Millenium eSport professional gamer Clement of France, nicknamed Riskin.
Since their inception, video games have been dismissed as a lesser form of entertainment compared to film and television.
But the video game industry has grown rapidly, and the 2015 Global Games Market report estimated the industry to be worth US$91.5 billion.
As a result, video game development has become a popular and profitable occupation.
Game development is a multi-faceted industry that has opportunities for a variety of skillsets.
Andreja Djokovic, the founder and a developer at video game developing company Barbaoga, equated the process of developing a video game to constructing a building.
Creating a game requires many components, all of which are essential to the making the video game as it was originally envisioned.
There are jobs ranging from character and environment modelling, to framework and audio programmers, to designers and writers, who construct the stories of the games.
Djokovic said he first entered the industry when he followed the direction of an ad in a paper.
He had a degree in computer science but never expected to use it to develop video games.
"I got into computer science and figured I was going to just go into a cubicle, but that clearly didn't happen," Djokovic said.
Even parents are starting to consider video game development as a viable career option for their children.
Richard Blender, a father of teenage children, thinks that game development is absolutely a job possibility, considering the size and success the gaming industry has gained in recent years.
While some parents and even teens may perceive gaming to have a negative connotation, Blender said he believes otherwise.
"Those involved with this design work are at the cutting edge of computer (and) video technology," Blender said. "I would not think of adults designing toys for children in a negative way, and now video games are the equivalent."
According to Gamasutra's 2014 salary survey, video game developers in the US earned an average of US$83,060 in 2013.
However, video game development isn't the only way to generate revenue through games.
Joseph Orr has earned over US$1500 playing video games competitively over the past year.
Orr began gaming competitively when he and two friends attended a Super Smash Brothers tournament of over 120 entrants.
"My friends were knocked out relatively quickly, but I placed in the top eight," Orr said. "From that point on I thought, 'Why not continue competing?' "
Orr entered the scene using birthday money and began entering bigger tournaments with his earnings. He has won over 30 tournaments at local venues, and at his most successful event, he won over US$200.
Unlike video game development, Orr sees competitive gaming as a less viable career option.
"It's a fantastic hobby, but there are maybe only 100 people in the world that make a legitimate living off of competitive gaming," Orr said. "It's hard to generate enough profit to pursue it professionally."
Source: MCT
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