The world of video games is a rapidly growing industry, with hundreds of thousands of people working in both the development and the production of video games. However, there’s a particular niche in the videogame community that not many people are aware of, but if they manage to make careers out of it, it is going to be substantially beneficial for them. Today, we’re going to talk about esports, and why a career within esports is a fantastic opportunity for gamers, streamers, online gaming companies, and passionate communities to dive headfirst into.

What is esports

The first thing about esports is that you need to play video games online. Professional players compete in video game tournaments known as esports or Electronic Sports competitions. They can play solo or as a team, depending on the game that they are choosing to pursue. A player connected to a gaming club or organization is referred to as a professional or “pro gamer.” To make money, they compete in online competitions, or more recently, large tournaments inside huge stadiums with thousands of people in the crowd watching.
There are a plethora of jobs that you can find in the esports world, however, there are jobs that rely entirely on you to keep the entertainment factor in a game, and then there are jobs that are on the side related to marketing, streaming content, management, and production.

The three main jobs in esports

1 – Professional Player:
The first and most prominent career in any esport is, of course, being a professional player. There are easily hundreds of games out there that we play on a regular basis, and if you consider yourself to be really good at any competitive game, then you can try your luck and compete professionally. Esports Pros earn a hefty sum of money, either it is through competitions where they compete for huge prize money, trophies and glory, or if they sign up with an organization which pays them on retainer for competing under their banner.

2 – Coach:
Your skill as a new professional player might be high, but you still need to refine it, and that’s where an esports coach will come in and help you out. Coaches earn a lot of money as well, their job opportunities mainly rely on team-based games such as Counter Strike, DOTA, League of Legends, Valorant, Rainbow Six Siege, and more. Coaches are responsible for coming up with strategies that the players will try in-game, and for training them to coordinate in a perfect manner. There are also coaches for players’ fitness, and nutrition to keep them healthy and ready for long gaming sessions. However, those jobs are usually based on short contracts, so it’s less consistent despite the decent wages.

3 – Analysts:
An analyst is an integral part of any esports team. Their purpose is to analyze the games of not only their own team but also the opposition. They do this in order to strategize winning plays which will result in their team getting an upper hand against the competition. Analysts make a decent amount of money as well, of course, it’s not as much as the coaches or the professional players, but it is a consistent job that you can make an exciting career out of.

We have decided to write about streamers and streamer career opportunities in a separate article for next week, but there will always be a demand for streamer talents in both the gaming world and in the hugely popular online gaming industry.

Other career opportunities in esports

PR/Marketing Executive:
The PR/Marketing Executives are quite popular in the esports world, and they get a ton of work due to constant events, and new updates for popular games, as well as roster updates for the organizations that they work for. And don’t forget the social media world!

Sales/Partnerships Manager:
No matter what organization you work for, your sponsors will always be there. You need sponsors to make your organization have stable growth, and that’s where the Sales/Partnerships Managers come in to handle all of that good stuff.

Business Management:
The business management crew will mostly be in charge of handling the finances for your players, coaches, analysts, and everything else.

Production Crew:
The Production Crews will be in charge of making documentaries for players, and content that you can upload to keep your fans up to date on how the players are doing.

Caster/Host:
Every event needs a host, and every match needs a caster. These are universal jobs that are found in every sport, and esports are no different.

Journalist/Content Creator:
Some journalists exclusively feature content related to esports, such as The Score E-Sports on YouTube example, or websites such as Esports Insider. There are constant stories in the esports community that you can create news and content out of.

Product Manager:
The products that you’ll be sponsoring will ask your star players to star in ads related to their products. TSM is constantly doing advertisements for Logitech, and their Product Manager who manages most of that sort of content. This is a handsome job that can guarantee you a great career moving forward.

Admin/Referee:
The admins and referees are there to make sure that the matches at esports tournaments and events are being played up to standard.

Observer:
The Observers are the talented people behind the esports matches, they are responsible for showing you the players’ perspectives and what’s going on in the matches. They are basically the in-game camera operators, showing you the action!

Community/Social Media Manager:
The Social Media/Community Managers are an integral part of any organization, game, or esports. They are responsible for keeping the community up to date regarding what’s going on with the organization and the team. It’s a great job, where you can lay back and work from home even!

Event Manager:
Event Managers in the esports world work exactly like regular Event Managers, you celebrate the sport by organizing the event and managing it. You will be responsible for deciding the venues, the decorations, and the talent, as well as being in charge of making sure things run smoothly.

So, is esports a good career?

Well, there’s a huge wealth of jobs and career opportunities in the esports world, the most prominent of which we have mentioned above and given you a brief idea of what they’re like. There are even more jobs in the esports scene that you can pursue, but these will be the heavy hitters that you’re looking for. It’s a consistent career too, as gaming and esports are taking over the world by storm, with MILLIONS of viewers all over the world following hugely popular streamers. So, definitely keep it under your radar, if an esports job is around, you should check into it because it will be super beneficial and help you create a wonderful career.