As with any other hobby that you develop over a long period of time, knowing a great deal about CSGO will certainly make you wonder at some point: is there a way in which I could support myself by putting my CSGO knowledge to use? Is it just a dream or is it something that could actually be done?
In this article, we’ll talk about this subject and offer you a number of methods in which your CSGO knowledge and skills could be put to use immediately to generate money. How much? It’s really up to you, but the potential to support yourself by monetizing your passion for CSGO is definitely real. You just have to know how to go about it.
Many people already are successful at supporting themselves through some monetized activity revolving around CSGO. The only real requirement is actual knowledge or skills in this area. You can’t be a complete tourist and expect to be able to support yourself by doing something that you don’t even understand.
Here are the ways in which you could go about supporting yourself as a CSGO enthusiast:
CSGO Betting
CSGO betting is the most obvious choice and is the one that’s least demanding. The only real requirement is to understand the game and then know as much as possible about its professional scene.
The more you know about the history of the best 25-30 CSGO teams and their players, the more capable you will be to make good predictions and actually make money by betting on CSGO matches and tournaments. It’s not rocket science, but you do need a good amount of knowledge and a well designed betting system that eliminates all emotion from your decision making process.
To start betting on CSGO, you simply need to sign up on one of the best CSGO betting websites. A lot of people do it and today the environment is fully regulated and 100% safe. From there, the possibilities that you get are endless.
Playing CSGO Professionally
Playing professionally is a serious matter. And a very demanding one as well. To play at the highest level, you need a certain amount of talent (meaning, raw intellectual skills and the drive to succeed) and a lot of practice. To even consider playing professionally as a future goal (say, 1 years or more into the future), you should already have thousands of hours of experience and be at least at the Legendary Eagle Master level.
Xyp9x earned $1,321,921.90 as of February 13th 2019.
As an industry, esports keeps on growing year after year. In 2019, it will surpass the 1 billion dollars mark in terms of yearly revenues. And CSGO constitutes a big chunk of that. The ecosystem of this title is thriving and dozens of excellent teams are hiring professional players, paying them substantial salaries that range from tens of thousands of dollars per year to hundreds of thousands.
The option of playing the game full-time as a profession is real but it’s extremely demanding. You definitely take some risks, just as you would in any other sport or esport. But if you know yourself very well and you can tell that you’re mentally capable to train hard and become one of the best, then you might just be that rare case of someone who actually succeeds at becoming a pro player.
Streaming CSGO
Streaming is a serious business these days and CSGO streaming is definitely an option. However, you will need to be consistent and develop alternative ways of getting people to find out about you. Otherwise, they will simply watch someone who’s already famous, such as a top player like s1mple or a top streamer like shroud.
To succeed as a streamer you need to have an engaging style and obviously, some excellent CSGO skills. For the most part, streaming is something that a lot of people do after they become good at CSGO and gain some notoriety. Doing it while having done nothing in the industry is quite challenging and will require you to be very smart about marketing yourself and keeping people entertained.
To start streaming, you’ll probably want to use twitch.tv and OBS Studio. Both the streaming platform and the streaming software I mentioned are excellent and will likely provide you with everything you need to start building a streaming career. However, the real requirements are skill, a pleasant or engaging personality and a good PC. Ideally, on top of these things, you should also have some kind of reputation. In its absence, things will move much slower. At least initially.
Creating CSGO Content
Content creation is another way in which you could get involved in this industry and turn your CSGO knowledge into a profitable hobby. The main requirements are the ones you’d imagine: a very good understanding of CSGO and its professional scene and, just as important, the ability to write well.
With the esports industry getting bigger and bigger each year, there are many websites and companies that require people who can write about CSGO and esports in general, providing news, guides, opinion pieces and so on.
In addition to these, you could also create your own YouTube videos or other forms of content, covering everything that’s going on in CSGO, from player transfers, to major events. The game itself and its professional scene are constantly going through changes and tournaments, so you will find plenty of stuff worth covering.
Other CSGO Jobs
Other ways of turning your CSGO passion into a money making hobby are available, but require a number of additional skills. In that regard, having a thorough understanding of CSGO and its professional scene can act as a business card or an entry-level requirement for various jobs in the industry. But those jobs will require you to have a set of skills outside of CSGO.
Here are a few examples:
Programmer
If programming is your thing and you enjoy building websites, working with databases and so on, the esports industry can provide you with numerous opportunities. There are lots of companies who own websites and want to build even more of them, who need people who speak the language of esports and are skilled in the area of programming.
I myself used to be a web developer, although my passion for esports has led me to content creation, communication and business strategy related jobs. I do know quite a few people who are programmers in the industry though, so this is a very easy way of getting to work in esports and do CSGO related things.
Graphic designer
Another very famous profession is that of graphic designer. That’s because a lot revolves around things looking neat. Since esports is a young industry addressing a young audience, having fresh designs and interfaces that are up-to-date with the newest trends is important for a lot of companies. So they end up hiring people who can create these kinds of things.
Social media manager
Yet another famous type of job is that of social media manager. Every serious website with a major audience is present on social media and, you’ve guessed it, they have people publishing and posting new stuff all the time.
