Pro Gaming: Job Description And Work Environment

Name Instructor Course Date Pro Gaming Job Description Several people struggle to understand what is entailed in pro gaming. Non-pro gamers normally think that pro-gaming can be dull. Pro-gaming is often taken to mean competitive professional gaming. It is also known as eSports among the professional gamers. In pro-gaming, individuals come together to compete against each other in a game of their choice (Jensen n.p). The games can be many compared to the normal life games. Pro-gaming offers people the opportunity to compete in several games as opposed to the ones they could have been able to do in real life. They may compete individually or as a team. Pro-gaming is not as easy as several people think. Although there is no professional qualification required to be a pro-gamer, those participating at international levels have to horn their skills by playing the game several times. They must practice to develop skills and improve them. Without the necessary training, pro-gaming can be very complex to many people. Pro-gaming is not something that is easy to do. But those who have become professionals take home huge amounts of cash. To reach that level, a lot of patience and practice is needed (Jensen n.p). Skills alone might not be enough, there needs to be determination and grit to make it in this profession. Pro-gaming has evolved to become a professional job where people compete just like other professional sports. Most pro-gamers start by playing video games as a hobby. Thereafter, when they have come to the realization that they can be competent enough, they would often turn it into a profession where they get paid to play video games. There are leagues just as in professional sports. There are also several professional competitions that are worth millions of dollars where professional gamers get to come together and compete to beat each other. Work Environment Pro-gamers normally practice under a roof, normally within their bedrooms. They never have to go outdoors and they would practice under the same roof for a very long period of time. Even at competitions, they are often indoors. All that pro-gamers need are just game controllers, display screens, and power connection and they would be good to play. Pro-gamers might have to travel long distances to go to competition areas. Some of them might have to traverse long distances and travel to several countries to enter into competitions. However, some of them can just go online from the comfort of their bedrooms and compete with others online. Pro-gamers, just like other professional athletes work irregular hours. They can work at night, during the day, on weekdays, holidays, and weekends. Pro-gamers also work by seasons and often rest when they are off-season. During the season, they might have to work for over 40 hours per week (Smurfs n.p). The seasons might take several months during when they often have to be involved in intensive training, travelling, and competition. Unlike other sports, pro-gamers can play at any time of the day, they can train when they want and they never have to worry about weather conditions. Pro-gaming has several consequences. First, most pro-gamers are youths in their early twenties and pro-gaming can completely destroy their future. ESports career is normally very short lived and many youths never look beyond that. When the career ends, they are normally unaware of how they should proceed with the rest of their lives. Pro-gaming can also be addictive with many not knowing what to do apart from sitting in front of their screens and playing. In the end, they never even attempt to exercise this might make them lazy. They never get time to exercise to stay fit and healthy. Currently, there are no legally functioning international regulations that protect pro-gamers. Additionally, there is no legal protection for pro-gamers. Unlike other pro-athletes, pro-gamers do not have managers representing them to help them with the negotiations of contracts. Therefore, despite the fact that there is large cash in the tournaments, pro-gamers are still underpaid. If the players can have formal representation, then the payment may increase and be a little higher than what is currently being given to them. The players need formal representation so that they can get the help they need when negotiating contracts with complicated companies that have very skilled legal representation. There are still issues with the protection of intellectual property. There is need to consider broadcasting rights and other ways in which the intellectual property can be protected. Work-Family Balance Pro-gamming can really be time consuming. Therefore, it is inherent on pro-gamers to find the right balance between their gaming and their family life. But for those that can manage their time well, they can practice a few hours a day and tend to their families. During the off-season, they never worry about tournaments and they often take the chance to spend quality time with their families. During the season when they have to work for several hours a week, they find little time for their families because they have to concentrate all their efforts on ensuring that they keep the highest level of performance and with the effort that is required to remain competitive, they would find it impossible to train as they want and spend time with their families. Pro-gamers are not tied to any work policies. They have it within themselves to determine how best they manage their time. However, the tournaments they participate in are organized by sponsors. These tournament organizers understand that the pro-gamers need time off. That is why they are given off-season when they are never worried about having to play. However, the off-season is normally too short compared to the gaming season. As a result, pro-gamers never really spend equitable time with their families. But they can decide on the amount of time they spend with their families by deciding on which tournaments they enter. When they enter into a few tournaments, they never play and practice a lot. Because they are pro-athletes, pro-gamers never get any paid leaves or vacations. What they have is the off-season when they can decide on what to do. Like other pro-athletes, they would use the time they have during the off-season to take vacations with their families. But these vacations are normally short-lived because the demands on them to train harder each day are so high (Jacobs n.p). Consequently, they would often cut-short the time they have for training and embark on intensive training. Some pro-gamers would spend any time of the day just seated, training. In this regard, they hope that when they get back to the tournaments, they would be at their very best. This is because the amount one wins depends on their performance. Pro-gaming is normally suited for the youths in their teenage years to twenties. There is a perception that it is a game and normally, you would not have adults sitting in front a screen playing games. There is common belief that gaming is best suited for the youth. As a result, a career in pro-gaming is normally short-lived. Whereas they can choose to continue until they are in their fifties, the society would find it awkward that a fully grown man does sit and actually play games. Whereas it is expected that women will join pro-gamming, they are still under-represented. It is normal to find the men setting the way and the women following in their footsteps. Pro-gamming is not normally a thing for the women. As a result, you would find the men engaged with all the gaming to fend for their families while the women sit back to take care of the house and the children. Ideally, in gaming time they hardly spend time with the family especially when they attend international tournaments. During these times, the women would be staying behind, ensuring that the duties within the family are taken care-off. It is only during the off-season that the gaming parent may find time to spend with their families. It is a profession that leaves the distribution of house chores and parenting very imbalanced. Pro-gamming lifestyle is characterized by a lot of travels. Sometimes, pro-gamers have to travel from one country to the next to attend tournaments. Different tournaments are staged in different countries and some pro-gamers come from countries where these tournaments are not staged. Whenever they want to play in large conference halls in other countries, they must travel to attend these tournaments. However, there are some gamers that strictly go for internet competitions only and not any other competition. With these kinds of pro-gamers, they never have to leave their bedrooms and they would sit all day just playing and practicing as long as they have an internet connection. But it is easy to predict the pattern in which pro-gamers would move. It is easy to know if one knows the kinds of tournaments that they attend. Barriers to Entry In pro-gaming, there are no barriers to entry. There are no professional qualifications needed, no degrees. One just has to have a passion for playing video games. They must first play as a hobby and then horn their skills with time. It might take a lot of time and effort to go pro depending on the level of commitment one puts. Those who have been able to sit for long and train for extended periods, absorbing everything that they learn, have been able to develop competitive skills and become competent players of the game. It is easy to have dreams of becoming a pro-gamer only to see those dreams fade before your eyes. Therefore, the only thing that can stop one from being a pro-gamer is lack of commitment and skills. You must be committed to succeed and have the skills to back up the commitment. One thing with pro-gaming is that it never requires credentials. To become a pro-gamer, what one needs to do is to identify a game that impresses them. It must be a game they find fun in playing. Once identified, what they need to do is to practice and sacrifice so that they can get good. If one has horned enough skills to be competitive in the circuit, they can register for tournaments. Once one feels ready to compete at the top, they can go ahead and register with any of the tournaments. They can register for online and offline tournaments. There are also team games and a good player should look to belong to a team because it can enhance their competence. Before pro-gamers can enter into a tournament, they need credits which they can purchase. The credits serve as entry fees. For each tournament, the entry may vary. It is after paying this entry fee that one can enter into a tournament. Each time a pro-gamer wants to enter into a tournament, they must pay afresh depending on the cost of that tournament. The fee is therefore not a one-off payment. Normally, those who can play should be of legal age starting from 18 years. However, there is still debate on the age of retirement. Some have argued that after surpassing 25 years, the nerves start to slow and people react slowly. However, this assertion has never been scientifically proven. The pro-gamming profession is just starting to develop and the level of competition here is immense. Only those who are able to persevere and sacrifice are capable of becoming pro-gamers. No one would make it to the top if they lack the skills, agility, and commitment towards working to be the best. It is one of those professions where one is rewarded for their efforts...