Thirty years ago, the entertainment industry looked a lot different. In the 1990s, technology was starting to greatly influence the nature of gaming, in particular. At the time, companies like Nintendo and Atari were competing in the home console arena, while games like GoldenEye and DOOM were innovating and steering gamer tastes.
But even the most dedicated publications in the 1990s couldn’t have predicted today’s modern gaming industry. While most people would point to advances in VR and AR technology to differentiate the industry thirty years back, or possibly even the growing influence of crypto, the current eSports landscape is likely the more astonishing development.
Today, leading gamers like Shroud and N0tail are treated like celebrity athletes in their own right. They command hundreds of thousands of dollars through salaried play, winnings, and sponsorships—and that’s not counting the adoration of an international fanbase. Think you know about elite gaming? Let’s cover some of the most interesting elements of competitive gaming today—starting outside the eSports realm.
The High Roller Life
It’s normal for the mind to jump to eSports when thinking about the upper echelon of gaming. But let’s focus first on a more casual form of gaming: casino titles. Worldwide, games like poker, blackjack, and roulette are some of the most popular virtual games. And everyone has heard of a high roller before.
While high roller games are usually tagged on to blackjack or poker, it’s also popular in roulette. For example, most online roulette platforms offer a few variations of the title—and high roller will always be on offer. For the high-roller gamer, there’s often a big, extravagant bet on the table. In roulette, that might be on a color or a number, an inside or outside bet.
Regardless of the strategy, a high roller is treated like royalty by casinos, which offer loyalty programs and other VIP experiences for their elite gamers.
The Multi-Million-Dollar Signing
Throughout the 2010s, as eSports developed, newly formed teams began to head-hunt competitive gamers. The early stars were offered thousands for signing multi-year contracts. However, elite gamers today are offered hundreds of thousands and, for the uppermost echelon, millions.
For example, Cloud9 recently signed on Patrick es3tag Hansen, a 26-year-old pro from Denmark. After playing for only a few months with the Astralis team, Cloud9 signed Hansen to a multi-year contract worth $2.1 million. Similarly, Cloud9 had one of their top players poached by Team Vitality. The player signed a three-year contract worth $1.65 million.
The Big-Name Sponsor
So far, we’ve covered elite gamers in the casino and eSports industry. However, there’s another gaming platform worth pointing out: Twitch. Twitch, similar to YouTube, allows its players to live stream their gaming sessions. Instead of competing on formal teams and in leagues, they play online to entertain their subscribers.
Though raking in subscribers can help make Twitch hosts some extra cash, most are on the hunt for sponsorships. These run a huge range in Twitch, with big-name sponsors from the NFL to Powerspike. However, few have been as lucrative as Ninja’s partnership with Adidas.
Ninja was one of the first Twitch stars to put eSports on the map back in the mid-2010s. In 2019, he signed a deal with Adidas, which included a sneaker design. The deal is reportedly worth somewhere around $100 to $200 million. It’s quite a bit less than the $400 million – $1 billion range that sports athletes command, but it’s still a major coup for a video gamer.
The Red Carpet Treatment
Clearly, elite gamers of all stripes are enjoying the good life. But those who are now playing for elite eSports teams can expect even more specialized treatment. Just like an athlete from the Golden State Warriors or the St. Louis Cardinals, they’re afforded trainers that help them prep for major events and practice alike.
These trainers cover things like nutrition, sleep, and even physical exercise. For eSports athletes, there’s also the added dimension of mental wellness. In other words, they need to keep their minds sharp for the duration of highly demanding gaming sessions.