How do I Start a Professional Career in e-Sports

As many of you might know I've been documenting Formula-E for some time now. Back in June last year I penned an article on the future of Formula-E. My love and passion for Formula 1 has also been widely recognised by those that follow my channel. My Sunday's are largely dedicated to watching F1 and I find it to be just the tonic for either an overly indulgent night-before, or a slice of wanton escapism after a hectic work week. 

Motorsport is in my blood, I grew up near Brands Hatch in Kent and worked there as a first job every race weekend. I’ve followed F1 since the 1980s and raced Karts around many tracks in the UK, in particular Buckmore Park. My knowledge of F1 is historic and deep however I would by no means call myself the authoritarian on either Formula 1 or Formula-E, but in the influencer community I have become the go-to guy (in my circle at least) that people come to when they have a question about racing. Especially now after the success of Drive to Survive on Netflix where there are so many ‘new uneducated fans’.

I’m personally a Lewis Hamilton fan and followed him through his rise in karting, formula Renault, formula three and GP2. When he was at F1 team McLaren driving alongside Jenson Button, it was my dream partnership at the time. I tend to support drivers rather than teams, although I respect the great teams such as Ferrari, Mercedes, Williams etc - seeing Lewis drive for Ferrari before the end of his career would be a dream of mine but I can’t see that happening. I think when Lewis retires, I’ll have a decision on who to support next and right now I think that would be British driver Lando Norris. His personality shines through and his racing style is smooth like Jenson Button with the pace of Lewis. Also I can see him doing more than just F1, an ambassador for brands and causes outside of F1 - much like the charitable, black-lives-matter and environmental work that Lewis Hamilton does - I feel that is so important for the modern F1 driver.

For this article I want to share some thoughts on how one would look to go about starting a career in E-Sports. What are the fundamental requirements? The pre-requisites and the ingredients one would need if they were looking to pursue a career in E-Sports? Let's try and tackle this with the approach of, where do I start, when I don't know where to begin. 

Firstly I need to explain a term called SimRacing. Sim racing or racing simulation are the collective terms for racing game software that attempts to accurately simulate auto racing, complete with real-world variables such as fuel usage, damage, tire wear and grip, and suspension settings. 

With that in mind, let's talk about the Rig that offers the best SimRacing performance. 

The Rig

If you can find space for the DOF Reality H3 in your home you can go some way to clawing back that advantage, with this motion rig designed specifically to work with modern PC racing simulations. You'll need to buy and fit your own bucket seat, but believe it or not, a shade under two grand is affordable for a technology that until recently cost more than most actual racing cars.

If you're looking to get one all singing and dancing that comes with all the equipment you'll need, already incorporated, then take a look at the simulation from Aston Martin x Darren Turner. They’ve partnered with Curv Racing Simulators to create the AMR-C01 racing simulator, offering the ultimate in luxury E-sports experiences. Featuring a fully immersive driving experience for the home user. This comes in at a cool ‘from’ £57,000 so I'm assuming if you're entertaining this, then budget is no problem. See more info on this and the comment threads on the Aston Martin Instagram post here. 

The Non-Optional Extras

If you don't happen to have the budget for an all in one simulator you'll need to piecemeal the simulator together yourself. That means buying the steering wheel, the pedals and the necessary monitors. All this providing you have the PlayStation 4 Pro already in place. 

If you are an Xbox person then why not opt for a racing steering wheel such as the Fanatec's DD1. This is the first direct drive wheel that's compatible not just with PC, but with Xbox and PlayStation as well. Direct drive means more responsive force feedback, buckets of torque and no feeling of slack in the system. 

To complete the set you can opt for some Fanatec V3 Pedals. These pedals will enable you to feel the tires locking and slipping: Vibration motors are installed on the throttle and brake pedals. 

For the monitors I have been recommended either a single G9 Odyssey for just F1. Or a triple monitor setup for other simulations. One of the key elements for racing monitors is the response time. The G9 Odyssey comes with blazing fast 1ms (GTG) response time and 240Hz refresh rate for smooth gameplay. 

The set up listed is fairly bare bones without the bells and whistles. Depending on whether you're looking to get the set up just to impress your friends, or you're actually serious about pursuing a career in E-Sports. You'll find a trend for e-racing gamers to insist on having neon lights all over the place. This provides an unwelcome distraction in my eyes. 

I'm London based and want to join a community

After you've put the practice hours in and you're ready to take it up a notch, you can join fellow e-race enthusiasts at places like Veloce in Fulham. Veloce is an organisation operating in gaming and racing. Their gaming outfit runs multiple pro-esports teams while establishing the largest racing media network—their racing teams compete in the Extreme E series as well as the W Series. 

Credits

I need to thank Durkchocolate on Instagram for helping me with this post. And Top Gear for also providing some of the early inspiration with their insights into e-racing here.