Game on: These pro gamers are making money by playing all day

Broadband changed everything. It opened strategy, sports, action and racing games to the world. Gamers were no longer pasty geeks who crouched in front of the PC. They were everyday folks who played PubG, Fallout, the Witcher and GTA on laptops and mobile phones, and crushed it at local tournaments. They shared walkthroughs on YouTube, they dropped codes and reviews on their vlogs. They weren’t crouching either. Why would you when gaming chairs were available?

Old-timers can’t believe how far we’ve come. Esports was included in the Asian Games in 2022. A report by the gaming platform WinZO and the non-profit Interactive Entertainment and Innovation Council estimates that India was the world’s biggest gaming market in 2023. Some 568 million of us played some kind of game – Ludo, Candy Crush, Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) and more – mostly on mobile phones. There are more gamers in smaller towns than there are in the big cities, the report finds.

The prize pool at the 2023 PUBG Mobile India Open was more than ₹1 crore. Last year’s edition of the Battlegrounds Mobile India Series had a prize pool of ₹2 crore. The India Gaming Report 2024 estimates that we’re home to approximately 3,00,000 gaming content creators and streamers. And most reports predict that by 2028, India will have about 1,250 full-time players. How are they making money? “Tournament prizes are one source, sponsorships for brands is another,” says Prakash Tiwari, aka Prakash Plays, who is 26 and gave up a career in banking for gaming. “Streaming also helps, you get paid through ads, subscriptions, and donations.”

It’s an old-timer’s dream. But those who’ve given up well-paying jobs to work the gaming console say it’s still uncharted territory. There’s reward, but also risk. And it’s tough going from the start. Take a look.

Expansion pack

Most gamers hoping to hit it big look up to 23-year-old Ahmad Navaaz, aka Chill Gamer, who has more than 8 million YouTube subscribers. Navaaz sounds witty and bubbly in his videos, when he streams himself playing Battle Royale, GTA, BGMI and Valorant. That takes effort.

He recalls his early days, when he’d upload 30 short videos in a 24-hour stream, just to build his fan base. “I barely ate or drank,” he says. “Towards the end, I became incoherent, after which my body started giving up.” He’s cut back to streaming for six hours a day.

Kaashvi Hiranandani, 27, quit a job in finance in Singapore to game full-time. She has 1.62 million followers on her YouTube channel Kaash Plays, on which she primarily streams BGMI and Call of Duty, but also enjoys playing Valorant, GTA 5 and Minecraft.

“I spent a year juggling my job and gaming. I would get home after work, exhausted, and stream late into the night,” Hiranandani recalls. That meant spending less time with family and friends and giving up weekends to practise. “Gaming can get competitive,” she says. “Professional players have to keep honing our skills and stay resilient against criticism.”

Full-time gaming is not all play. Streaming 6-8 hours daily is exhausting, and taking even a day off disrupts consistency and upsets loyal viewers, says Hiranandani. “Enduring stress, criticism, staying creative, and dealing with the whims of unpredictable algorithms is tough.” For her, it’s paid off. At 27, she owns a BMW, bought solely through her gaming earnings. She keeps her hustle going via year-long deals with brands such as Samsung, AMD, and Monster Energy.

The going is a bit easier for those whose parents were gamers too. In Mumbai, 22-year-old Jonathan Amaral, possibly India’s best-known BGMI player, routinely credits his father with encouraging him to aim for more kills in an action game. And yet, he’s told interviewers that he plays for 10-12 hours every day to stay ahead of competitors. His channel, JonathanGaming has more than 6 million subscribers on YouTube. Remember that young gamer who bought a Lamborghini last year? That was him.

Delhi-based gamer Pragya Verma, 24, trained to be an architect, but quit to play Valorant, CS 2 and BGMI full-time in 2023. “I was never meant for the 9-to-5 life,” she says. She started playing in college and would go at it for six hours at a stretch, even after she joined an architecture and interior design firm. Now, her YouTube channel, Winterislive, pays the bills. She posts witty vlogs of her life as a full-time gamer, streams her gameplay, posts reaction videos, and interacts with her audience of 27,000. “The key is to strike a balance between audience engagement and gaming.” The money comes from sponsorships and ad revenue generated from YouTube.

Behind the screens

India’s gaming community mushroomed in the pandemic, but it’s a little lopsided. We have plenty of gamers and viewers, and not enough designers creating new games. Akshat Rathee, co-founder and managing director at esports firm NODWIN Gaming, says that with more tournaments being held, this is changing. “Gamers who are passionate about the production side get the chance to step behind the scenes—organising tournaments, handling broadcasts, and bringing these esports events to life.”

The India Gaming Report 2024 suggests that gaming will generate 2.5 lakh jobs over the next ten years, creating work for developers, programmers, testers, artists, coaches, UI/UX designers, event organisers and marketing professionals. “Just as an intern can dream of becoming a CEO, gamers can rise through the ranks to become commentators, shoutcasters, team managers, or even run their own e-sports companies,” says Anurag Khurana, co-founder and CEO of Penta Esports.

Additionally, everyone in the field is excited about the Tech Triumph Programme, an initiative in partnership with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to nurture home-grown gaming innovation. Now in its third year, it invests, mentors and provides international exposure to promising startups. Last year’s winners, ChennaiGames, took their title, Mr. Racer, to the Gamescom Latam fair in Brazil. This year’s winners will head to the big cheese: The Game Developers Conference in San Francisco next month.

Meanwhile, Indian players have a reality show to call their own. Gaming Insaan (streaming on Amazon MX Player) follows aspiring gamers on a 45-day boot camp as they learn what it takes to be a pro Esports athlete. To them, and to those who are just starting, Hiranandani has a piece of advice: “Don’t leave your education or job for gaming unless you’ve already made a name for yourself. Start part-time, build your following, and only once you’re established should you consider making that bold move.”

Box: Pause, then play

The multi-crore prize amounts advertised by tournaments are not won by individuals. Winning teams of four or five split the bulk of the amount, runners-up get the next biggest share and other participants get the rest. Only those who keep winning make big money.

All gaming prize earnings in India are taxed at 28%, which significantly dents the spoils.

The government is keen on gaming. Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the gaming industry as a key driver of India’s digital economy. He said it could create job opportunities and boost global recognition.

Mobile and casual gaming drives much of the industry. But PC and console gaming are making a comeback, say analysts. Gaming laptops are becoming cheaper, broadband speeds are holding steady. It means there will be more multiplayer experiences, complex game features and immersive gameplay in the titles to come.

From HT Brunch, February 22, 2025

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