Is Professional Gaming Here to Stay?
Article Written by: Andy "Casework" Newman


Who ever thought video gaming could turn into a professional sport? Who ever thought you would watch the championships of a video game on national TV along with millions of other viewers? Who ever thought gamers would one day get paid to fly around the world to play a video game? Today this is exactly what video gaming is becoming. Names like Zyos and OGRES are not household names, compared to Michael Jordan and Lance Armstrong, but could they be one day?

Professional video gaming, led by leagues such as Major League Gaming (MLG), The Association of Gaming Professionals (AGP), and Cyberathlete Amateur/Professional League (CAL/CPL), is now becoming a major part of the entertainment industry. In recent years, video gaming has generated more revenue than the movie industry, and games like Halo 2 outsell most major movies on opening day alone. Men in their teens all the way to over thirty years of age spend more time playing videogames than they do watching television. Ten years ago the average video game nerd stereotype was meant as a putdown, but this has changed in the light of professional gaming.

Even though most professional gamers are still in high school and college, they are very dedicated and professional about playing video games, spending hours practicing just like the star football player spends his time out on the field or in the gym. Many major clans such as Shoot to Kill (StK), Check 6(x6), Str8 Rippin, and Legendz are sponsored or are in the process of being sponsored by gaming organizations and major everyday companies. Zyos of x6, for instance, made approximately $100,000 playing Halo: Combat Evolved in a period of roughly a year. Gamers are taking home anywhere from a couple hundred to thousands of dollars home from every tournament they attend, which is more than enough for your average high school or college video gamer considering the circumstances.

Computer gaming has always been a step ahead of console gaming in that most major PC tournaments hosted by CPL can hand out prizes of what some would consider a years salary. Zyos, Killer N, Sergio, and Tupac being picked up by x6 is good news for leagues like MLG to hear, because it only helps their fight to make professional gaming a common interest. These PC teams taking console teams under their wings helps draw sponsors into the console side of things.

One problem console gaming has is that few teams stick together throughout an entire season, which presents a problem when a company would want to market a four man team that changes every month. As a matter of fact, StK is the only top team to date that has had the exact same line-up at every major tournament. This is one reason why very few major sponsors are willing to invest based on players alone. With the population largely made up of young adults most feel it won’t last like most other trends. Bottom line is, when it comes to Halo, StK is so dominant that it is half the reason as to why teams change so often, always trying to attain someone who compliments the team better and allows for them to have a better shot at ending the reign of StK. For example, at the first national Halo 2 tournament, StK beat the second place team 50 to 25 in Team Slayer… that should say something. The final standings of every Halo 2 National tournament to date have been:



MLG DC -

1. StK

2. x6

3. Fing Blipped

AGP DC –

1. StK

2. Legendz

3. x6

MLG San Francisco –

1. StK

2. x6

3. Str8 Rippin

MLG Houston -

1. StK

2. x6

3. Str8 Rippin



No wonder why it is so hard to find a sponsor for a team that is ultimately playing for second place. It would be like asking someone to put money on the Boston Red Sox until the previous year. Which brings up an interesting point about professional gaming, parity.

If professional gaming ever did become as big as baseball or another professional sport, would there be necessary rules and regulations put in about teams and its members? Would there be managers and free agents, people being picked up and dropped and paid to sport a tag for seasons? Issues like these are some that tend to be overlooked, but they could be good reasons why professional gaming should remain somewhat underground.

Another problem console gaming has is the bad reputation that is given to video games by the media. Too many issues regarding video game violence and influence on children to see the Halo Nationals aired on a major network during primetime. That, along with the bad stereotype gamers usually generates leads to a bad mix. How can this possibly be countered? Most importantly the general public needs to be exposed to what makes professional gaming so popular. Even Bungie, makers of Halo: CE and Halo 2 seem to ignore what makes their game so popular to the competitive crowd. People who play video games competitively are inherently no different than those who play football competitively or card games. It takes the same amount of skill to be the best at Texas Hold ‘Em as it does to be the best at Halo or Counter-Strike. People spend hours practicing, perfecting strategies, and improving even the slightest points that the average person would never pick up on. What kind of competitor does the last sentence describe? It describes every competitor, from physical activities to mental activities.

In the end, professional gaming and its future can only be determined by those who support it. Those who spend thousands of dollars every month out of their pocket to attend a tournament around the world. Those who stay up all hours of the night perfecting their play. It is the professional gamer’s dedication that will also decide the fate of this industry. One thing that is guaranteed… as long as MLG, AGP, and CPL continue to hold tournaments, gamers will continue to attend, and that is what the love of a game is all about.



Major League Gaming

The Association of Gaming Professionals

Cyberathlete Amateur League


Cyberathlete Professional League