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A Lot of Money for Playing Games

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the professional-minesweeper dept.

knowhow writes "Tom Taylor took the risk of dropping out from high school just to play video games. The guy who is just 18 years old, was prompted to take this step; because of the reason that emerged from his love for gaming. After playing for six months on a full time basis the guy signed a contract for a staggering $250,000." From the Article:"Now Tom taylor is known as Tsquared on the gaming circuit. He's earning six figures and has product endorsements and a video game tutoring business. He's one of about 100 professional gamers associated with Major League Gaming, a video gaming league founded in 2002. When they're playing well, pros might bring home a few grand a month."

45 of 239 comments (clear)

  1. When the money dries up... by JoeCommodore · · Score: 3, Informative

    I wonder in what situation he will be, he better be working on a backup skill.

    --
    "Enjoy what you're doing! If it becomes drudgery, you're doing it wrong!" - Jim Butterfield
    1. Re:When the money dries up... by Frogbert · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes I'm sure someone handling their own expensive sponsership deals, complex contracts and his own business would have no marketable skills outside of playing quake.

    2. Re:When the money dries up... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Assuming he didn't tell his high school teachers to kiss his shiny rich ass on the way out, he should go knocking on Harvard's door for an education. He can afford it and money talks at that school. Although I'm not sure if the blue bloods will want a prize-winning video game player in their midst. MIT or Stanford might take him. And then write a book.

    3. Re:When the money dries up... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It would take me seven years to make that much money. Maybe I should worry about what to do since my money dries up before each month ends. You make it sound like he won't have a job after the $250,000. With the current trend of video games I might say his job is more secure than a lot of people I know.

    4. Re:When the money dries up... by HappySqurriel · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Seven years? Man you need a better job ...

      Anyways, the problem with a competition of this nature is that you can make a lot of money as long as you're at the top of your game. For every person in this league there is (probably) 100 people who are nearly as good and (if they so choose) could easily start challenging you for your spot in the league. In other words you always are at risk of not being good enough to keep your 'job'.

      Growing up, I knew a few guys who ended up becomming professional snowboarders; they lasted about 18 months before their sponsership and were 'forced' out. I imagine that, if gaming continues as a 'sport', professional-gamers will have to 'train' for 8 hours a day to stay competitive.

      IT may be an insecure field, but I doubt all the jobs will dry up all of a sudden. Much like the gamer in the article, if you feel that your job isn't that secure you should train some skills that are useful both inside and outside of IT (say public speaking) and save up your money in case you suddenly find yourself without a job; this is easily said, and can be accomplished, but rarely will an 18 year old recognize how good he has it until it is gone.

    5. Re:When the money dries up... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 4, Informative

      If you have a significant chunk of change in any set of stocks that pay qualified dividends (tax free), anyone can make $3,000 a month (or more likely, $9,000 every quarter) to live on. That's what a lot of rich people do. That's what senior citizens do after saving for 30 or 40 years. That's what I'm in my Roth IRA (although I'm years away from pulling three grand a month in dividends). Nothing magical about it. Unfortunately, a lot of kids just don't get it that there's more to life beyond today.

    6. Re:When the money dries up... by nessus42 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I've never met anyone who got into MIT on the basis of money. And even if they somehow did, they'd flunk out the first semester if they weren't really damned smart and already had an excellent high-school level education.

      |>oug

    7. Re:When the money dries up... by camperdave · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm sure he can probably play SAT long enough to get his score up to 1500.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    8. Re:When the money dries up... by Nyph2 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      "Unfortunately, a lot of kids just don't get it that there's more to life beyond today"

      Unfortunately you don't get there's a lot more to life than money. Money is a means to various services. Everyone needs to contribute to society in order to draw on the services of society. For those who no longer work, it's simply saying you've payed your dues(in the form of time) to society equivalent to those which you're drawing back from society.

      To get those IRAs or dividends to the degree which you did, if you did it without advancing some field in a unique way, you had to work over 40 hours a week, had to work for the bulk of your life, or skimped and saved as much as theoretically possible. If you advanced an underdeveloped field, you benefitted society enough to deseve what you're getting*. If you worked significantly over 40 hours a week (unless you were one of the lucky few who truely enjoy their job) or if you skimped & saved every penny you could, imo you wasted a portion of your life... for possible returns. Albiet if you've reached the point of retirement those have payed off to a degree, but you're putting a down payment in either case, of significantly decreased short term enjoyment(which is guaranteed) for the chance or it paying off later. (what I mean by chance is both the method of investment, which carries risk, as well as the odds of survival for the # of years till it really pays off)

      *undeveloped fields are systems which have not been fully developed, but are of benifit to society. Those who understand these systems both work them to their advantage as well as benifit the field to the gain of society as a whole.

      -

      There is no free lunch. There is no easy answer. IRA's, skimping and saving, or even comprehending a field which no one else does, these have costs(personal) or benifits(societally) which end up resulting in retirement at some earlier than otherwise possible point/a more comfortable retirement. But they're not free, dont delude yourself into thinking that. You payed for that money/month.

    9. Re:When the money dries up... by The+Wooden+Badger · · Score: 4, Insightful

      But the problem is that this type of person generally is more interested in having the toys than the security. Some people can get away with it because they are content in a smaller house with a reasonable car that joe public can afford. Throw the big bucks at many others and they start thinking pimped Escalades and stuff from Cribs.

      --
      Heroscape, it's like legos combined with anachronistic wargames.
    10. Re:When the money dries up... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Considering that I'm planning to live to be 120, and will be into my fourth or fifth career by the time I retire at 100, I don't have a problem with this. Why retire at 30 and waste your life for the next 90 years?

    11. Re:When the money dries up... by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 2, Funny

      Hell, maybe he'll be a game coach. There are people who actually make money that way.

      --
      Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
    12. Re:When the money dries up... by The+Great+Pretender · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Which is really ironic as I've yet to hire a MIT grad. Every one that I've interviewed (and yes a pool of 5 is statistically significant, even if it is a very small representation of a population) has an ego the size of a planet and actually seems to have got a very poor education with respect to usable, practical science. However, they seem to assume that I'll hire them based on the image the MIT research gets in the media. My guess this media image is generated by a very few select departments. - Mod this for flamenait and bring on the MIT flaming (actually it'll be interesting to see how 'clever' the flaming is).

      --
      A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
    13. Re:When the money dries up... by nessus42 · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Every one that I've interviewed (and yes a pool of 5 is statistically significant, even if it is a very small representation of a population) has an ego the size of a planet and actually seems to have got a very poor education with respect to usable, practical science.
      That's probably because MIT has a very significant humanities requirement.... (That was a joke, btw, even though it is true.)

      The joke around Boston is that you hire Northeastern grads to get the work done, MIT grads to be your CTOs, and Harvard grads to run the companies.

      The joke is not quite true, since so many companies in Massachusetts have been started by MIT grads, but there's a kernel of truth. Northeastern trains people in skills that are immediately useful. MIT tries to give its students the fundamentals that back science and engineering in general, rather than training in specific technologies. In this manner it is hoped (and I think rightfully so, I might add) that even though the graduates are not as immediately productive as Northeastern graduates, they can always continue to easily learn whatever new methods, techologies, and ideas come down the road, and hence over their lifetimes, will always be current and productive.

      So, a Northeastern CS grad is sure to graduate knowing Java and relational databases and to have implemented an airline reservation system as a class project, an MIT CS grad might end up graduating only knowing Lisp and Modern Alegebra and have implemented a Modula II compiler as their class project. (Actually, for quite some time MIT grads would have learned Java for training in concurrent programming, but I'm making a point, so facts be damned.)

      Regarding ego, anyone who graduates from MIT is smart, and they're going to know they're smart. MIT is also a very humbling experience, though, since it puts you through quite a wringer. Almost anyone who goes to MIT is going to have met people even smarter than themselves and is going to have seen that there's so much to learn, they couldn't possibly know it all.

      Regarding your hiring practices, it is well known in the Boston area that there certainly are companies who would prefer to hire Northeastern grads. On the other hand, most MIT grads have no problem finding jobs. I certainly have never had such a problem.

      |>oug
    14. Re:When the money dries up... by gfxguy · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Unfortunately you don't get there's a lot more to life than money.


      It's true there's a lot more to life than money... but I hardly see how you can read that he doesn't understand that from his post.

      There's a lot more to life than money, so when I have enough to retire comfortably, I can pay someone to clean and do yard work. That way I can spend more time with my family - because spending more time with my family is more important the money I'm spending to do it.

      So this whole "money can't buy hapiness" is true only to the point that material possessions don't bring true happiness, but financial freedom gives you the ability to DO the things you might not otherwise be able to - travel, go back to school, pay others to do the menial tasks you've had to do in the past to free up more of your time, and if you've got enough you can be a philanthropist. If you're a computer geek, you can write or finance (or both) that useful application you've been thinking people would enjoy.

      But regardless, you are always being a benefit to society - that guy you pay to cut your grass doesn't have to collect welfare, for example. You still buy food and the necessities of life and pay bills and so forth, all helping the next generation of people survive without being a drain on societies resources.
      --
      Stupid sexy Flanders.
    15. Re:When the money dries up... by Theoden · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "Unfortunately, a lot of kids just don't get it that there's more to life beyond today."

      Even more of a pity that the majority of kids and adults can't appreciate how important 'life today' really is.

  2. Women by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I suppose that, unlike actual sports leagues, Major League Gaming doesn't have to worry about sex party scandals.

    1. Re:Women by From+A+Far+Away+Land · · Score: 4, Funny

      "Major League Gaming doesn't have to worry about sex party scandals"

      Are you kidding? All they have to do is install the Hot Coffee Mod, and lawyers like Jack T. will be on them like the FBI on a criminal driven tank.

      --
      Oh You POS
  3. Rating by Kangburra · · Score: 4, Informative

    Major League Gaming shows he's not even the best! :-(

    --
    Common sense is not so common
  4. Reminds me of poker by TubeSteak · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Obviously the youngun's have the advantage when it comes to twitch style video gaming, but this seems very reminscent of poker, where you can make aliving playing if you're good enough, but not many people are that good.

    As for the people who say "what's his backup skill going to be?" Assuming he can talk & isn't butt ugly, I imagine he'll be a commentator or spokesperson someday.

    Hell, if there's enough drama in the industry, he can write a book too.

    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
  5. Re:When slashdot dries up... by XNine · · Score: 2, Funny

    Then the few of us who actually have real girlfriends are left to die alone?

    --
    Never monkey with another monkey's monkey.
  6. Nice "editing" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
    I'm not usually one to complain about the editors, but come on.

    The guy who is just 18 years old, was prompted to take this step; because of the reason that emerged from his love for gaming.

    Set that poor semicolon free! It doesn't deserve to be cooped up in that horrible excuse for a sentence! The semicolon is a beautiful creature that can only be appreciated in its natural habitat: a sentence containing two full independent clauses. Or certain lists.

    1. Re:Nice "editing" by prichardson · · Score: 3, Funny

      "a sentence containing two full independent clauses. Or certain lists."

      That should read: 'a sentence containing two full independent clauses or certain lists.'

      There was no reason to separate those thoughts. It made the flow of your prose awkward. I must refer you to the old saying about glass houses and accusations. :-)

      --
      Help I'm a rock.
  7. Ah, Superstar Economics. by Rachel+Lucid · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We may as well talk about the guys who drop out of school to play basketball...

  8. Too much of a good thing? by Kadin2048 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Everyone always talks about wanting to get a job where they get paid to do what they enjoy, but I tend to wonder if maybe you'd get burned out of doing something that you enjoy as a pastime, if you had to start doing it for 8, 10 or 12 hours a day. (Okay, admittedly there are WoW players who seem to have no problems there.)

    There are lots of things that I enjoy in moderation that I don't think I'd like anymore, if I started doing them as my day job. Maybe it's just me...but I just think that playing games for a living might take the fun out of it.

    I guess maybe this is because I enjoy playing games as a way to relax, and I guess I wouldn't want to play them more than a few hours a day, regardless of the other constraints on my time.

    --
    "Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
    1. Re:Too much of a good thing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yeah, tell me about it. I used to love programming. Until I started doing it for a living.

    2. Re:Too much of a good thing? by JensenDied · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Its always fun doing what you like... when your doing it for yourself.

      --

      09:F9:11:02 - 9D:74:E3:5B - D8:41:56:C5 - 63:56:88:C0

  9. How about ... by vlad_petric · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Game tester. It's not really that fun (playing same games repeatedly until they're balanced/stable enough), but he's got the skills.

    --

    The Raven

  10. What? by Anne_Nonymous · · Score: 5, Funny

    >> The guy who is just 18 years old, was prompted to take this step; because of the reason that emerged from his love for gaming.

    Say that again, but not in Klingon.

    1. Re:What? by Brett+Buck · · Score: 4, Funny

      Now how can we argue with that. I think we are all indebted to Gabby Johnson here for clearly stating what had to be said. And I'm glad the children were here today to hear that speech. Not only was it authentic frontier gibberish...but it expressed a courage that is little seen in this day and age.

  11. Don't quit your dream job by MemeSpitter · · Score: 5, Funny

    "The guy who is just 18 years old, was prompted to take this step; because of the reason that emerged from his love for gaming."
    "... do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites, standing for absolutely nothing. All they do is show you've been to college." -- Kurt Vonnegut
    Or, if you must, at least avoid using if you haven't the foggiest idea of where to put them (such as, say, between two independent clauses). All that does is show you've dropped out of high school to play video games.

    1. Re:Don't quit your dream job by lullabud · · Score: 2, Funny
      if you must, at least avoid using if you haven't the foggiest idea of where to put them

      print "Such as at the end of the line rather than in the middle.\n" ;
  12. Gambling with his future... by jorghis · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I cant even count the number of people I knew when I was in college who threw away the chance to become succesfull engineers (I went to an engineering school) to play WoW/Everquest/Counterstrike 15 hours a day. For every guy like this who makes a career out of gaming there are hundreds of thousands who give up their careers because they spend too much time playing video games.

    Spending the enourmous amount of time required to be good at video games is a worse investment than a lottery ticket. Lottery tickets have had more winners, require less time investment, and the payoff is a lot bigger than 250 grand.

    Yes, I realize that a lot of people play video games for fun and moderate their time spent well. But dont we all know people who play endlessly because they want to be the best on their server or be in a clan that wins a lot of tournaments?

  13. a few grand a month, eh? by Khyber · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "When they're playing well, pros might bring home a few grand a month."

    Hell yea, where's the Enemy Territory tourneys with the money? C'mon guys, don't neglect good and free for everyone games! Let's see who rocks the free-world for the most cash!

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  14. What what what what what?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    How dare you slander good name Scientology! Not even capitalize Scientology! You free fair game now buddy junior. We suck you brains out with super power, sue you all you money, and bump rudely into you whilst in street! Maybe even in that order! Bet you sorry now!

  15. How sad by nlawalker · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It seems a shame to take a recreational activity that you love and make it your sole source of income.

    Yes, I do believe you can love your work. But this guy took a thing that he truly loved that *wasn't* work and *made it* his work. Playing games for a living sounds great, but anything loses its luster once you are chained to it if you want to eat and have a place to live.

    For all you gamers, think of how excited you are when a new blockbuster game comes out and you can't wait to get your hands on it. Now take that feeling and completely invert it, and I think that that about approximates what this guy must feel when that happens. "Oh man, a new game... guess I better start getting good at this one too. Back to ten hours of practice a day."

  16. I just can't see this taking off by istartedi · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What would TV coverage of this look like? You can't just have a shot of the screen, but if you cut back and forth you miss screen action. They probably have to edit together a lot of highlights. I can't imagine this would be very entertaining to watch on live TV... ok, some stuff like one-on-one fighting games might play well... it would be like boxing without the chance of actual injury. Yes, I guess this could be watchable if done right. The missing element is that you aren't watching your friends get beat, or beating your friends, or well... gaming. Robot wars was OK TV because most of us don't have the time, money or skill to make a decent fighting bot. Everyone can game. When I was a kid and was totally game crazy, the time I spent having to just *watch* was pure agony. Gimme the joystick!!! How many kids these days get their only daily exercise fighting their siblings for the controller? You're going to take gaming and make it totally passive? Those kids are going to explode, leaving nasty bits of fat all over the walls. Hey... that'd be a cool effect in a game.

    --
    For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
  17. Re:QA testers by bunions · · Score: 3, Funny

    That doesn't really explain why John Carmack lost his Ferarri. I mean, unless JC was confused about what he was thinking at the time. Lord knows it happens to the best of us.

    --
    there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
  18. Michael Jordan by Aqua+OS+X · · Score: 4, Funny

    "like Michael Jordan was born to play basketball. I feel like I was born to play video games." ... and to use that as an excuse to compare myself to Michael Jordan.

    --
    "Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
  19. This is not a career by Jack9 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    More people won MORE money playing the lottery. This type of sensationalist stuff doesn't interest most people but it keeps making headlines on /. ?

    --

    Often wrong but never in doubt.
    I am Jack9.
    Everyone knows me.
  20. Worst job in the World? by Durzel · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I can't think of many worse (in terms of sustainable income) jobs in the World than this to be honest.

    For a start you're competing against millions of people who don't require any technical qualification to compete with you. Besides gaining knowledge on a subject most people go to College & University to set themselves aside from the pack, to make themselves look more attractive to employers. With pro-gaming you haven't got any of this, the only barrier to entry is sufficiently fast reflexes, a little intelligence and a competent PC.

    This person is going to be a target for the rest of his playing career. The guy below him is gonna be aiming to usurp him to get his sponsorship, not to mention thousands upon thousands of upstarts actively seeking to relegate him to obscurity.

    It's also the sort of industry where unless you are in the Top 10 or so players for an extended period of time you're anonymous. It's not like being a professional footballer where even if you're in the lower divisions you're still making enough money to live on. This guy has to realise that there are thousands of people below him who are making no real money to speak of just waiting for him to slip up.

    No one really knows the terms of this $250,000 contract - whether he's actually been given this amount of money or whether that's essentially his "valuation" in pro-gaming terms, but if I were him I would invest all of it and work on the principal that his career could just fizzle out in a couple of years or so.

    1. Re:Worst job in the World? by 0123456 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      "Besides gaining knowledge on a subject most people go to College & University to set themselves aside from the pack, to make themselves look more attractive to employers."

      But almost everyone has a degree these days, so if you want to 'set yourself aside from the pack', you shouldn't be wasting your time at university.

  21. Quiting school is not a life sentence by TapeCutter · · Score: 4, Informative

    "What exactly is the marketable skill in signing a contract that says 'give me loads of money'?"

    None at that stage, but getting someone to offer you a genorous contract in the first place is a "marketable skill". If this kid has any financial smarts he will suck that contract dry and get a renewal, if not he will get bored, throw a "party", and watch it slip through his fingers.

    I dropped out of high school at 16 (Australia), it did not stop me from renting a house, buying a car, raising a family... Sure I completed a BSc when I was 30 because by that time I had figured out what I wanted to do, now I am 47 my pay pack is well above average. To be honest, I would have to say that making a living is less "financialy challenging" when you have the right bits of paper, but that still doesn't mean your life is ruined without them.

    However the notion that dropping out of school will ruin the rest of your life is false and usually promoted by those who stayed at school and have yet to find out what earning a pay packet is all about. And no, a couple of years burger flipping while leeching off your friends and relatives does not qualify.

    BTW: Please excuse my spelling, as I said, I'm a high school dropout.

    --
    And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    1. Re:Quiting school is not a life sentence by saltydogdesign · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Conversely, people who haven't been to school often fail to understand its benefits, which, as often as not, are not necessarily financial. Moreover, one person's success does not make a given path the smooth one. Fact is, and I'm sure you're aware of this, most dropouts do miserably.

      --
      // This is not a sig.
  22. A few grand a month? by JPriest · · Score: 2, Insightful

    A few grand a month does not sound like something worth dropping out of school over. Also, in the case of Tom Taylor, if he was 18 and still in school it didn't sound like he had much time left before graduating. I never understood the point of spending 13 years of your life in school to walk out the door 2 or 6 months before graduation. The least he could have done is homeschooled the remainder of his diploma to avoid having to place G.E.D. on his future resume's.

    --
    Saying Java is nice because it works on all OS's is like saying that anal sex is nice because it works on all genders.