LiteralGrill
Smokin' Hot~
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LAS VEGAS (KSNV News3LV) -- Video gaming isn’t just for kids anymore.
Gamers, people who spend hours playing video games, can make thousands of dollars a month if they’re good enough.
The gaming culture has grown up, and gone pro.
What was once an activity to keep the kids entertained, has now become a professional sport and a career of choice that earns committed players some big bucks.
“Like any other career, if you put enough effort and work into it, it can become a career, and you can support yourself,” says Sam Tamimi, a professional game competitor.
“This is more than just a hobby,” Tamimi says. “It's an art. It's advanced, becoming something akin to music.”
And just like in other professional sports, gaming competitors can profit from what started as a game.
Just like concerts, or field sports such as football, baseball or soccer, e-sports are now big-money events drawing large crowds.
Fans shell out lots of cash to watch tournaments.
Fan appeal was evident at a tournament News 3 attended recently at Town Square. They come to see star gamers in person and to get pointers by watching their actions and strategies.
Some of them hope they too might one day compete for big money.
Local tournaments like these are streamed online to a global audience. Inside this virtual world the e-sports competitors are known by stage names and personas they've invented electronically. It’s all part of the show. Behind the scene there's another business at play. It’s about expanding a world gamers will pay to enter.
“You're not sitting back and letting the entertainment happen for you,” says game developer and Las Vegan Aaron Pollack.
He makes his money by making games. He created “Primal Carnage Extinction,” a dinosaur adventure that’s become nationally popular and competitive professionally.
“All sorts of studies have shown that gamers are one of the most engaged audiences,” Pollack says. “With each other.”
So engaged, that tournament host Bassem Dahdouh recognizes the value of star power.
“I've seen people with 1,000 subscribers a month, so that's $5 each,” Dahdouh says. “That's $5,000 a month.”
Professional gamers reach star status with a blend of skill and personality, and a big mix of social media.
“A lot of these people here made themselves their own brand,” Dahdouh says. “They brand themselves on Twitter. They brand themselves on YouTube. Instead of having them play a game, they're a character playing a game.”
The Internet is key. The sport is hitting a boundless cyber groove with controllers across a lucrative web. And since people will pay for it, this isn't a game for amateurs any more.
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It doesn't seem like the coverage will stop here either:
@BearUNLV @SmashCapps @GameWorks @Smashboards I like it! A regular feature. I want #LasVegas #gamers to know where their news is.
— Craig Fiegener (@CraigFiegener) May 12, 2015
Congratulations to the Vegas Smash scene and may the success keep on coming. It is inspiring to see Smash and e-sports in general hitting mainstream media. Hopefully this will encourage players to reach out to their local news outlets to receive their own coverage!
SmashCapps wants to personally encourage readers to thank Craig Fiegener on Twitter for the awesome news coverage. To keep up with SmashCapps and all things Smash follow him on Twitter.
