially recognise the viability of becoming a full-time gamer anywhere in the world.
Largest tournaments by prize pool to date
Tournament/Year
Game
Platform
Prize Money
Country
The International (2014)
DOTA 2
PC
US$10,470,525
Seattle, USA
The International (2013)
DOTA 2
PC
US$2,874,407
Seattle, USA
LCS Season 3 Championship Finals
League of Legends
PC
US$2,050,000
Los Angeles, USA
LCS Season 2 Championship Finals
League of Legends
PC
US$1,970,000
Los Angeles, USA
The International (2011, 2012)
DOTA 2
PC
US$1,600,000
Seattle, USA
Call of Duty Championship (2013, 2014)
Call of Duty: Ghosts, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
Xbox 360/Xbox One
US$1,000,000
Los Angeles, USA
Call of Duty XP Championships
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Xbox 360
US$1,000,000
Los Angeles, USA
Championship Gaming Series (2007, 2008)
Multiple games*
Various
US$1,000,000
California, USA
CPL World Tour 2005
Painkiller
PC
US$510,000
New York, USA**
Halo 4 Global Championship
Halo 4
Xbox 360
US$300,000
Seattle, USA
* The Championship Gaming Series pitted teams of players from multiple games against each other in a team-based format.
** The World Tour took place across locations in North America, South America and Europe, but the grand finals, a 1v1 match, took place in New York.
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