Forget school, try making a living playing Guitar Hero
By Dave Parrack
If you love gaming, and I’m guessing you do by the fact that you’re reading a site dedicated to the art, then you must at one point have considered how great it would be to be able to earn a living from playing games. While it may be a pipe dream for many, one kid’s parents have let him quit school to try and make it as a professional Guitar Hero player.
When I left school, the first place I looked for a job was in the gaming industry, as it was my first love. So I applied to work as a games tester for a local company. I didn’t get the position. Now I obviously earn some of my income from gaming, or at least writing about gaming. And that suits me fine. But part of me still wishes I could make it as a professional gamer, even at my ever-advancing age.
There are professional gamers out there, with the absolute best being able to earn around $80,000 a year from winning tournaments and being sponsored by games companies. But they’re a small band who hit that level of success, with most having to contend with gaming being a hobby which earns them some pocket money.
But one 16-year-old hasn’t been put off the idea by this low chance of really making it, and his parents have even let him quit school to pursue his dream of making it as a professional Guitar Hero player.
According to News & Observer, Blake Peebles counts himself as one of the top 20 Guitar Hero players in the U.S., an estimate based on his online records. He’s played in competitions locally, where he has won prizes including gift certificates, games equipment, and 52 Chick-fil-A combo meals. But he clearly has bigger plans.
His parents have now agreed to let him leave school to play Guitar Hero professionally, and he’s set to compete in the U.S. regionals of the World Cyber Games in California. He qualified for the heats after doing well online under his ‘Dreminem’ gamer name.
Blake’s ultimate dream is to score a contract with Major League Gaming, a company that has 125 players on its books, all of whom have signed management deals worth a fair amount of money. But what are the chances of that happening?
Gaming is such a hugely popular hobby that the competition is phenomenal, and you really do have to be the best of the best to earn any sort of money from it. As Terry Lindle explains at the end of the article, he has been a competitive gamer for eight years now, and only earned about $25,000. Enough to feed a gaming addiction, but not nearly enough to live on.
One of the big problems is how quickly gaming evolves, and so while Blake may be brilliant at Guitar Hero, he may be crap at every other game that follows, and that’s the end of his career right there.
Still, good luck to him as I’m envious of his chance of earning some money from the pastime he loves so much. I suppose I need to accept that I was just never good enough and now I’m too old. But I can still kick my friends asses at Guitar Hero on a Saturday night, and that’s good enough for me.
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August 18th, 2008
This is what happens when stupid people have kids!
August 18th, 2008
I couldn’t think of anything worse than playing video games as a living. I love playing but not ALL the time! I’d get tired and bored of them. Not a good career choice, what a waste of a possible decent education.
August 18th, 2008
What a waste of a decent education! Talk about throwing your life away.
In 10 years this guy will be in his living room as fat as a horse clutching a guitar from guitar hero, dead because he didn’t get enough sleep. I bet he doesn’t get laid until he’s 30.
August 18th, 2008
god damned lag, please delete my first one?
August 18th, 2008
Education first, games second.
There are certain games that I’ve never really been challenged at, but I know I’m not even close to the pros. Gaming is a lot like chess. Someone who puts in only 100 hours a year on chess practice could give a grand master a run for his money, but would never be able to be THAT good, not good enough to really compete with the pros.
Someone who works at video games could give the big guys a run for their money, as well, but no matter how close you get on the 99 times out of 100 you lose, you still lost 99 times, and aren’t good enough.
I’d say good for him for chasing his dreams, but dreams aren’t meant to be chased at the exclusion of everything else, because, in the end, you wake up.
August 18th, 2008
DAVE PARRACK, you are WAY off. Pro gamers make far more than you suggest, in Japan. Pro gaming is HUGE over there, the pro’s have rock star status and incomes to go with it.
August 18th, 2008
Excellent parents! Maybe they’ll let him eat out of garbage bins next!!!
August 18th, 2008
this is sad… really really sad… I hate all these “Pro Gamer” people… all these gaming competitions… its not a personal grudge… but its just silly to make your living that way…
Yeah lets make a mediocre game about killing people… create some obvious multiplayer modes… and have a bunch of people fight to prove that they are better… its just silly…
For me.. games are about entertainment… about having fun… not about devoting my entire time to get the high score…
so silly…
August 19th, 2008
@DavidB
Congrats for picking out one number and missing everything else.
According to the story “Blake Peebles counts himself as one of the top 20 Guitar Hero players in the U.S.”
It doesn’t reammy matter what a teacher can make in South Africa if you live in France, does it? Why are you saying Japanese pro gamers make more, when it is very clear he is an American and competes in American tounraments? Maybe I missed something, or maybe you just want something to criticize, and hope no one else notices your flawed logic?
August 19th, 2008
@ Bourne “god damned lag, please delete my first one?”…..Such language!!!
@ darkwhitehair…..You are absolutely correct. Games like Halo 3, Gears of War, Team Fortress 2, are all about defeating and humiliating other oppenents just to show how much of an ASS modern day gamers can be. If it were up to me I would ban every asshole that has killed and teabagged my character in halo 3! They would never be allowed to play video games again
@ Matt “@DavidB
Congrats for picking out one number and missing everything else.
According to the story “Blake Peebles counts himself as one of the top 20 Guitar Hero players in the U.S.”
It doesn’t reammy matter what a teacher can make in South Africa if you live in France, does it? Why are you saying Japanese pro gamers make more, when it is very clear he is an American and competes in American tounraments? Maybe I missed something, or maybe you just want something to criticize, and hope no one else notices your flawed logic?”……Hahahahahahahaha that just made my day. Funniest. Phrase. Ever.