You’re a gamer, you love spending time on your PC or console, and you think to yourself: why not make a living from this passion? Others are doing it, why not you? Imagine being paid to play all day long!?
But where do you start, is it complicated, do you need training, how do you become a pro gamer?
In this article, we explain how to become a pro gamer and make a living from your passion, or even make it your career. It’s not easy, and it takes energy, but it is possible!
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IN THIS ARTICLE
- The key to success
- Training
- Which game
- Practice
- Teamwork
- Streaming
- Attend trade shows
- Tournaments
- Languages
- Equipment
- Health and performance
- Closing thoughts
Being passionate
It is impossible to get into esports without a love of competition, the satisfaction of improving as a player, and the willingness to contribute to a team.
"SUCCESS IS A JOURNEY NOT A DESTINATION"
In the long run, positive motivations are what keep players engaged in a process that can be mentally taxing. Players motivated only by money, fame, and quick success will likely burn out before they become a pro gamer.
The simple love of the game will make all the difference during daily practice, which allows you to gradually acquire the skills needed to enter the professional world.
And it will also make the difference during the first defeats and tough times in competition.
Where to get trained to become a pro gamer?
Often, to be able to work in a field, you have to attend classes or training to acquire the basics of said job, which then form a foundation on which the worker relies to perform professionally.
So the first question a wannabe gamer is entitled to ask is: "Where can I get trained?"
In France, several places reveal how to become a pro gamer. Some universities offer general courses on the world of esports, in terms of marketing, communication, game design, or management.
But as for schools to become a pro gamer per se, they are rare. You can turn to the Gaming Academy in Lyon, which presents itself as the first independent – and free! – training center in Europe, in addition to offering "video game team coaching" at a low price – 9.90 euros per month.
The Helios Gaming School, which has three locations in France, also prepares you to become a pro gamer, at a somewhat high price – 7,900 euros per year – as does the Montpellier Gaming Academy, at 5,900 euros.
And that’s about it.
The number of places is limited, and spots in these places are expensive.
The future gamer must therefore often be self-taught, perfecting themselves alone to reach a very high level, before – why not? – joining an esports organization, such as Vitality, which will be able to develop their potential.
Choose your favorite game
There are many video games that might interest you in your quest to become a pro gamer. The average gamer generally plays several games, whether they are primarily dedicated to solo play or online play.
The ideal, however, is to fixate on a game you enjoy and are good at, and not necessarily the game that you think will make it easier for you to become a pro gamer.
"I WOULD RATHER DIE OF PASSION THAN OF BOREDOM"
If you think you have a better chance of going pro by playing League of Legends, even though your go-to game is FIFA, focus on the latter instead. Pleasure and passion should initially guide your choices, because when difficulty stands in your way, it is pleasure that will keep you going.
While passion must predominate, you should know that it is harder to get noticed in the pro world of established games, such as LoL or Counter-Strike.
Less well-known games are more accessible, but you have to bet on the right horse and not make a mistake, because there is a risk that the competitive scene for that game will never take off.
In short, it’s a gamble if you choose the path of – for now – less exposed games.
Practice
If you want to win, you have to practice first. And there are several things to do for that.
First of all, master the game mechanics. Focus on learning specific skills until they become second nature to you. Whether it’s the latest technical move in FIFA, target practice in an FPS, or maximizing your actions per minute in an RTS, there are several essential skills to acquire that never lose their importance.
Professional players train relentlessly to stay sharp and make tiny improvements to their overall skills, which over time aggregate into a set of unstoppable techniques.
So before you become a pro, work just as hard as they do, if not harder, to improve your level.
"YOU GET WHAT YOU WORK FOR NOT WHAT YOU WISH FOR"
You also need to find strategies. Becoming a good gamer means having several methods and tricks to win.
For this, never hesitate to be inspired by the best players. YouTube videos and live streams, especially on Twitch, are excellent resources for learning game mechanics and using them effectively.
Then, don't forget to analyze your own matches to break down your playstyle and pinpoint your errors. If all the best players do it, there’s a reason: it’s difficult to progress without taking the necessary step back!
Our advice: Join a team & play as a team
Becoming a pro gamer is a long, solitary quest, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't think about the team.
Pro gamers generally haven't followed a training program: they mainly made themselves known through a small team, then a larger one, and so on. It is better to start small and then evolve than to aim too high and fail to find a place.
Try to join a team where you can measure your talent against that of your teammates, and against that of opponents also gathered under a single banner.
Blending into a collective while letting your own skills shine will allow you to improve, by sometimes making you see the game in a new light.
And it can also – and this is not negligible – help you get known: regularly participating in team tournaments is a fundamental step that can propel you into the pro world.
Plus, being integrated into a community is a major motivational lever, where solidarity and team spirit can help you move mountains. Don’t miss out on such an opportunity.
Our recommendations for finding your team:
Dedicated sites:
Facebook groups:
On Discord:
Locally:
Start a Twitch or YouTube channel
There is nothing like starting a YouTube or Twitch channel to broadcast your matches and get known.
Start by following a few motivating gamer channels, and eventually launch your own, without copying what’s already being done, but by asserting your style so you can get noticed.
Even if you aren't a professional gamer yet, quite a few other gamers might want to follow you to see how to get started and how to gradually evolve.
There is nothing like an epic story where the hero isn't yet at the top of their game at the beginning of the adventure: They will learn, evolve, fail sometimes, but bounce back and keep going until they complete the quest. You might even earn a little money through partnerships or other means, even if it doesn't represent big sums at first. Many pros started on a small scale.
So... why not test it with YOUR story?
OUR ADVICE: It is better to start small and grow than to never get started!
Attend Trade Shows
If you live near a city, don’t hesitate to check out gaming trade shows. You will find a ton of gamer communities, possibly find a team, test new games, and maybe even attend mini-tournaments.
A mandatory step for a future pro!
Example:
- Gaming Fair in Lyon
Participate in tournaments
There is nothing like tournaments to get your foot in the door.
It is the foundation for a pro gamer, or someone wanting to become one. However, it is good to remember. Do your best to participate in tournaments, even minor ones – the one organized by the store on your street is also worth taking.
This allows you to expose yourself to real-world conditions, with that extra little dose of adrenaline, to put your level into perspective, and even to improve when the opposition gets tougher. For pro gamers, competition is the only thing that matters.
The question of languages
Languages are important, but do you have to speak English to become a pro gamer?
Honestly, it’s not useless. While no one is asking you to be perfectly bilingual, having solid basics in Shakespeare’s language can always come in handy.
Both to be able to follow the biggest tournaments taking place abroad live, which are generally in English, and to decipher the comments from the developers of the games you are interested in when you cannot find French sources to translate them for you.
Admittedly, almost no game is left untranslated into French, so this will only rarely be useful in-game, but English is always a good skill to have.
If only to play narrative games often conceived in English in their original language, such as The Last of Us II or Red Dead Redemption II, without losing an ounce of the game's authenticity.
Gear up: adequate and high-performance equipment
Can you imagine Cristiano Ronaldo playing football in sandals? No.
For a gamer, it's the same: they need to be well-equipped to perform. Without investing astronomical sums in a complete kit to become a pro gamer, the apprentice player must at least have a few essential accessories:
- An ergonomic chair
- A quality monitor
- A high-performance console/PC
- An ultra-precise gaming mouse
- An ultra-fast gaming keyboard
- An "immersive" headset
- Anti-glare and blue light blocking gaming glasses
There is a multitude of gaming accessories, each more advanced than the last, but this short list constitutes the essentials for a good professional gamer.
A good chair, which maintains them in a comfortable position for prolonged gaming. Then, if they are a PC player, they must have a machine that is top-tier in terms of performance, an ultra-precise wireless mouse, a suitable keyboard, and a headset to hear exactly what is happening around them in the game – this is even more useful in FPS games, to know where the enemy is located.
In the case of a console player, a very good television is required.
To protect this performance and because health is very important, you must also think about glasses that protect the eyes from the harmful effects of screens.
So we agree, it's not necessarily the equipment that makes the gamer. But at the highest level, higher-performance equipment can make the difference between a bitter defeat and a resounding triumph.
Don't forget to hit pause
Becoming a pro gamer requires real discipline to be at your best: you must sleep well, so about 7 to 8 hours per night, but also eat a balanced diet and engage in regular physical activity.
The recipe is simple but not so easy to maintain over the long term!
Being seated the majority of the time, a gamer must exert themselves physically in their free time to stay healthy and have optimal reflexes when it comes time to play.
We call all this "invisible work," which is to say what must be done, but which is not directly correlated with the act of playing video games.
Also take breaks, recharging away from your controller. Your family or your friends are just as important in your quest for the high-level e-sports world. A support system is essential for your mental balance.
Live like a pro
Becoming a pro gamer requires not only talent but years of hard work. To be able to evolve as a player, it is important to follow a few essential points: broaden your knowledge of the game(s), seek out positive sources of motivation, develop your social skills, and adopt a healthy lifestyle. And of course, nerves of steel!
