Gaming hobby into a career that make money.
Like most teenagers in the 1990s, Aleksey Krupnyk spent most of his spare time playing computer games.
However, in contrast with other teens, game player from Ukraine is finally getting a livelihood from the fire on the criminals in cyberspace. In 2003, when at the age of 23, she won her first major electronic sports tournament.
The prizes? A laptop, which he sold at a price of US $ 1,430 (Rp 19 million) -which is a large amount of currency in the Ukrainian hryvnia at the time. "That's a crazy amount," he recalls, "I could buy a car."
When Krupnyk first start playing to earn money, electronic sports industry -the video players compete against others-player has just grown. Krupnyk earn a very passable, with pocketed US $ 33,500 (Rp464 million) of his win in tournaments and collect about $ 2,000 (Rp 27 million) a month from its sponsors in its heyday in 2011.
Four players earned more than US $ 1.73 million (Rp24 billion) in 2015.
When the popularity of eSports (electronic Sports) increases, so does the prize and sponsorship money is obtained, in addition to employment opportunities. According to E-Sports Earnings, four players earn more than US $ 1.73 million (Rp24 billion) in 2015, while many others have income of more than US $ 100,000 (Rp1.3 billion).
Although eSports is still not a sport mainstream as basketball or football, Superdata Research -a company based in New York who observed sector this- say that the market eSports globally will grow from US $ 748 million (Rp 10 trillion) today to US $ 1, 9 billion (Rp263 trillion) at the end of 2018.
In 2015, approximately 188 million people watching video games played over the Internet and on TV, or an increase of 71.5 million viewers in 2013.
This market soared rapidly due to several reasons: the more people who play video games than ever before (selling video game in the world reached US $ 114 billion in 2015), and also allows players to compete against others on the Internet, while the advertisers - very want to target those aged around 18 to 35 years-began funding competitions, said Joost van Dreunen, Executive Chairman at Superdata.
Being a professional
There are hundreds of gamers who consider themselves professional players and this number will continue to grow, says Ralf Reichert based in Cologne, Germany, and became managing director of Turtle Entertainment, a company that menggerlar and promote competition and a big eSports leagues.
Just as in other sports, many players only get a small amount of money -300 500 players whose names are registered on the website E-Sports Earnings only bring home less than $ 50,000 (Rp692 million) of their winnings in tournaments throughout the year 2015 . But now the industry is getting stronger there will be many opportunities to earn greater income, said Reichert.
Moving on from playing in the bedroom to achieve success in the tournament takes practice long hours, high skill and fast fingers, said van Dreunen. Ordinary people generally completed 100 actions per minute in a game, but the professionals can reach an average of 350 to 500 actions.
To win games like League of Legends, StarCraft II, and Dota 2, -which is largely a game of adventure with multi pemain- action requires quick thinking and a well-considered strategy.
Ordinary people generally completed 100 actions per minute in a game, but the professionals can reach 350 to 500 actions.
Not too different from the chess indeed, but it takes much higher speed. "It's as if the ice hockey and chess have a baby," said van Dreunen. "This game is fast, can not take it easy, and also have to think about the big picture-if you see a person doing something, then you have to respond."Achieving higher levels
There is only one way to make a lot of money in the sport this one, which is a win, win, win and win again. In Ukraine, Krupnyk previously did not have a computer at home, so he joined the group of computers in his hometown. When he was getting good at playing StarCraft Broodwar, the predecessor StarCraft II -he began to beat the other group members.
He was then invited to fight the other club members and he also beat them. Then he began to compete online against players in South Korea, which is seen as the birthplace of eSports, and win too!
To reach the very top rank, you need to join a team. Similar to other sports, managers and talent scouts are usually looking for the top players to sign a contract and they then fly the players to the biggest tournaments.
Krupnyk signed his first contract in 2004 and at that time he was only getting US $ 100 (Rp 1.3 million) a month. But after joining the team, he could get a US $ 24,000 (Rp332 million) per year, not including the results of a victory in the tournament.
The appeal of eSports is a global industry so that people everywhere can participate.
The appeal of eSports is a global industry so that people everywhere can participate. However, South Korea is still a nest for video games, even in the United States, Europe and Asia branch is growing rapidly, says van Dreunen.
He pointed out that investments related to eSports reaching US $ 321 million (Rp 4 trillion) in Asia by 2015, or about US $ 100 million higher than in North America.Not simply play the game
However, being a professional game player is not a career that could last long. The popularity of video games are often changed, and if it happens direct revenue collapsed dramatically. Time games for hours is not conducive to having a family, said Krupnyk, which not too many enter the competition since having children.
Fortunately, there are other jobs related to the gaming world. Krupnyk now works for Twitch.TV, an internet or online community for gamers, as the manager of the partnership.
Reichert company employs 400 people worldwide and currently has about 40 job vacancies. It requires a power otherwise needed -Marketing media company, TV show host and professionals in the fields of production, the league operator, accountant, and finance.
Although to participate in the competition is no time limit, those who have entered into this world has never really stopped. "Once you become a professional player," said Krupnyk, "You remain a lifelong professional player.
