How would you like to make $60,000 a year doing something that you love? You love the work so much, you do it for free.
Gamers earn between $1,000 and $5,000 a month. Some go on to be celebrities, earning well into six figures. Do you see yourself as one of the top gamers?
You need to know how to become a professional gamer to reach the highest levels of your new field. It’s highly competitive, but it’s possible with the right plan in place.
Keep reading this guide to learn the top tips for becoming a professional gamer.
1. Know How Professional Gamers Make Money
If you truly want to become a professional gamer, you have to change your mindset. You’re likely to start out thinking that you’ll make money doing a hobby.
You need to adopt a business mindset. You won’t lose the fun and excitement of gaming, but becoming a professional gamer means that you have to think about money.
There are several ways you can earn money as a professional gamer. If you have a YouTube channel, you can earn money from affiliate links.
These are links that let you earn a commission if people buy a product that you recommend. This is useful if you do occasional gear reviews.
YouTube also lets you monetize your channel through ad revenue. You can join the YouTube Partner Program once you have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours watched on your channel in the previous 12 months.
Twitch has its partners program. There are criteria that you need to meet to become eligible for the partners program.
If you’re growing your following, but not at the point where you can monetize your channels, you can get sponsors. Try to get gear sponsors or even local sponsors to start with.
Start small to make money at first and then grow as your following builds.
If your game is a sport like FIFA, F1, or Madden, you can join an eSports team. These are players that earn salaries and compete in competitions.
2. Pick a Game and Set Goals
What game do you want to become known for playing? Consider the games that you enjoy the most and what you’re good at.
Being a professional gamer is a long-term commitment. You’re going to spend hours playing this game. You don’t want to choose something and get bored of it later on.
What platform will you play the game on? Most gamers use high-performance PCs. Other use gaming consoles as their choice.
Come up with a vision for your gaming career. Ask yourself if you want to become a streamer or if you want to become a professional gamer who competes in tournaments around the world.
That will help you decide your focus as you promote yourself as a professional gamer.
3. Gaming = Training
You’re not that far off from a professional athlete. The time, commitment, and desire required to become an elite gamer are similar to a professional athlete.
You have to practice and train to become one of the best players in your chosen game. That takes hours and hours of practice and studying.
You should review footage of the top gamers for your game. See what strategies they use to become the best. Try those strategies for yourself and see how you can improve upon them.
You also need to train your body to withstand the hours of practicing. Reflex training, nutrition, and mobility work all need to become part of your daily routine.
4. Your Gaming Setup
Once you have a general idea of what you want to stream, you need to get the streaming and gaming setup ready. You’re going to spend a lot of time sitting down gaming.
You have to have a comfortable gaming chair. These chairs are more expensive than your typical office chair. They’re more durable and comfortable as well.
You’ll need a camera or webcam to capture your reactions while playing. Some gamers choose to use a DLSR or mirrorless camera. Others do just fine with a high-quality webcam.
Where you record is your movie set. It gives a sense of professionalism and creates an impression for people watching.
You don’t want to make it appear that you record your videos in your bedroom or your parents’ basement, even if it’s true. Be sure that your bed and personal items don’t show in the background.
Keep the background free of clutter.
Get a set of LCD lights that let you change the color of the room. You’ll notice that many streamers use a blue light to give the stream some ambiance.
If you choose to record your gameplay and upload it later, you’ll need to get a good video editor. Gamers use iMovie, Adobe Premier, and Davinci Resolve.
Streaming Software
How do professional gamers broadcast their games and make their graphics look so polished? They use streaming software that lets them record games and broadcast live.
They let you add graphics and customize the stream to make it your own. They also connect to YouTube, Twitch, and other social media channels.
Some broadcast tools let you hook up a switcher. You can hit a button and change cameras to keep viewers engaged instead of looking at a single shot.
Some of the most popular streaming software include OBS, Restream, and XSpilt. Try out different tools and figure out which one best meets your streaming needs.
Learn different editing techniques so you can tell a great story on video while keeping viewers engaged.
Gaming Laptop vs. Desktop
If you’re a PC gamer, one of the most important decisions to make is your choice of PC. You’ll need to decide between a laptop and a desktop PC.
It used to be that the power of laptop computers didn’t compare to desktop PCs. They are comparable and both are used for playing the most demanding games.
There are other considerations in making your decision. Laptops offer portability and a single solution for your gaming needs.
Some might argue that you can’t customize laptops, but that’s not true. You can customize laptops at the point of purchase.
If you choose to customize components, their options include the graphics card, RAM, processor, hard drive, and display.
5. Start Streaming
It’s time to finally start streaming. You might want to have a couple of practice streams or record the sessions first before you go live.
This will help you get over nerves and refine your style.
What Is Your Streaming Style?
Why are the most popular gamers followed? They have a sense of enthusiasm for the game. They get so into it that they have a huge following after a while.
Think of streaming as being a play-by-play commentator. You don’t have to be like Ray Hudson calling play-by-play of Lionel Messi, but you should have an enthusiastic style that draws viewers.
Your style develops the more you stream. It slowly becomes part of your brand that people identify with.
6. Attract an Audience
Gaming is so competitive, and billions of hours of content are available. How can you stand a chance to grow your streaming channels?
Start by growing your network. Check out local gaming events and start playing in those tournaments. You’ll work on your skills and network with other gamers.
You can partner with these gamers and play with them online. You both benefit by exposing each other to new audiences.
A quick way to gain attention is to post clips on social media accounts like Instagram and TikTok. That allows you to build awareness and get people interested in your long-form content.
7. Start Earning Income
It will take a while, but you will reach the point where you can earn money gaming. The main thing is to be consistent with your content.
Some gamers had their channels for years before they became well-known gamers. Keep showing up to local tournaments and expand into regional and national tournaments.
Promote your channels while you’re participating in competitions. You’ll get recognized and people will follow your content.
8. Get Used to Questions
Becoming a professional gamer is a tough path. There’s a lot of competition, and not many people see the value of gaming.
People will ask you when you’re going to get a real job. They’ll judge you for spending hours playing games, instead of participating in real life.
It’s hard to find support from people who don’t understand your dream of becoming a professional gamer. Do your best to explain to the people around you and ask them for support.
How to Become a Professional Gamer
It’s so important to learn how to become a professional gamer if you want to make it happen for yourself. This guide showed you what it takes to make money from gaming.
You need to decide how you’ll monetize your talent and continuously work on your gaming skills. It takes dedication and commitment.
For more tech tips, be sure to check out the other articles on the blog today!
