Something that I’ve recently become convinced of, is thanks to the power of the internet….you can really make money by doing pretty much anything. In the last post, I mentioned League of Legends a computer game that is made available at no cost to the users; and has ~20K users online at any given time….and over 15M users world wide.
However, this is still “just” a game…as with every game; there are players who are better than others. It turns out that the top ~30 players have found a way to profit off of this game. On sites like, www.ow3d.tv, they just broadcast themselves playing the game (usually with insightful commentary) and people watch them. Periodically they show ads; I believe that they make ~$1 for every 1000 people they show ads to or something like that. As I type this post, (just before noon on a weekday)…there are currently: 26,870 people watching these streams.
They have found a way to make money playing video games!
Growing up, one always hears how if you’re talented, you can accomplish anything….and if you’re talents are appreciated then you can be compensated for those talents. For most things…like mathematical ability; or work ethnic…this makes no sense. For things like video games; I always just kinda figured that it made no sense.
I’ve been proven wrong….professional video gamers have been around for about just under 15 years now. However, in order to be a “pro” back in the day…you had to be good enough to win tournaments. I didn’t think that the margins were there; early on with expenses for travel + lodging + food, and what not. Now I feel there is a fair amount of sponsorship money going around. Hardware companies that cater to gamers (aka…the best gaming keyboard, or mouse, or monitor, or headset) donate money for expenses; in order to plaster their logo all over the place. All of this seems to be a pretty natural evolution.
Outside of this, these gamers are still making money…while sitting at home, in their gaming layers; practicing.
What’s next? Who knows?! However, if it’s possible for Joe ordinary to become a gamer…who’s to say that online streams of people napping / watching TV won’t become the next big thing. I feel that this has proved that people will watch anything on the internet if they are able to find it even the slightest bit interesting.
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