Gaming is becoming more and more popular as time passes by. In these past 10 years, the entire industry has grown by a huge margin. What was once just a niche market is now one of the most popular hobbies in the world. Over this last decade, this hobby also turned into a job. Yes, you read that right. Playing video games can be a professional career. Today, many adults and children are interested in turning their love for video games into a real career that can be profitable.
However, being good at video games or playing them consistently is not enough to turn it into a real job. This kind of career will require money and time investment just like any other. With so many people competing in this industry, it can be difficult to become recognized and paid for what you do.
But, do not worry. This is still a very young and new profession. There is still a chance that you could build a real career out of playing video games. To help you with that, I decided to write this article which you can use as guidance.
Find some free time
One of the first things you have to realize and understand is the fact that this kind of job will require you to invest a lot of your free time. This is not something that you cannot treat as a hobby. You will need to invest yourself entirely if you expect to create a career out of this.
So, if you are still going to school or if you work full time, you might have a problem or a more difficult time investing the needed time into video games. Of course, it is not impossible to handle two things at once, but as I said, it will be more difficult.
As you can see, your first step should be to find some free time in your life.
Pick your game
There are thousands of different titles being released every year, if not every month. In almost every genre. Horrors, action, RPGs, adventure, MMORPG, racing, simulators, and anything else you can think of. When trying to say that there is a huge variety of choices that you can pick from.
However, if you plan to be recognized in this industry, if you want to make a living out of this, you will probably have to pick one game. I know, this does not sound exactly perfect, but it is what you have to do to start building your online branding. Naturally, you can always play whatever you want, but you will have to invest most of your time into that one title.
This is especially important if you want to become a professional e-sports player. You have to be training for that game all the time if you want to be good. If you want to become unique, if you want to give a reason why anyone should watch you, you will need to be very good.
A good alternative is to become an online entertainer. If you think this is the future of your career, you will not have to focus on just one title. You will be able to play anything you want. People will be watching you because you are interesting and not because of your skills.
Boost your account
Obviously, this applies to those that do not have the skill to reach certain levels in multiplayer video games. For example, obtaining the Global Elite rank in Counter-Strike Global Offensive, Platinum rank in League of Legends, or good equipment and World of Warcraft can be very difficult for some people. So, if you want your streams and videos to be interesting for the audience, you will probably need a good account. Because people are not interested in watching low-level gameplay.
Fortunately, if you do not have the necessary skill to boost your own account, you can always pay for services that can do that for you as suggested by boostroom.com. This is a safe, fast, and reliable process that will get your account to a certain level. Of course, the higher you want to go, the more you will have to pay. Either way, this is usually an affordable service.
Start streaming
You have found some free time, you have picked your favorite video games and now it is time to start growing your brand. The easiest way you can do that these days is by streaming. Right now, you have a few options when it comes to streaming platforms. Currently, the most popular one is Twitch. Twitch is one of the oldest streaming websites and it is a good place to start, however, with so many other people streaming on his website, it can be difficult to breakthrough.
Your second-best option is YouTube. Yes, YouTube also supports streaming. I think that YouTube is a good middle ground.
Your last choice would be Facebook. Not long ago, Facebook decided to build a gaming segment of its social media website which allows for more users to stream their gameplay and their cameras.
I am sure that there are some other options out there, but I am not exactly familiar with them. Either way, I think that these three options are probably your best.
Start making videos
If you do not feel like you can support that streamer lifestyle, maybe you should consider making videos. You will not have to play video games for eight hours a day, but you will need to have some kind of technical skill when it comes to editing videos.
If you do not have any kind of experience with video editing software such as Adobe Premiere, Shotcut, or others, you will require some help. Usually, you can find tons of editors on websites such as Upwork or Fiverr.
Building a professional video game career is not as easy as most people think. But, with the right plan, the right idea, and enough dedication, it is possible. I hope that this article will put you in the right direction to help you jumpstart your career.