The Gaming Industry

 

Vocabulary

prize	compete	opponent
hack	relatively	tournament
obscure	scene (2)	champion
win	sponsor	millionaire
globe	endorse	commercial
worth	gear (2)	merchandise
fan (2)	round (2)	specialize
wish	anymore	get to the point
refit	perform	up to the job
average	realistic	flexibility
CEO	customer	opponent
console	estimate	attractive (2)
field (2)	pushover	depend on
boom	revenue	side benefit
benefit

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Video

 
 
 
 

Transcript

Four-hundred moves a minute.

Professional gamer, Dario Wunsch, is one of Germany’s top players. Wunsch and his opponents all game professionally, and are competing for $50,000 in prize money, here at the Dream Hack in Leipzig, a popular computer game tournament.

Dario Wunsch, Professional Gamer: “I’m in a relatively obscure scene: Star Craft II isn’t the most popular game. But when it comes to Dota II for example, there was $17 million in prize money at the last world championships.

The winners became millionaires.”

Gaming has become big business. The tournaments fill entire halls with fans. One in two Germans plays video games, whether on PCs, consoles or smartphones.

Globally, the industry is worth an estimated $100 billion with expensive gear, merchandising and ever more realistic games that can only be played on high-performance computers.

Manufacturer Schenker Technologies specializes in the field.

Robert Schenker, CEO, Schenker Techologies: “More and more players will get to the point where they realize that their old computer isn’t technically up to the job anymore.

And they want a new, expensive system because they want the full performance.”

Schenker has seventy employees. It buys computers from big companies like Samsung. Then the computers are refitted according to the customers’ wishes.

They’re selling flexibility and service to the gamers — and they earn good money doing it.

Robert Schenker, CEO, Schenker Techologies: “Customers pay us €1,800 on average. But that isn’t the end of it — we sell some for as much as €8,000.

Then the customers can do anything they need to do with a computer.”

Not all competitors are men.

In this round, Dario Wunsch’s opponent is a woman. And the Canadian is no pushover; she’s one of the world’s top gamers.

Dario is a member of a team. He earns around €4,000 a month gaming. Prize money and sponsors depend on his performance.

Dario Wunsch, Professional Gamer: “If you play well, and in an attractive way, then sponsors are much more interested in having you in their commercials and endorsing their products.

It’s a nice side benefit.”

And the boom in the industry is set to continue.

In Germany alone, revenue doubles every year.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *

Questions

1. Gamers need quick reflexes and reaction times. True or false?

2. Do game champions win T-shirts, coffee cups and baseball caps?

3. Is gaming very popular (in Germany)?

4. Anyone can play any video game on any computer. Is this correct or incorrect? What do players do to solve this? Is it cheap?

5. One-hundred percent of game players are male. Is this right or wrong?

6. Where do the prize money and gamers’ income come from? Why do big companies sponsor them?

7. Has the gaming industry changed over the years? What has been the trend? What will happen in the future?

 
 

A. My friends and I love playing computer games. Yes or no? What are some favorite games?

B. Are video games very popular? Who plays video games, and who isn’t interested?

C. There are many computer shops and video game stores in your town or city? Are they very busy?

D. Would you or your friends like to be a professional gamer, designer or developer?

E. What will happen in the future?

F. There are both positive and negative aspects of the gaming industry. Do you agree?