eSports Will be in the Olympics
When I was in high school my parents would always say to me, “Get off Xbox.” When I suffered a career-ending sports injury I turned to video games. It started off as something fun to do with friends after school. My game was and will always be Call of Duty. Once I found out my high school had a competitive team I decided to join. I started off as a bench player and ended up being the best player on the team. I left and joined the #1 team on Gambattles — competitive eSports site where teams play — which was ranked out of 60,000 teams.
Throughout my time playing Call of Duty, I led our team to six online championships, ranging from beating out 5,000 to 60,000 teams per season. It was thrilling. I played 12–14 hours a day with my team and had an absolute blast. Once it was time to go to college I quit playing. Now, most of my old teammates are making $300k+ per year playing video games.
Looking back, I wish I kept playing. Live streaming and prize pools were not popular when I quit in 2013, therefore, it made sense. Against me, 2014 was the hottest year in eSports. I just missed this window and I refuse to let it happen again.
