Career as a Professional Gamer: Gaming Motives as Predictors of Career Plans to Become a Professional Esport Player

TLDR

Esports is increasingly viewed by young gamers as a career path, yet research has mainly examined motivational differences and career progression, and future work should investigate novice players’ psychological exposure to the hypercompetitive scene. This study examined which gaming motivations predict young gamers’ plans to pursue a professional esports career. The authors surveyed 190 Hungarian competitive gamers, collecting data on gaming time, motivations, esports experience, tournament participation, training effort, and career aspirations. Binary logistic regressions showed that motivations for competition, skill development, and social interaction predicted career planning as a professional esport player, and that younger players were more likely to seek such a career than older players.

Abstract

Increasing numbers of young video gamers view esports (i.e., competitive video gaming) as a career opportunity, rather than just a recreational activity. Previous studies have explored the motivational differences between esport and recreational gamers and the motivational changes through career journey to become a professional esport player. The present study explored the predictors of career plans to become a professional esport player, with a specific focus on gaming motivations. Gaming time, gaming motivations, and esport-related playing experience were also examined among Hungarian gamers with competitive gaming experience (N=190), such as years spent in esports, medium and frequency of participating in esport tournaments, the effort put into training before the tournaments, and the plans to become a professional esport player. Binary logistic regressions were carried out and results showed that the gaming motivations of competition, skill development, and social motivations predicted career planning as a professional esport player. Additionally, results showed that younger players were more likely to seek career opportunity as professional esport players than older players. Future studies should focus on novice esport players' psychological exposure to the hypercompetitive scene of esports, such as high expectations or the risk of becoming problematic videogame users due to their motivational changes.