Has anybody here made a living from videogames

[LimitedEditionMuseum]

Or made them work for them in any sort or way. Not selling or dealing games but other ways?

[wiggyx]

I'm working on it

[IHatedSega]

I hear making games can be lucrative.


Anyway, fighting game tournaments give people some money as prizes if they win 1st or 2nd, but only the big ones. Daigo has the Madcatz sponsorship and he makes money from his tournament I bet.

Teams in South Korea make money off of sponsorships, big money. Especially Starcraft teams.

[DK1105]

I am currently in school for computer modeling and animation. I have had a few small indie releases that have helped me eat some ramen. Im also currently working on a project for a local business. I graduate soon and I'm hoping to hop into the industry.

[8bitgamer]

My "Classic Home Video Games" book series has been a springboard for better paying writing jobs. Putting "book series" on a resume looks good to publishers, regardless of the topic.

[BydoEmpire]

I've been programming games professionally since 1995, and doing amateur/freeware game for a decade before that. I'm still in the business, although I moved into management. A small handful of folks could make their living playing games professionally, but it's pretty rare.

[gameofyou]

I sell videogame-related electronics for a hobby. It would be sweet to do it as full-time work, but realistically it won't happen until retirement, lol.

[Zthun]

Or made them work for them in any sort or way. Not selling or dealing games but other ways?

If you're talking about working in the video game industry (programming, design, art, sound), then yes, there a MANY people that make their living from video games.

If you're talking about playing video games for a living, you'll be hard pressed to find people that can sustain themselves without side jobs. There are some, but they are damn good at whatever they're playing. The vast majority of people that think they're gods at a game really aren't when compared to the pros. With the amount of practice that professional game players put in, the hobby is no longer a hobby; it's stressful work.

[wiggyx]

Not to mention that you have to reach poor, useless loser level 100 to become good enough to make that money playing in tournaments and such, which means that you'll be a broke-ass nobody while you hone your skills in hopes of taking on the "big" boys and girls.

Sounds miserable to me. If this were 1994, then yeah, anyone who played SF2 about 20+ hours a week with natural talent might be able to compete, but now that shit is like the Olympics. Those bastards train their entire lives just for the hope of a (fake) gold emblem to hang around their neck and maybe some sort of commercial endorsement afterward.

[Atarileaf]

There's a fellow in my city who has a store called "Game MD" who started out fixing and repairing RROD's and other problems with modern consoles out of his house through Kijiji (like Craigslist) and he got enough work that he opened a store that sells old and new games as well as a thriving repair shop. He seems to be doing quite well for himself and has been around for a couple of years now.