So, you’ve been sitting home Twitch streaming CS:GO at the Intel Extreme Masters – Season XIV, and you think to yourself.
“I strat call for my team. I know Mirage like the back of my hand, I air strafe like I’m inside the freakin matrix. I should be getting paid cash for this — it’s basically my job already.”
Well, we got the inside dope from Abrams Artist Agent, Amber Howard on how to get signed to an Esports label. And it starts with the three B’s: Branding, branding branding.
When we asked Ms. Howard what she was looking for in Esports talent, she replied,
“We’re looking for personalities, looking for crossover — [will you have a] life after Esports?”
Could you double in broadcasting, as an event or arena host? Do you have an acting, speaking, voiceover skillset? Have you taken an improv class or two? Reading between the lines of Amber’s comment, we’ll take her meaning to be that agencies are looking a bit beyond maxing out your CS:GO profile ranking and getting your Global General badge. It’s already assumed that you’ve got all of the technical skills needed to compete on an international level. These agencies want someone with a pulse — someone with an electric personality that you’d want to buy a blender from if they released their own protein drink on Instagram. They want something they can sell.
Along those lines, this is 2019 — so these agents are also keen on diversity. To quote Ms. Howard,
“I’m into a female gamer who’s a mom, whose a streamer whose kicking ass in first person shooters.”
So, if you have an unusual demographic background as a gamer, use that to your advantage. If you’re a mom who plays CS:Go during naptime, wonderful. If not, pull a Liz Warren and drum up some Cherokee ancestry, or something.
To bring this idea home, Ms. Howard talks about the potential side action off the right client:
“Is there a toy line we can create? [Let’s] find that versatile talent.”
Are you a role model of some kind? Are you a veteran? Many CS:GO players are. What’s the aspect of your life that other people can relate to (other than your exquisite addiction to FPS games.) Like everything else in this day and age — you are your own personal brand. Even when part of your personal brand is being a completely untouchable virtual killing machine. So, take a break from the murder grind and go learn some Feng Shui tips.
Amber made these comments on the Digital LA Esports Expands panel hosted in Culver City at Phase Two.
For more on getting into the video game business, see our piece on ways to monetize your Twitch stream.
