The World of Professional Gaming

“Find something you love to do, and you’ll never work a day in your life”.

Most of us – at least those of the present generation – have played video games in one form or another – at least for some time. While a majority of us do it as a pleasant diversion, some people do take it to the next level – and they become avid gamers. Some graduate to a still higher level – eating, breathing and living in a world of gaming. For this handful of people, gaming is the very raison d’être of life – and they forsake every other activity for the sheer joy of gaming.

Gaming Tournament in Progress

In this situation, it was only a matter of time before someone found a way to turn a mostly pleasure activity into a professional one. The trend is so very old – just look at all other sports. Any sporting activity with a semblance of following has turned into a professional activity – and so is the case with gaming.

Not only is gaming turning professional on the top levels – it is increasingly turning into a very lucrative proposition for the select few – the top gamers. Currently, there are a host of players that make their living purely from gaming – a prime example of turning a passion into profession. Still, this trend is prevalent in a handful of countries – naturally countries that have a high penetration of gaming, PC access, and of course – superb bandwidth availability.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the leading country – as far as professional gaming is concerned – is South Korea, which enjoys the highest availability of bandwidth per capita in the world. Professional gamers are actually thriving in South Korea – the top ones get six figure endorsement deals and a dedicated fan following. One the biggest reason for this status is that the Korean government actually backs gaming in a big way – even instituting awards and honors for top players! A lot of kids in South Korea actually aspire to adopt gaming as their career!

The gaming communities in other countries – primarily USA – draw big inspiration from the state of gaming in South Korea. Slowly but surely, the trend is picking up, though the big money and fame that follows Korean players is still elusive. Yet, the pure love of game and the thrill of gaming sustain these players in their quest.

As with most sports – doing it for leisure is one thing, and doing it as a profession is altogether different. So, it is the same with professional gaming too – teams of player stay together in a house – and practice for hours on end – just like everyone else goes to office to work on regular jobs. Also, for the sake of achieving professional expertise, they specialize in just one game – mostly Star Craft versions.

Professional gaming has developed many attributes of other professional sports. For example, major tournaments are held, which are sponsored by major companies related to gaming activity – such as Intel and Acer. There is also big money involved – in terms of individual sponsorships and prize money. Just like in other sports, some players have achieved superstar status, and featuring them assures high interest level and attendances in a particular tournament. Also, a number of players have developed alternative revenue streams by becoming casters (like commentators) and sometimes even have support staff to do the activity properly. Some of them have become very famous in the gaming circles.

Also, there have been a number of attempts at bringing the gaming activity to television – the same way as football or cricket matches are telecast to a large viewership. Not surprisingly again – South Korea has taken the lead in this matter, and apparently has a dedicated TV channel – Ongamenet – for broadcasting epic gaming matches. Germany, UK and USA are the other countries which have major channels covering gaming to some extent or other.

In India, the gaming community will have to wait for a long time till we achieve these levels of involvement in gaming. Even though we have a very active and dedicated community of gamers, the discipline of gaming is still in a very nascent stage. Unless some big sponsors take interest in the community, gaming will largely remain a fringe activity in our country. I for one will love to watch epic gaming bouts on my TV – which can sometimes be as exciting as a fast paced T20 cricket match! Till the time that happens, I will entertain myself by playing 3D games on my LG 3D TV, ad enjoying an occasional racing game with my friends using the Dual Play feature of the LG Smart TV.