You Won’t Become an eSports Champion, and Here’s Why.
Alright, let’s say, in a totally fictional scenario (or real, we don’t know)…
You love the game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, also known as CS:GO.
You think you’re able to become a PROFESSIONAL in the scene and make thousands upon thousands of dollars.
Most people would probably just tell you;
“Try your hardest, and you’ll succeed someday!”
Yeah, no. Sorry, but that’s not true. If you don’t have the right setup, set of skills, or hours upon hours invested into the game, you’re probably never going to enter the scene. Heck, probably not even the lowest amateur scenes.
In fact, if you want to become an eSports pro, it’s quite expensive… and even then you probably won’t even earn enough money back and will just end up in debt on your mission.
First of all,
you’ll need to invest 10,000 hours into the game (as people say “10,000 hours invested into anything will turn you into a professional.”) 10,000 hours is, oh, only 3 to 10 years of playing. No biggie there. (obvious sarcasm).
For example, one of the top players in the world, S1mple has been playing the Counter Strike series since he was 4 years old! That’s 20 years of experience with first person shooters. (He is 24 at the time that this has been published.)
Now, he pre-ordered CS:GO when it came out back in 2012, and just a year later- he started his eSports career on it, from 2013 to now.
Then…
the equipment, coaching, and high-speed internet. It’ll cost you roughly $9,810 to get all of this.
Even then, you have to pay money to enter your eSport competitions!
In the ESEA League, (which stands for the E-Sports Entertainment Association League) the #1 non-pro CS:GO association that pays their players, you have to pay $120 a year just to enter into their seasons… and you’re not even guaranteed ANY money back whatsoever!
But, even though you’ve ‘mastered the game’ and played out your 10,000 hours, you’re most likely still garbage compared to the NUMBER 1 competitors in the ESEA.
Besides that, back to our fictional scenario. You make an account for the ESEA, and sign up. You’re stuck between all of the leagues.
So, after a few moments of debate- you choose to enter the easiest league, the Open League.
However, it’s the opposite of easy. Just to win a small amount of money, you have to:
1. Actually win your matches against players probably better than you
2. Be the top 100–250 teams in the world out of possible hundreds to thousands, just to make it to the playoffs and risk elimination and your season ending
3. Make it to the FINAL 8, just to earn… $175 if you’re eliminated.
Now, the Open League top prize is $1,000 which isn’t bad, but it’s EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to earn it.
And even in the case you were to improve, the ESEA has 4 other leagues with different prize pools and price ranges you can enter, and even then like with the Open League, you have to face hundreds of other teams and you’re guaranteed NOTHING.
If you think you’re good enough, you can enter their top league, the Challenger League, but thing is, even LESS people qualify for the playoffs! However, according to the ESEA, there is a road to the Pro League (their top series that you have to be INVITED TO) in that same league.
So, it might seem like a good idea, and let’s say you make it to the top 8, and get eliminated.
Boom, you just got $1,250 in your bank account. Thing is, that won’t even close to cover your yearly internet and coaching fees.
IN-FACT, if you WANT to be able to pay for them and still have a stable life, you need to frequently hit the TOP 2 in the world in the Challenger League.
So, what I personally think in the end, is, that it’s fair to say you probably won’t ever be a CS:GO professional, and even if you wanted to be.. you need money. Lots of it. You also need to have the ability to make it back.
If you have money, here’s an idea; just invest. It’s completely unpredictable, unreliable if you don’t have advisors, and you have to actually know what you’re doing — just like trying to become a CS:GO World Champion.
