The World of Competitive Gaming

Video games are commonly known as games that you play for fun or as a hobby, but what if this fun could turn into your profession. Most video games started out as arcade games played to reach the highest score. People played with a "fistful of quarters" each day to try and reach the top of the score board. A prime example of someone who is well known on the high score board is Billy Mitchell. In the documentary, King of Kong: A fistful of quarters, Billy stated,
"There'll always be the argument that video games are meant to be played for fun. Believe me, some of it is a lot of fun. Video games are meant to be played from home, relaxing on a couch amongst friends. And they are, and that's fun. But competitive gaming, when you wanna attach your name to a world record, when you want your name written in history, you have to play the price."
Videos games are no longer played solely for fun, but also turning into a new way to make money. There is a new, up and coming world that many people are not aware of, and that is the world of competitive gaming.
Just like the National Football League (NFL) or National Basketball Association (NBA), there is a league for video games as well, called Major League of Gaming (MLG). Competitors play in tournaments all around the world to receive either prize money or the chance to be sponsored by several companies. One very famous player in the First Player Shooter games (FPS) Optic Nadeshot, who is sponsored by Redbull, was interviewed regarding his sponsor. He said that he plays video games for about eight to ten hours every single day. He also makes videos on YouTube and has live streams that people watch of him gaming. In some of his videos, there are even ads, which is another source of re...

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...ter this release, Call of Duty: Ghosts surpassed $1 billion dollars in sales within the first day alone. This was a huge success and surprise considering the older version of Call of Duty did not raise $1 billion dollars in sales until the 15th day after it's release.
People suspect the growth of this competitive scene is due to the gambling aspect of gaming. In 1994, the Kiplinger Washington Letter stated, “Gambling will be the fastest growing industry of the Nineties.” This statement is very true and applies to competitive gaming as well. As soon as you enter the world of competitive gaming, it's nearly impossible to leave. The industry of competitive video gaming has been up and coming, but now it is at it's peek. The world around us is changing every day, similar to the world of competitive sports, but the world of competitive gaming is here to stay.