Jobs You Can Get in Gaming

You spend around one-third of your life working. For the average person, that adds up to about 90,000 hours throughout their lifetime. However, you look at it, that’s a long time.

Time is relative though. If you can’t stand what you do, every minute of work will feel like a chore and you’ll spend your days staring at the clock waiting for your misery to end. But if you’re working in a job you enjoy, then the work won’t feel so laborious.

Recent research has found that millennials are much more likely to quit a job if it is something they don’t enjoy and are far less accepting of poor working conditions than previous generations. If you’re one of these and you have a passion for gaming, then a career in this field might be just up your street.

The gaming industry has a lot of different options, catering to every possible ability and skill set. Here are just a few of the paths you could take.

Professional Poker Player

Card games are some of the oldest games played today. Almost everyone has enjoyed a game of go fish or snap at some point in their lives and thanks to movies like Rounders (1998) and 21 (2008), everyone knows what poker and blackjack are.

Thanks to online casinos, these types of card games are more accessible than ever before. In many countries, players can take advantage of many casino bonuses to be able to play many of them without even having to deposit money.

While many people enjoy playing these games for fun, some people do it as a full-time job. Professional poker players compete in tournaments, both online and in-person, generating part of their income from prize money and more from endorsement deals, books, and other similar contracts.

It’s not an easy life though, a professional poker player will have to spend hours every day practicing to be sure they are at peak performance for their next tournament.

Esports Player

Similar to a professional poker player, an esports player is someone who makes a living by playing video games. Many gamers would dream of making their crust by playing their favorite games, but the life of an esports player isn’t as easy as it might look at first glance.

Like a poker player, esports players have to spend a lot of time training, often for longer than you’d spend in a usual office job. As well as playing the game, they’ll review recordings of previous sessions to see where improvements can be made. They also have to keep up a strict diet and physical exercise regime, just like any other athlete.

Game Developer

If you’re someone who loves writing code, then a career as a (mobile) game developer might be up your street. Developers usually work as part of a large team but indie ones can go it alone or form a small collective to produce their game.

It requires a lot of patience and solid coding skills, so it may not be suitable for anyone with a short attention span.

Game Tester

Once a game is created, it needs to be tested to ensure it’s not riddled with bugs that ruin the gameplay. If you’ve ever played a glitchy game before, you’ll know how frustrating they can be, so this is where game testers come in.

This role isn’t a walk in the park though. Testing a video game is a very methodical process and requires you to work through a list of different tasks and commands in the game, often repeating them over and over again. This is so you can discover any weird glitches that may break the game. So while you’ll get your hands on video games early, you won’t be let loose to play them as you please, your work as a tester will be very structured.

Also read: What Does It Take To Become A Professional Online Sports Bettor?