Video gamers raking it in
MANY psychologists will tell you that playing video games for hours on end is bad for you.
But Barry Louzada laughs off claims that gaming can cause loneliness, social awkwardness and laziness. That’s because he has made a career out of his love for gaming – and Louzada is anything but anti-social.
In fact, the 36-year-old professional gamer from Joburg has made thousands of friends around the globe thanks to his career.
“There’s always been a stigma about gaming being anti-social – that’s nonsense,” said Louzada. “I’ve made life-long friends purely based on gaming. I’ve even gone to their weddings.”
He has also raked in a small fortune, from competing in electronic sports tournaments around the world. “Last year I competed at the World Electronic Sports Games in Dubai, where we played for $1.2 million (R15.7m). The trip was all expenses paid, and they put us up at five-star hotels,” Louzada said.
The umbrella term for organised, competitive online gaming, eSports has become one of the most popular sports worldwide. Some of the best gamers earn more than traditional professional sports stars.
Last year, professional gamers at the annual Dota international tournament competed for a whopping $22m in prize money.
“The team that won the tournament took home more money than Andy Murray took for winning Wimbledon,” Louzada said.
“Each player in the winning team won more money than Germany took home for winning the Fifa World Cup, and also made more money than the NFL players took home for winning the Super Bowl.”
Louzada is trying to boost the profile of eSports in the country, and this week he and his team at Mettlestate – a tournament and production company – announced the launch of a new local eSports tournament.
It is offering a R1m prize pool to South African gamers who compete in the two-month tournament, which starts in the next two weeks. It will feature 24 teams playing the popular game Counter Strike Global Offensive.
The tournament will be broadcast on Twitch TV, a live-streaming video platform.
“Hopefully parents will take their children more seriously now when they say they want to become professional gamers. There’s a lot of money in this industry,” Louzada said.
“In other countries, gamers are public figures. Hopefully the same will happen in South Africa.”