Pro-gamers dedicate long hours honing their skills to compete on a world class level. According to one team manager, in the world of Dota, the stress to win is heavy.
In an interview with Sina Games, Team Newbee manager Tong Xin talks about the pressures his players face going into every game, including their run for the championship. Team Newbee recently won the fourth Dota 2 International Finals, netting the team of five a $US5 million prize. That’s about $US600,000 per player after taxes.
Many members of the Chinese media have painted out the triumph of Team Newbee as five young men who rose to a challenge to take on the world. Tong, who is said to be one of China’s most successful pro-gaming managers and coaches, says that’s oversimplifying things.
“Of the young men who attempt to go pro, only 1 in 1,000 people can even make it,” said Tong. “The chance for a player to become a “top player” is 1 in 10,000.”
Tong recounts being put in awkward positions during his time in the gaming industry. He’s been approached by parents begging him to return their kids because gaming is seen as a bad influence. He’s also seen parents beg him to sign their kids up to become pros, only to have the kids turn out to be washouts.
Family, Tong says, along with girlfriends, can create issues for players. Oftentimes families disapprove of professional gaming. Having a girlfriend can also be disastrous, as her parents can also disapprove of the boyfriend’s occupation.
Where money comes from is another issue for pro-gamers in China, Tong says. There’s a lack of professionalism because the owners of the teams tend to be young, wealthy, and showy. Owners will sometimes call their employees to play matches with them and their friends. The point of the match is for the owner to gain face.He adds that owners often have a buddy-buddy relationship with their players, which creates tensions for management.
This lack of top level management and familial pressure is already tough enough for many young people. Tong says his players are all young men in their late teens to early twenties.
Tong also revealed how arduous the training is that goes into cultivating a winning team like Newbee. “The team wakes up at 11:30, they eat brunch, then they start training at 2,” says Tong. “They will stop for dinner at 6:30, and then train for another 6 hours before retiring to bed at 2 am.”
They train to win, Tong says. He told Sina Games that before the International, the team suffered from insomnia and gastric issues. He acknowledges that the team is extremely well-pampered, and that the pressures are mental. He said that oftentimes when a player loses, they get scolded by owners and often have crushing guilt that creates sleep issues.
All that said and done, Tong also mentioned the issue of popularity. No, not the popularity of the players, but rather the games they’re playing. Tong says the tide of e-sports changes really quick. Games can be popular one day, and replaced with another the next.
打游戏挣3120万 NB经理：我们的压力你不懂 [Sina Games via iFeng]
Picture: Darryl Kang
Comments
10 responses to “Professional Gaming Is Hard”
That training regime was pretty much my like post high school years, insomnia included
training… sounds like my life when i was addicted to wow back in BC / WOTLK lol
Waking up at the wee hours of 11:30.
Also, pfft, pussies. Having to sleep at 2 am. If I don’t have anything on the next day I’m up until 6.
lol my thoughts exactly
i function on 3 hr sleep on weekdays, crash on saturday and ramp it back up on sundays
i get a 20 hr day that way to play games + do work
Be like the Hulk. The secret is not to avoid getting tired, but to always be tired.
Some of us actually value our health more than others
well its not like id be able to do much gaming at age 93
Maybe watch twitch streams all day long,
Twitch plays pokemon Uranium aquamarine blue XYZ 55
Not sure how US taxes work at that end of the income spectrum, but $5 mil will get taxed down to $3 mil?
I’m going to assume here that the team itself (management etc) get a cut, so after those and taxes, each player gets around $600k
are taxes even relevant for intl teams?