Hello. I'm Axell.
Suddenly, do you know who I am?
No. I'm not a new character released recently.
Well, you probably don't know me.
Even so, I'm someone who used to be a professional gamer in a game called Apex Legends.
It was three years ago, though. Three years ago, I was the type of person who was making quite a name for myself, but as time passes, people don't even remember my name anymore...
I feel the passage of time.
I'm writing this article as someone who used to be in the eSports industry, for those who want to become professional gamers in the future, or those who are already aiming for it.
Well, I have a feeling gamers don't read text, but this is just a vent of my personal thoughts.
Becoming a pro gamer is easy. Continuing is difficult.
That's a good way to put it.
To be honest, becoming a professional gamer itself isn't that difficult.
Of course, you need a certain level of skill, and not everyone can do it. If you invest time, have talent and aptitude, and are blessed with luck, I think you can reach the point of joining a professional team.
In my case, I hit Predator in Season 8 and became a pro around Season 9 or 10. I started appearing in tournaments properly.
Right at that timing, there were negotiations with Sengoku, and before I knew it, I became a pro. I'll keep the specific amount private, but while it was far from enough to live on, it was more than enough for a student's pocket money.
Did you think it's amazing just to get money from games while being a student?
Not at all. The world isn't that sweet.
It's not a world you should enter with half-hearted feelings like "I like games," "I'm strong in ranked," or "I hit Predator."
When you make Apex your job, you'll be playing the same game for hours every day.
To get results. To win contracts.
The game you started because you liked it becomes an obligation.
Practicing for hours every day, participating in scrims, and appearing in tournaments. There are plenty of ridiculous teams that demand that kind of thing for a monthly salary of 50,000 yen.
Of course, the teams have their own circumstances, but:
You can't make a living.
Your future isn't guaranteed.
On top of that, only results are demanded.
You might get the title of "Pro Gamer," but you can't eat with just that title.
If you're aiming to be a pro gamer just because you "like games," you should really reconsider.
Naturally, aiming for the top of something means there are countless competitors.
There are players who have already been in the competitive scene for years.
There are people who participate in scrims for hours every day, grind ranked, rewatch VODs, and research the meta.
You don't just catch up to those people. You have to overtake them.
Do you have the confidence to be number one, setting those people aside?
It's impossible. Please give up. It's a waste of time.
99.9% of people can't continue.
Your future isn't guaranteed.
If the team disappears, your job disappears.
If the game's popularity drops, the market shrinks.
Even though it's your life, there are too many factors you can't control.
The more serious you get about competing, the more you lose the time to build other careers.
People who go to university. People who get certifications. People who get jobs and gain experience.
While everyone around you is investing in their future like that, you have to play Apex for thousands of hours.
Of course, I don't deny the challenge itself, but if you're prepared to truly waste your time, I think you should do it.
Become a streamer after retiring?
Just make it as a streamer?
Is becoming a VTuber one way?
Don't underestimate the world. You can't.
The base level of skills required for those has also risen significantly.
The era where people would come just by streaming gameplay is long gone.
It's not such an easy world.
I only realized it when I retired. Seriously, nothing remains.
You don't need SNS followers to live a normal life.
To go further, there were even times when I felt the existence of the fans who supported me was meaningless.
While you're doing it, the community evaluates you as a player, but after you quit, they treat you like trash as a washed-up player.
To be honest, this also hurts quite a bit.
What will you do when results don't come?
What will you do after retirement?
If you think that far and still want to do it, then you should take the challenge.
Well, at least for me, if I could go back to being a high school student, I'd probably just study normally and go to university.
In living my life, when I compare a life of going to school and getting a job normally with a life of aiming to be a pro gamer again, the latter has no correct path other than succeeding as a talent. It's a path where you have to pull off a probability of about 0.0001%.
That's how much the profession of a pro gamer isn't worth it.
I was scared of my second career and quit being a pro gamer early.
But if I think about it carefully, I was earning about the annual income of a salaryman in a year and a half.
Whether that was good or bad is one thing, but at least in my case, I feel like I wasted a lot of time after I quit.
Well, it's your life, so do as you like...
There are many parts I haven't written down, so if you have questions, I'll answer them. Bye.
