Careers in eSports: How you can master your career entry into the eSports scenev

Playing video games every day and earning money from it - for passionate gamers, this sounds like an opportunity to turn their hobby into a career. In fact, playing professionally every day is part of everyday working life for e-athletes. Hours of training, taking part in tournaments and events as well as playing and training together as a team are elementary components of an e-sportsman's work routine.

There are several obvious reasons why eSports is becoming an attractive career goal for more and more people: The scene or industry is growing rapidly and gaming has developed into a cultural phenomenon that is enjoying increasing popularity and acceptance. Numerous investors and sponsors have not only created attractive financial opportunities, but have also driven a general professionalisation of the industry. In an eSports organisation, for example, there are coaches, analysts, team managers and many other professional fields that support or accompany the professional gamer. eSports is therefore much more than just the individual professional player. Behind it are numerous teams of employees who work in the background to ensure that everything runs as smoothly as possible for the eSports player. Are you a gamer or eSports enthusiast and want to turn your passion into a career? As team manager of the Angry Titans, I would be happy to give you some tips on how to realise your dream in the eSports scene.

Most gaming enthusiasts dream of a professional eSports career in order to earn a living with their favourite game. And I can certainly understand that: Everyone would like to one day be as good at gaming as their professional idol, right? We are very familiar with emulating the pros and developing the ambition to improve every day from real sports such as football. Just like the professional footballer, the professional eSports player also tries to raise the general and specific level of play to a new level. In terms of skills, talent, ambition and discipline, real sports professionals are no different from virtual ones. But despite plenty of talent, only a tiny fraction make it to the professional ranks in the end. And it's the same in the eSports scene! Of the many talented gamers, only VERY few end up playing professionally - the majority play in hobby leagues or semi-professional organisations. 

The eSports coach focusses on the strategic and mechanical factors of the players. As in real sports, the coach ensures that the players always perform better. The coach also has the task of motivating the players during breaks in the game and giving them advice if necessary. The coach is therefore also a reference person for the team and requires a great deal of empathy and social skills.

In professional gaming, a special trainer for data and game analyses is also important. Regularly analysing statistics helps players to continuously develop.

The manager manages individual eSports players or entire teams. Depending on the level of professionalism, their tasks include registering for tournaments or entering results. The team manager also looks after the fitness, psyche and personality of the players. In short: the team managers ensure that the players can focus on playing and that the best possible environment is provided.

eSports events cannot take place without a professional organisational structure. Event organisers plan and structure everything around the venue and coordinate the event independently. Content creators and social media experts are already familiar from many other industries. They ensure that sponsors are presented in the best possible way and that the content reaches the target group. Different formats are important here to make eSports tangible for fans. Many eSports organisations have a great need for support here. A great opportunity to gain initial experience in the industry.

eSports commentators either act live and report on the current game action or as accompanying event presenters. The live commentator is comparable to the classic sports presenter at a real sporting event. The hosts are responsible for the smooth running of the event. They combine individual elements of the event and lead from the action to a panel of experts. Hosts moderate and spark discussions to make the show more attractive for the audience.

Administrators take on active support work during ongoing tournaments. They maintain the rankings and ensure that all players adhere to the rules. They also decide on possible sanctions such as point deductions, lost rounds or disqualifications in the event of rule violations. Many clubs are looking for tournament administrators on a voluntary basis. This can be a good opportunity for you to take your first steps in professional eSports.

The areas of responsibility of project, event and community managers can also be adapted to the eSports industry. There are plenty of professional areas of responsibility in eSports at major tournaments and events where you can realise your potential.

In addition to professions within the industry, there are also career opportunities in the software and hardware industry to gain a foothold in eSports. There are several hardware manufacturers that produce and sell their own products for eSports. There are certainly career opportunities in product development, marketing or sales. If you want to combine an affinity for IT with enthusiasm for gaming, software companies are certainly the right place to start.

Once you've made it as a professional gamer, your everyday life will largely consist of playing video games. But it's also about other content. This is what the tasks of a professional eSports player look like:

Of course, the skills and competences required depend on the professional position. It is obvious that professional e-athletes need a higher degree of self-discipline and mental resilience. Coaches and team managers, on the other hand, need significantly more social skills and the ability to organise and deal with conflict. If you want to become a professional e-athlete, you should have the following qualities and strengths:

difficult. Especially very young people with little life experience and often no professional experience at all cannot easily master all the social skills required. Empathy, organisation, conflict management and communication skills are skills that improve over time. If you want to get into the eSports industry, commitment, passion, ambition and a sense of responsibility are the most important qualities you need to have. In addition, a basic technical understanding of image, sound, lighting and camera work is of fundamental importance. You can improve these basic social and technical skills through internships. To summarise, you need the following qualities to be successful as a coach or team manager in eSports:

• Strong empathy. 
• Conflict and communication skills. 
•  Organisational talent. 
• A generally high level of empathy. 
• Analytical skills. 
• Basic technical understanding of image, sound, lighting and camera work. Passion, sense of responsibility and willingness to perform (even as a team manager and coach there are no regular working hours).
  

As you've probably already realised, getting into the industry is the hardest part. If you want to establish yourself in the eSports scene, I recommend volunteering in small or medium-sized organisations and clubs. Many gaming organisations are looking for volunteer tournament administrators, event or community managers and social media managers. There are also all kinds of opportunities to complete internships. Volunteering is the perfect opportunity to gain initial experience and, above all, to make your first contacts. To summarise, the following options are available to you to get started in eSports:

There are no traditional "apprenticeships" or "degree programmes" at public universities in Germany. As a result, learning certain skills is not the main focus in eSports. If you would like to learn more about professional gaming, I would be happy to give you some helpful advice: You can also teach yourself most things as a "career changer". However, building up a good network is very important in order to be successful as a professional gamer or in an eSports organisation. Everyone has to decide for themselves whether a degree programme is the right choice for a career in eSports. Find out about the modules and consider to what extent the content will increase your skills and opportunities in eSports. By the way: the eSports industry is completely digital. You can follow how the pros operate online and pick up the best tips and tricks. The same applies to the clubs and organisations behind it.

Professional eSports in its current form is only at the beginning of its development. Although a respectable level of professionalisation has been achieved, the industry is still characterised by many lateral entrants who have acquired all-round knowledge over time. Many organisations are already looking for trained specialists. Because more and more people around the world are interested in competitive video games, I expect an even greater demand for expertise and know-how in the near future.

eSports professionals spend an enormous amount of time playing their chosen game and continuously improving their level of play. Accordingly, gaming and eSports are associated with enormous passion. Most professionals don't see eSports as a profession, but as a vocation. Accordingly, you should not see gaming for up to 16 hours a day as a time or mental burden. If you interpret intensive gaming as "work", you will quickly reach the limits of your resilience and will no longer be able to improve your level of play. Because one thing remains clear: eSports is not a classic "9 to 5 job" with regular working hours and weekends off. This applies to all professional fields in the eSports industry - 24/7 availability is a basic requirement that you shouldn't find annoying.