💡 Why it matters: Competitive gaming has a fast-growing fan base around the world, with tournaments in games such as football simulators, shooters and mobile battle games. Very few players earn a living and careers are often short, so it works best alongside school or other skills.
🌍 Around the world
- Nigeria: Competitive gaming has a growing fan base in Africa, with tournaments in games such as FIFA, Call of Duty and Mobile Legends.
- United States: Jobs for athletes and sports competitors are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, faster than average (US Bureau of Labor Statistics).
💰 What it can pay
🇳🇬 Nigeria
- Starting out
- ₦300k – ₦2M
- Mid-career
- ₦2M – ₦10M
- Senior
- ₦8M – ₦60M
≈ ₦167k – ₦833k a month mid-career. Indicative estimate by Incusim.
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
Indicative mid-career range (our estimate, not yet checked against an official source). Incusim estimate
🇺🇸 United States
Closest US category: Athletes and sports competitors (not esports specific). Median pay; low and high are the 10th and 90th percentiles. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025
🇨🇦 Canada
Closest Job Bank occupation: Athlete (not esports specific). Hourly wage low/high x 2,080 hours; Job Bank's median was not captured. Job Bank (Government of Canada), 2023-2024
Yearly pay before tax. UK, US and Canada figures come from the official sources named on each card. Nigeria has no official salary survey, so those are our indicative estimates. Real pay depends on the employer, the place, your skills and experience.
🛠️ What you actually do
- Practise your game for several hours daily
- Compete in online and live tournaments
- Review replays with teammates and coaches
- Stream or make videos to grow a following
- Work with sponsors and the team's managers
⚡ Skills you'll need
- Game skill
- Focus
- Teamwork
- Content creation
- Mental strength
Get ready at school
🇳🇬 Nigeria
- Join local gaming communities and enter amateur and national esports tournaments
- Build a streaming channel and join an esports organisation
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- Enter online and university tournaments and join an amateur team
- Build a streaming or content channel and apply to esports organisations
🇺🇸 United States
- Join school and club esports teams; many colleges have varsity esports teams, and some offer scholarships
- Build a streaming channel and apply to professional teams
🇨🇦 Canada
- Join school, college and university esports teams
- Build a streaming channel and apply to professional teams
🗺️ Your path to this career
- 1Pick one game and practise with strong players
- 2Enter online and school tournaments
- 3Join a competitive team and build your online profile
- 4Find sponsors, streaming deals or team salary
- 5Plan next steps such as coaching, content or business
⏰ A day in the life
You warm up with an hour of practice, then review last night's match replay with your team. After lunch you stream for fans, then rest your eyes and wrists before an evening scrim.