How to Become a Professional Esports Player: The Path and the Rules
How to become a professional esports player: master one game, rise through grassroots events and rankings, join a team and meet official entry rules.
To become a professional esports player, you master a game, prove yourself in amateur and grassroots tournaments or by climbing that game’s rankings, and catch the attention of a team that signs you. That is the route the British Esports Federation, the UK’s national esports federation, describes. Along the way you must also meet official entry rules, including a minimum age of 16 in the rulebooks cited here, use of your own account, and clean records on conduct and doping.
The Path to the Pro Level
Practise and join a local team
The British Esports Federation advises would-be pros to practise and, to start with, look for a local team to play in. The federation also notes that different games call for different skills, so a top player in one title will not always succeed in another. Teams prepare through scrims, which the federation’s glossary defines as practice matches between two teams ahead of a fixture.
Rise through grassroots events and rankings
According to the federation, many pro gamers first compete in grassroots or amateur events, or climb high in a game’s rankings, and only then draw interest from bigger teams. Its glossary calls grassroots events the foundation level of esports, where most players begin and from which the best move up. Within a game, the ranking ladder works as a leaderboard on which players climb or drop.
Get signed by a team
The federation explains that pros are usually signed to one team and enter various tournaments to win prize money. It also stresses that, as with professional footballers, only a small share of players reach that elite level. Playing at lower levels can still bring useful experience and contacts.
Know what the job involves
Once signed, a player must work well with teammates, the manager, coaches and analysts, and may have to travel to competitions. The federation adds that players may also take part in sponsor activities, interviews and fan events while behaving professionally and meeting their contract terms. It advises reading any contract carefully, getting legal advice where possible and thinking hard before signing one that has no clear salary.
Prepare for long hours and look after yourself
The federation warns that new players are often surprised by how long professional practice sessions run. It urges players to look after their health between practice and matches, and to stay fit and avoid burnout. It also highlights patience and respect for others as part of building a career.
Meet the Age Rules
An IESF regional qualifier rulebook for a shooter requires every participant to be at least 16, and one publisher’s official competition rulebook sets the same minimum. Under that publisher rulebook, a player who is 16 or over but below the age of majority may compete only with a parent or guardian’s written consent. Under one set of IESF world championship regulations, delegation members under 18 must travel with a responsible adult.
Club Teams and National Teams
Club teams
In the publisher rulebook, each team registers its roster before a competition. A player cannot be signed to two teams at once, rosters may change only during set transfer periods, and a team may borrow at most one player per season.
National teams
At IESF world championships, national federations select their own teams through a reasonable process, judging rankings and past results or holding a national qualifier, which the IESF strongly recommends. Every national team player must be a citizen of the country they represent. The IESF qualifier rulebook describes national teams as “Open for All”, formed from a nation’s citizens regardless of gender, race or disability.
Use Your Own Account and Approved Equipment
- In an IESF world championship rulebook for a mobile MOBA, players need a valid account free of official bans and must play on their personal account; using someone else’s leads to the team’s disqualification.
- In the IESF shooter qualifier rulebook, every player must run the platform’s anti-cheat program during online matches.
- The publisher rulebook allows only handheld phones, bans emulators and requires approval for any peripheral device.
Keep a Clean Conduct Record
The IESF Code of Conduct asks every competitor to show good sportsmanship, stay within the rules and give full effort in every match, never losing on purpose. It bans cheating software, hardware changes, abuse of bugs and any attempt to fix a result. Penalties in IESF rulebooks climb from caution to warning, forfeiture and expulsion, and in the IESF shooter qualifier rulebook, a player caught cheating is disqualified at once and barred from tournaments for at least two years.
Follow the Anti-Doping Rules
The IESF follows the World Anti-Doping Code, and any athlete at its events may be tested. Each athlete must check medicines and supplements against the WADA Prohibited List and apply early for a Therapeutic Use Exemption if a banned medicine is medically necessary.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do most professional esports players start?
The British Esports Federation says pro gamers often start in grassroots or amateur tournaments, or by reaching high rankings in a game, before bigger teams take notice.
How old do you have to be to play esports professionally?
In the official rulebooks cited here, the minimum age is 16. Players below the age of majority may also need a parent or guardian’s consent.
Can I represent my country in esports?
Yes, through your national federation. Under IESF world championship regulations, federations select national teams through a reasonable process, and every player must be a citizen of the country they represent.
