How to get started in eSports?

Esports is a growing area that offers several viable career options to people, though it may not yet be common knowledge to everyone.

There is still a misconception held by some that playing video games is a waste of time and not constructive or valuable to a person’s development or career. But esports actually presents job seekers with genuine opportunities.

Esports is set to generate almost $500m in global revenues in 2016, and there are more companies getting involved in this space than ever before. This means there are more jobs becoming available, both for newcomers and those already experienced within the industry.

Hi Olivia,

First of all, I want to congrats you for your curiosity and your determination. This is an interesting industry, growing very fast. I've been playing Starcraft 2 (Master ligues), Warcraft TFT, Guild Wars (2nd best player in 1V1), League of Legend, Overwatch, and Fortnite.

I will share with you what I would do (and what I did):

1. Find the game you love. It's basic but you are going to invest a lot of time in the game. Start to pick a game where there is an advertisement industry, and a solid base of players. If nobody is interested in the game; esports won't be implemented in this game. LoL and Overwatch are great games to start. But you have to choose ONE; and focus on it. Fortnite is hip; CS:GO and Dota have great esport scenes.
2. Follow top players on Twitch.com (in your game). See how they play, which tactics they use. Twitch is like books; you have access to top performers who already have figured out some tips and tricks.
3. Analyse your games. Learning and improvement come from analyzing what you did wrong. You can play a lot without improving your skills. In each games there is sub-skills to learn. You need to identify them; practice them; and rehearse.
4. Participate to your local tournament and online ones. If you perform well during tournaments; people will come to you. If we take Fortnite, if you perform very well on solo tournaments. People will hire you in professional team.
5. My last advice will be; don't go 100% into it, it's important to dedicate some hours of the day to something else (sports; friends; family...). And also don't quit your studies.

BONUS: If you have a good set up and a good internet connectivity. Start to stream your games. Don't focus on having a lot of viewers; be yourself; play your game; and focus on your 100 first viewers. The rest will come alone.

Hope that helps;

Clément,

Esports is a rapidly expanding sport at the collegiate level, and right now, the best place to start looks to be NACE -- the National Association of Collegiate eSports. There are other groups to look at, but NACE is the largest.

You can register for free with NACE as an interested athlete at

https://new.berecruited.com/esports?affiliate=12907. Guidelines and academic requirements are listed, along with a list of colleges registered with NACE.