How much do Professional Gamers earn in a year? I’m sure that a lot of Pinoys have dreams of being pro-gamers and I think some are actually making a lot of money in the local betting circuits of Warcraft 3: DOTA. I remember seeing a couple of Ateneans bet around PHP 10,000 in one match against another team who visited their shop in Katipunan. In South Korea, professional gamers earn money from the various tournaments sponsored by the game publishers and product endorsements. Meet the Korean gamer that brought home US $130,000 after the jump.
Picture via Ironic Gamer
Meet Jang Jae Ho. Born on December 14, 1986, he became a professional Warcraft III gamer for the “Meet Your Makers” team. He’s a five-time world champion and has won three televised national South Korean tournament leagues. He’s a Night Elf player and has never lost a televised game against an Orc player.
So how does Jang Jae Ho earn moolah? Apparently there’s a salary for gamers in South Korea if you’re part of a solid team. His team, Meet Your Makers, reportedly paid him a monthly salary of US $9,000. That’s roughly a monthly Pinoy salary of 400,000 pesos. After that, he also pockets thousands of dollars from the various tournaments he wins all throughout the year.
Maybe someday the gaming scene in the Philippines will be just as profitable in South Korea (hehe).
I’ll be posting on the updates we have lined up for Philippine Ragnarok Online this coming maintenance later this afternoon. I’m just waiting for the GM Team to confirm some of the promotions we’re suppossed to run. ‘Till then, cheers!
Click here to read my Weight loss System which let me get rid of 50 lbs. in 5 months!
Zechs on January 8, 2008
Yeap he earns a lot at his peak. they spend most of their day practicing and perfecting the strategy but then he must look for another job in the near future. Since you cant really rely on computer games for your future sooner or later he will be replaced by a more skillful player
Wauks on January 8, 2008
@Zechs, You definitely can rely on games but it’s different if you know how to invest that money. That’s a problem these days even in the Philippines. We have to be money smart.
raGe_2k7 on January 8, 2008
OT: wauks,, wer na po yng second email namin
Doppelganger on January 8, 2008
I know that guy…..I’ve seen his matches for the past two years. He was once defeated by another Korean player who uses the Undead during the tournament. I believe the name was ” GoStop ” though I’m not sure what team he was into. Mr. Wauks already posted this kind of thread before and he’s right for one thing. Investing money on video games would require the knowledge to know where and when to invest it. If you think video games are a bad investment just ask the owners of every successful computer shops around Metro Manila. Perhaps their story could enlighten our thoughts on video gaming.
Zechs on January 8, 2008
hmm what im trying to say here is being a professional gamer is not a long term job which can support your family. its like sport where on certain age your body will not function like they used to and you must give way to younger and more talented player.
yeap proper investment of money will sure lead to a better place. If a person have a big amount of money and surely we will have the urge to spend it. I know that kind of experience x.x the Koreans view the computer gaming industry like a sports already where you have camps to train your player, professional instructor to train them, sponsor to budget them and also all girls fanclubs to uhhh cheer them. too bad we dont have that kind of support here.
raGe_2k7 on January 8, 2008
mukhang unggoY yng lalaki, //heh
pickey on January 8, 2008
aw adek lng yan hmm siguro master nya lng tlga yung laro hehe dito asa p may magsasahod ng gnun kalaki para lng kumita ng team
saizenKAEL on January 8, 2008
maglaro nga ng RO yan wahahaha..patunayan nya wakerkekek
shagojyo on January 8, 2008
Sir Wauks pa OT:
Natanggap ko na po ung first email mo Sir Wauks para dun sa complete information ko para pag send sa prize pero di ko pa natatanggap ang email para dun sa instructions kung papano ko maclaclaim ang prize ko. Thanks.
joel on January 8, 2008
OT: nabasa ko sa wikipedia :heh: There are allegations that Level up! has bad customer service, especially in Philippines. It was also reported once on both Philippines and Brazil servers where Game Masters are caught bullying newbies and abusing their given power, resulting in the reduction of powers of Game Masters.
mg: share q lng..
joel on January 8, 2008
btw.. magkaiba yung 1st sentence dun sa 2nd.. it was ALSO reported..
mg:
joel on January 8, 2008
i mean prng kinonclude lng ng 2nd ung 1st.. bsta unn wa :pif: :heh: :e4:
dolcolax on January 8, 2008
Zech ur right!
and i dont really agree much on wauks.. coz computer gaming is only temporary.. soon, as that person ages, he will get slower and weaker
shagojyo on January 8, 2008
Joel, bibigyan kita ng isang example about sa sinasabi mo. Sa Chaos to nangyari.
GM may event ata dun sa poring land kung san may Angeling at Ghostring (la pa deviling nun). Tapos nag World Chat ung isang GM ng ganito.
GM blahblah: Hi sa mga Untouchables. ASA pa kau sa Steel Wolves.
GM blahblah: We are sorry for what GM blahblah (the the GM who said “HI”) has said.
After that nag pub ako ng “GM may favoritism waaa”. Tapos nun nakakita ako Angeling at nag drop siya ng Angel Wing.
Kure on January 9, 2008
kung ganyan ba naman kalaki ang kita mo. i dont think you have to worry about your future if your saving your money. imagine 400k php a month. di mon man cguro mauubos yan sa isang buwan.
anlaki nun ah. in one year pde ka makabuo nang maraming business.
Wartel on January 9, 2008
@Doppelganger
Take Note
“Night Elf player and has never lost a televised game against an Orc player.”
sa Orc Player lang, kaya sa Undead cguro tama ung isnasabi mo po, pati sa human *peace*
Wartel on January 9, 2008
@Kure
tama ka ka kuya, tapos ung pag lalaro nya sponsored pa.
mukhang hindi pa malakas kumain yan =) *aba walang bisyo* haha
Sphaggy on January 9, 2008
Well,
Retirement age for gamers sa Korea is around 20 years old?
so dream on kids
Sphaggy on January 9, 2008
and to think, disadvantaged naman talaga yung armor ng orc against the piercing ranged attacks ng NE… <_<
so understandable na yata yun na di xa tlga matatalo if marunong xang mag exploit ng advantages ng NE over Orc..
JohnTucker on January 9, 2008
Isa lang ang masasabi ko…
“allyourbasearebelongtous”
Nirvelli on January 10, 2008
professional gamers makes a lot depending on the position
When i was in Sony Online the game testers have ameager salary but since they do a LOT of Overtime the OT pay shocks the salary up high.
Then theres the perks, free items, free passes.
I was one time testing a feature for MLB ( Major league baseball) we got passes to the Baseball games and in some rare cases, meet the payers ( our developers do character simulations of the actual baseball players)
Im not sure how it is in countries like Korea/Japan but since theres a higher technological BOOM and its the honey pot of MMORPG Im sure they get the better peice of the cake
Zechs on January 11, 2008
@kure
yes its stable for 400k per month if you are winning straight, no vices, single, no bills to pay and no family to support. but for how long will you stay in that place? we saw something like this in the past like previous Filipino boxers who earn more than 10million dollars per fight. but what happened to them after their downfall? one of them is even an OFW in the US. if you just calculate the total cost of our tuition fee from pre-school to college it will sometimes cost more than 1 million pesos. not to mention to include the monthly bills of electricity, gas, water, phone, internet and cable subscription. but if you are money wise that saving can go on for a long long time and the possibility of retiring at 20’s could be a reality
Ed on April 2, 2009
wow MAS malaki pa nga yan kesya sa sweldo ng mga basketball players satin ahehe