As a middle schooler, Sam Wang harbored dreams of becoming a professional gamer. He loved the online strategy game StarCraft, and logged countless hours on his computer trying his skills against competitors online and watching YouTube clips of his favorite pro gamer, SlayerS_Boxer.
But this was the mid-2000s, and the idea of anyone playing video games professionally in the U.S. was more fantasy than possibility. His mom, like so many other parents at the time, thought it was a waste of time.
If you’re not good at a game, you may not be as popular as someone who’s really good.”
That sentiment, however, has started to shift. Wang first noticed it while watching a livestream of a League of Legends championship match in his dorm room at the University of California Berkeley seven years ago.
“It was crazy because, once the winner was announced, I heard people not just in my dorm but in others screaming,” Wang said. “And that’s when I knew that e-sports was going to be huge.”
Today, millions of viewers tune into video game live streams, the battle royale sensation Fortnite propels dance moves into the mainstream in a way no TV show can replicate, and it’s not uncommon for people to wear jerseys of their favorite e-sports teams. Last July, Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf made international headlines becoming the first winner of the Fortnite World Cup, earning $3 million at just 16 years old.
Gaming isn’t just a hobby anymore. E-sports is a global industry poised to reach $1 billion in revenues in 2019. Some colleges are now offering scholarships for competitive e-sports players in the same way they do for athletics. And just like being good at basketball or football used to be a status symbol for children, many are now honing their skills at Fortnite to impress their friends.
“I hear kids in games talk about how in middle school, if you’re not good at a game, you may not be as popular as someone who’s really good,” Wang said. “And what I’ve found is that winning has almost become a social currency for our generation and Gen Z-ers.”
Much like how athletes of all levels require coaches to help them get better, Wang and his two friends, Wesely Situ and Kristoph Oedman, saw a need for that in gaming. Together, they decided to launch ProGuides, a video game training platform, in Los Angeles four years ago.
Every gamer should be welcomed to play a game, enjoy it and be really great at the game at the level that they want to be.”
While video games seem like something you just need to play to get better, Wang noticed that he and many other gamers often plateaued at a certain point in a competitive game. Strategy in a game is always evolving and keeping up can be difficult, Wang said.
Simultaneous to the rise in competitive gaming, it was also getting harder for gamers to break into long-standing competitive games like League of Legends without getting discouraged by the steep learning curve. For both parties, videos only offer so much help when what they need is hands-on advice.
His goal with ProGuides is to help both sets of gamer get over their respective humps.
“Every gamer should be welcomed to play a game, enjoy it and be really great at the game at the level that they want to be,” Wang said. “And that’s the approach that we took.”
Through ProGuides, users gain access to strategy videos, player tips and training sessions with professional gamers across seven different competitive online games, including: “Overwatch”, “Fortnite” and “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.” Users can also connect their game accounts to the platform and track their progress against friends and other users.
The company offers both paid and free courses. Paid sessions include the ability to jump into a game with a pro for a one-on-one training experience, much like a pitcher might with a pitching coach.
“We wanted to give people not just access to information, but a way to engage with other players who have reached a high level,” Wang said.
In addition to being a tool to help competitive gamers grow, ProGuides also provides another outlet for professional gamers to extend their careers. For some, a professional playing career may only last six months, Wang said. Their only recourse may be to stream on Twitch or Mixer to make a living. As coaches, they’re able to supplement their incomes, making on average $750 a month, according to the company.
ProGuides is now exiting its beta stage having provided more than 9,000 paid training sessions and compiled a network of 250 professional coaches, according to the company. They’re also looking to grow their team, with the goal of adding 10 more employees by the end of the year, Wang said.
While Wang’s days of trying to play StarCraft professionally are over, video games have evolved into a viable career both for him and thousands of others. It’s an industry that he believes will only continue to grow, and he hopes to help a generation of gamers to grow with it.
“Eight years ago, you would’ve seen two different types of demographics: The World of Warcraft gamer and the Candy Crush gamer,” Wang said. “But now, you see every type of gamer across the spectrum… I’m excited to see where things will go.”
