CAREERS
Planning to profit by kicking virtual butt in the "pro" game leagues? Don't quit your day job.
The ambition of the Professional Gamers' League (PGL) and Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) is to put gaming on a par with other pro sports - sponsorships, broadcasts on ESPN, and tournament purses in the millions. Competitive games range from the classic shooter Quake to strategy games like Starcraft. Even the geek card game Magic: The Gathering has a pro tour awarding $1 million-plus in prizes.
So far, gamer profits are not Michael Jordan-sized, but at least one player is doing quite well - Quake star Dennis Fong, aka Thresh. Last year he brought in well over $100,000 through tournament prizes, magazine columns, and sponsorships from Microsoft and Diamond Multimedia. But he's the exception.
"Your average basketball player isn't going to make it to the NBA, and your average gamer isn't going to stand a good chance of making money playing games," says Starcraft champion Jarom Severson, known by the nom de guerre Gadianton, who despite his considerable skills made a mere $8,500 in PGL money in 1998.
PGL spokesperson Garth Chouteau estimates that the top-tier Quake players, such as Rix and Immortal, can hope to bring home between $15,000 and $30,000 this year. But that sum still requires winning multiple tournaments - and with 2,000 competitors and rapidly evolving strategies, gamers rarely win multiple tournaments. Oddly enough, blowing away competitors is not the most profitable geek gaming profession: Only the Magic circuit had more than 20 players making upwards of $25K last year.
"The entire pro gaming industry is really at an embryonic stage," explains Angel Munoz, founder of the CPL, which awarded $25,000 in prize money to Quake masters in 1998. "As with any other new sport, the rewards are limited to a few people."
Even Thresh advises that it isn't a good idea to quit your job to play games full time. But as Chouteau points out, it can't hurt to try to turn a hobby into cold hard cash. "It's no different than someone wanting to be a pro figure skater," he says. "Will they make as much as Kristi Yamaguchi? No. But they can pursue it as a dream and have a lot of fun along the way."
Professional Gamers' League: www.pgl.com; Cyberathlete Professional League: www.cyberathlete.com.
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