It is one of the most popular video games among young people: “FIFA”. Hundreds of players now take part in the Virtual Bundesliga and compete for prize money of 40,000 euros. MADS talked to e-sports pros Niklas Luginsland and Lena Güldenpfennig about their unusual profession.
Turning a hobby into a profession – many people have this dream. Niklas Luginsland has made it. Niki, as he is called by his fans, is an e-sportsman. A profession that is not exactly familiar to many people, but is becoming more and more popular. Niki’s path shows how one can develop from a relaxed hobby gamer to a professional e-sportsman.
This is NikLugi
German “FIFA” gamer NikLugi, real name Niklas Luginsland, is one of the most famous German e-sportsmen. Currently he is under contract with Leno E-Sports as a player and content creator. He streams on Youtube and Twitch. He has been in a wheelchair since childhood due to a brittle bone disease.
“When I was six years old, I already got my very first ‘FIFA’. It was still ‘FIFA 2002’ back then – a whole different world,” says Niklas. “However, the competitive came very late for me. Nowadays, young people are already really good at the age of 14 or 15 and already participate regularly in tournaments. That wasn’t the case for me.” So how did he make it to one of the best “FIFA” players in Germany? “That came with me only during the Abi time, when I saw: Hey, there are cool tournaments in FIFA, I can join in.”
About tournaments to VfB Stuttgart and 1. FC Heidenheim
Niklas quickly realized that he was “quite good”. He took part in more and more tournaments and was able to win one or two. At some point, contact was made with VfB Stuttgart. An affair of the heart for the VfB fan. After his time with the Swabian e-sports club, Niklas then went on a virtual goal hunt for 1. FC Heidenheim, through whom he is now part of national goalkeeper Bernd Leno’s e-sports team.
To earn enough money from gaming, however, Niklas says you don’t just have to be good in front of the console. “There’s more to it now than just playing ‘FIFA’ and training. This whole social media thing has increased extremely, at least for me. Just before the Corona pandemic started, I started streaming and saw that it was really catching on.” Streaming allows e-sports players to reach significantly more viewers. Accordingly, those who do well on Twitch or YouTube have many more opportunities to become successful in the digital world. That’s how it went for Niklas, too. “This gave me a lot of new opportunities with new partners. I extended my contract with Leno and am not only a player there, but also responsible for the team as a content creator.”
What does an e-sports pro earn?
E-sports players who are under contract with a German organization or club can earn up to 10,000 euros a month. However, this only applies to the very best players in the industry. In principle, salaries vary greatly. In addition to the monthly salary, prize money for tournaments can then be added.
These prize money in the German Virtual Bundesliga (VBL) increased recently. In the competition as it exists today, with single player and club championships, one started in 2018 with a prize pool of 45,000 euros. The sum remained identical until 2020. Since 2021, however, the reward for professional VBL players has more than doubled to a total of 100,000 euros. At the “FIFA” World Cup, a total of even $500,000 is paid out.
But compared to other video games, such as “Fortnite,” even that is still relatively little. At the “Fortnite” World Cup in 2019, individual players and teams of two each played for a total prize money of $15 million.
So what’s it like to make a living as an esports player? In addition to the potential prize money from tournaments, Niklas says revenue from YouTube and Twitch is now important. “But especially the top e-sportsmen focus more on the game itself, rather than having the goal of bringing two Youtube videos a week.”
For Niklas, the focus is not only on “FIFA” tournaments, but also on his life away from the console. “For example, if you go to the stadium and you have a connection to ‘FIFA’, you can also make a cool video out of it, there you can link your job and your free time a bit and upload it as a vlog on Youtube, for example.”
This is the Virtual Bundesliga
26 soccer clubs from the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga are participating in the “FIFA” tournament Virtual Bundesliga (VBL) today. Well-known clubs like FC Schalke 04, SV Werder Bremen and 1. FC Köln are taking part.
When the German Football League (DFL) launched the VBL in cooperation with video game developer EA Sports in 2012, things looked very different. At that time, there was still no sign of any big soccer clubs. It wasn’t until 2015 that VfL Wolfsburg became the first German professional soccer club to decide to compete on the virtual pitch. A year later, one of the most traditional German soccer clubs ventured into the virtual soccer world – FC Schalke 04 founded a “FIFA” team in 2016. In 2018, the DFL decided to have the German championship played out among these clubs. Since November 2020, a DFB e-Cup has been held for this purpose, based on the DFB Cup.
Instead of soccer clubs, the focus is increasingly on e-sports organizations that have already made a name for themselves in other video games. These are structured like independent companies. The problem with these teams is that only clubs that belong to the DFL are allowed to participate in the VBL. Therefore, organizations often cooperate with professional soccer clubs that do not have their own e-sports division. Since 2020, for example, 1st FC Heidenheim has been cooperating with the Leno E-Sports team of namesake and national goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
E-sports: A male-only thing?
Lena Güldenpfennig can easily answer the question about her greatest achievements: “Becoming VBL club champion with my team and being the first woman ever to have played in the VBL.” She has been an e-sports player with RBLZ Gaming, RB Leipzig’s renamed e-sports team, since September 2020 and has already competed professionally in several tournaments. She particularly enjoys the team concept in e-sports: “Sure, it’s not as huge a team as in soccer, but there’s a very good atmosphere in this small team. Even when I had to stay home with Corona and we became VBL club champions with the RBLZ, the guys always gave me a digital lift.”
This is RBLZ_LENA
German FIFA e-sports player Lena “RBLZ_LENA” Güldenpfennig has been gaming professionally in “FIFA” since the very beginning. Since September 2020, the 21-year-old has been under contract with RBLZ Gaming, RB Leipzig’s e-sports team.
She still remembers her beginnings well: “I started gambling in my sports boarding school. But it wasn’t until the pandemic that I had so much time that I was able to improve steadily.” She participated in a DFB tournament and did well enough to be spotted.
“Am I playing against a girl now?”
But the road ahead is not easy. As one of the first women in “FIFA” e-sports, she is exposed to prejudice. “When I play against less professional people,” Lena tells us, “every now and then opponents ask: Am I playing against a girl now? Does this have to be?” On social media, the hostility is even harsher. “If I win online against other players and they find out later that I’m a girl, then you also get nasty messages again and again.” However, the feedback also goes both ways, he said. “But when people compete against me again and then lose again, they also give me encouragement.”
But she has no problems at all at professional events, Lena emphasizes. “I’m completely accepted. The players all treat each other with respect, but the spectators there also like to ask for autographs.” That’s the case, she says, because everyone can put themselves in each other’s shoes. “First, everyone knows how much work goes into it, and second, the men also know how much hate you get on the net.”
The 21-year-old is happy to be laying a foundation for the female e-sports community. “For some female e-sports players who have just joined in the last few years now, I’ve been able to be a bit of a role model that way,” Lena says proudly. She wants to encourage other young women not to hide: “Don’t give up if things don’t work out. There are enough videos and streams to learn with. The chance to show yourself at tournaments is always there, because there are enough of them.”
Education, RB Leipzig and e-sports tournaments.
To be able to participate in such online or offline tournaments in Germany and around the world, Lena has enough to do. Besides training to be an educator and playing soccer for RB Leipzig’s U23 team, she sits down at the console for a few hours every day. But when the new “FIFA”, which is released every year in September, or important tournaments are coming up, she invests even more time in e-sports. “Before tournaments, I sit at the console for whole afternoons to practice. With a new game, it’s eight to nine hours a day for e-sports players. You have to learn the game from scratch,” says Lena.
Moreover, there is more to e-sports than just gaming. Lena is also on several social networks. “You get involved in a lot of things. You stream, which results in videos for YouTube. You have photo opportunities and every now and then you’re in commercials.” Lena knows that all the hustle and bustle can also end quickly. “It’s a bit like in soccer. If you deliver your performance, then you get a new contract. But if you don’t perform, then the contract won’t be renewed. But there are enough clubs all over Germany at the moment, so you can find a new club quickly.”
With the many professional clubs that have entered e-sports, she sees the great potential confirmed. “E-sports is already broadcast on TV today, and it’s going to get bigger.” As a goal for next – Season , she would like to see more entries in the VBL. After all, “The longer I train with my teammates, the better I get. Hopefully, that will add a few more games.”
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