By: James Thomas

Gaming has always been competitive, but as of late it has become something bigger than ever: an e-sport.

People game for different reasons: stress relief, entertainment, competition, or just fun. In more recent years gaming has come out of its shell, and has become a profession for some people. Gaming also recently gained the title of e-sport (short for electronic sport).

“Gaming has always been just as competitive as any sport, I think its kind of lame that it just now earned its place as an e-sport,” said senior Noah Boone.

“People don’t take professional gamers seriously, and that’s why it has always been a joke to have the title of professional gamer,” Boone said. “They think that gaming is just a joke, but in reality you can make a lot of money from it.”

People don’t just make money from playing the games themselves, but activities like YouTube and streaming are very large sources of income for professional gamers.

Gaming is becoming less of a joke day by day, and viewership for gaming streams has been soaring in the tens of thousands. People tune into streams of people playing video games, and the pro gamer gets paid for showing ads, and the money that they make from ads funds their travel to competitions, and gaming equipment

“Going pro is hard for anyone, but with enough practice I think anyone can,” Boone said.

Boone is not a pro gamer, but says eventually he wants to be. His game of choice is Call of Duty.