Remember the time when your parents told you to put down the video game and do your home work because you’ll never get rich playing video games? Well the time seems to be changing. Not only can you make a living playing video games but after an up coming episode of 60 minutes, parents all over the country might be telling their kids to forget the homework and practice their gaming skills.
60 Minutes, the CBS News Magazine, will air a feature segment in January 2006 (previously scheduled for December 11, 2005) covering Johnathan “Fatal1ty†Wendel and the international explosion of professional video gaming. Steve Kroft will report the episode, which began filming one year ago at a gaming event in Sweden, and concluded with the Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) World Finals in New York City, with many stops in between.
Johnathan became the world’s first full time professional video gamer in October 1999, when he placed third at the CPL’s Frag3 tournament. Two weeks later he was invited to represent the USA in an international tournament in Stockholm, where he went undefeated with a perfect performance, winning all 18 maps and losing none. He has continued to dominate competitions all over the world, competing in 6 continents during his 6-year professional career.
Winning the 2005 CPL World Tour Finals in New York City secured his fifth world title – accomplished while competing in 5 different games – an unprecedented achievement and bringing his winnings for 2005 to $231,000.
Who said you can’t make money playing video games?