By Heather Collins
Sophomore Chris Moe claims he is the best eSports athlete at Carmel High School, and he has the record to prove it.
Last month, Moe won the Mad City GG Counter Strike Global Offensive Tournament in Chicago. His team, Fragging for Ike, won $3,000 for taking the top spot in the tournament that was streamed live on Twitch to 5,000 viewers.
eSports, which stands for electronic sports, is a team-based video-gaming competition. Genres include first-person shooter, real-time strategy fighting and multiplayer online battle arena. Moe, 15, focuses his gaming efforts on Counter Strike Global Offensive, a first-person shooter game on a computer-based platform, under the screen name CMX on steampowered.com.
Professional eSport players can earn a living salary participating in live broadcast competitions. Moe decided to pursue eSports professionally in 2013 after viewing a Major League Gaming tournament with a $1 million prize pool. Moe said he logs roughly 90 hours of game play every two weeks.
He said his parents support his career choice and encourage him to pursue his dreams. He wants to travel the world participating in eSports tournaments and invite his parents to join him in eSports competitions in locations like Sweden.
“I’ve always had a passion for the game,” Moe said. “I’ve found my niche, and this is what I want to do. This is my passion, my ambition.”
A professional eSports player can make a living participating in tournaments, living in a team house and traveling the world, much like a professional athlete. Moe said the average age of a professional eSports player is 20, with 30 being the oldest. His backup plan is to pursue an engineering degree from Purdue University.
