Have you ever wondered what pro gaming is all about? Can people really make a living off of gaming professionally? What’s it like to be a celebrity Esport athlete? In his upcoming SXSW panel, Ian Barker, Esports producer at The Daily Dot will cover these questions and more. Along with Lydia Picknell, Co-Owner of Paradigm, and other pro gamer guests, Barker will demystify the world of professional online gaming and debunk some misconceptions.
First, it’s not all glitz and glamour.
“What people don’t see is the behind the scenes grind and the difficulty of securing a living in professional gaming. The idea behind the panel is to expose what these pro gamers actually deal with when they’re not taking limousines to a tournament.”
Pro gamers tend to represent a range of professional status. While some have day jobs and game on the side, others are able to game professionally full time. The transition from gaming on the side to becoming a fully fledged pro gamer takes some risk.
“It’s funny because while professional sports and even college sports have a clear cut path to becoming a professional, the path to becoming a professional gamer is extremely varied.”
The transition from amateur to professional starts with being good at the game. Gaining recognition for skill may lead to an invitation to be on a team. Recognition often comes from going online and playing games that have a ranking system. With practice and dedication, players are able to climb up the ranks, gaining popularity and eventually playing alongside current professionals. Eventually they may get noticed by the professionals they’re playing against and be asked to play on a team.
“There’s a lot of networking and there’s a lot of hours spent not getting paid and not getting any reward for just grinding it out.”
So is this pro gaming community accepting of women? “It varies wildly,” says Barker. “Not just based on the community but the person.” There are always extremes, and some pro gamer women receive rape threats and other harassment, but Barker is optimistic for the future.
“There’s already a pretty strong understanding in the industry that the people that say really egregious things to women are a vocal minority.”
While the Esports community isn’t highly accepting of women yet, there are female pro gamers out there and Barker says there should be more. The higher level of play and visibility the better.
“As soon as women get the chance to prove that they’re good enough I think that will help a lot.”
When and where:
Friday, March 18
12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Austin Convention Center – 531 E 4th St/ Room 4abc
Find out more: Play for Pay: What’s It Like to Be a Pro Gamer?