Major League Gaming closes out 2011 season

I have great respect for all those top players that make it to top at these events like MLG. However i believe in the long run, only the pro players would be eventually short changed. Its great for team organisations and sponsors but when you think about it,5 to 10 years down the road when they live pass their usefulness and gaming era. How would they transition that to the real world. I mean putting down "Pro gamer" in your CV ain't going to impress your employer when your trying to find a job. I mean granted that within the same industry there is potential but when you think about the actual opportunity cost for these people. For example, in SC2 these pro korean gamers start at a very young age getting a chance to compete for these highly competitive prize pool isn't a great odds just to throw away your youth. just my 2 cents ps. excuse my poor English =(

It's always fun watching someone explain what is MLG. "Do you mean MLB?" "No, MLG. Like Major League Baseball, but for gamers." "What?" "Yeah, people get paid to compete in game tournaments." "What? You're kidding, right?" etc.

Reminder: M2K and ADHD's splitting ruined Brawl's chances of ever being in this circuit again.

@Tzap Actually I'm pretty sure they all take skill, call of duty the least of course but Halo is relatively skilled nowadays. Between the shields rewarding duck and cover play (to take no real damage and let the shield regen) for more defensive and calculated players to the fact there is only 2 weapons and 1 armour ability allowed at a time so tactics and balancing out your kit is obviously a strategic choice. Not to mention Halo has a quite varied set of weapons and decent maps so it would take some skill to play and fight well in a tournament scenario against other skilled players. If you don't think taking advantage of the shields, managing limited weapon choice (lots of weapons but can only carry 2), working as a team, making use of armour abilities (some give terrain advantage, some can negate grenades etc.) and fighting against others then your simply over dismissive. And saying League of Legends doesn't take skill? You can't even have a comprehension of the game to say that :/

Naniwa beating all those other koreans to finish second? Respect.

The only game that involves skill is SC2, congrats to the rest. LoL is a DoTA clone and the rest, well, we all know how console shooters match up against keyboard and mouse users.

i wish i was a pro gamer lol

@Triton Also only the best of the best players can even make it at these events new games like league of legends don't have a deep competition pool but thats getting bigger. Game like cod, halo, sc2 have a huge player base and getting in one of these events is hard as hell. A ton of people make a lot of money majority of team liquid makes around 100k - 200k. But to make that kind of money you need to be the very best and need to treat this like your real job spending 8 - 12 hours a day playing. The top sc2 players in sourth korea are treated like rockstars..... thats how big this game is and the money there is huge.

@Triton Starcraft 2 is Sourth Korea's NATIONAL SPORT..... they have been making huge money for years now. It won't last??? It has been going on for a long time and it is just getting bigger. The e-sport scene was nothing in the states and now its getting huge... theres barcraft's now. Google that..... theres more and more sponsors getting into this. Dota 2 gave out 1million $ to team that came in 1st at dream hack. 2nd place got i think 400k or 500k. And that game is still in beta.... These teams are sponsored and with endorsements make a lot more money..... if you are a pro player and have played at mlg or are sponsored you would know how good it is. For me i still attend university and do this, i would never make this my full time job but for those that have and are good they make a ton of cash. It was just never big in USA and only now is it getting big. In Korea they have 2 dedicated TV channels that play starcraft all day.

Evilbunz how many make that kind of money? I figure its just a few. Plus I wonder how long it lasts. I really doubt you can bank on very many years if more than one, but guess they get to have fun while doing it. Sure beats being on welfare, and me having to pay to support them with taxes from 26yrs of working. lol

you don't have to be a pro-gamer to make money playing games: i play starcraft in my spare time (actually i don't even play any more at all) but i've won like $600 over the past couple years from tournament wins. obviously nothing compared to pro-gamers but for an amateur it's pretty good :P

Drop CoD; replace it with super street fighter IV or ultimate MvC3

Wonder what they do in their spare time.... go get a job and work?

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I wish the Fighting Game community had this much support and coverage. Watching the Grand Final at Evo is much more exciting than watching a team play a fps

Oh Korea your silly. They dominate pretty much every single PC game. CS, SC, SC2, diablo and diablo 2. WoW as well. So bizarre.

@chaosmonkeys leenock is 16 years old and is worth $200,000.... let me know when you are worth that much even when you work at an actual job. Oh also.... nestea made $800,000 last year alone, MVP made around $400,000 - $500,000. More like young kids making more money then you will ever see in your life. Before you talk trash about someone take a good look at yourself.

more like Men Lacking Girlfriends amiright?

@ BuiltForSin i was thinking ramen

I do want to try to enter a pro-league gaming event, but I feel right now, I want to play my games for fun and not take them too seriously. Just playing online from home without serious competition is good enough for me right now.

Good for them I guess. Making money off of games. Such a weird thing.

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We're about to find out how much rice and porn $50,000 can get you.

Personally,I find MLG and all that crap stupid.Im an SP gamer,and I play my games to have fun.Suppose going competitive would make gaming seem way too more serious than I would ever want it to be,and would probably suck out most of the fun.I play for relaxation,not to stress myself...

I enjoy playing too much to make it a career. I don't much care for MLG, I've tried to watch it but it always seems really lame. I'd much rather be playing or doing something else. Not to mention the *star* players act so full of themselves. But if you enjoy the stuff I guess it's fun.