With the boom of streaming platforms such as Twitch and Mixer, the video game industry is at an all time high, and a recent study illustrated how the eSports sector is experiencing a boom as well.
According to a study by Hitmarker Jobs, job opportunities with the esports industry have grown 185.74% during the first six months of 2019.
The company uses data from more than 7,000 esports jobs.
The study showed that the number of paid jobs in esports increased 210.7% from 1,912 to 4,028, while paid opportunities also saw an increase of 10.21%, which demonstrated a jump from 76.64% to 86.85% of the overall total.
The United States, in particular, has seen impressive numbers as the number of esports careers in the country rose from 1,147 (45.95%) in the first half of 2018 to 2,586 (55.76%) in the first half of 2019.
California dominates the United States job market, with a 61.10% share of all United States-based jobs, which is a slight dip from 63.81% in 2018 (2.71%).
The report indicates that Washington is in second with just 7.66% of the share (down 0.99% on 2018) and New York in third with 5.92% (down 1.43% on 2018).
The report also indicates a spike in the percentage of 25-year-old to 34-year-old’s seeking a job in the esports industry, with a spike from 44.52% to 52.45%, which tops the 18-24 age bracket (36.77%).
“It’s incredibly exciting to see so many jobs opening up in esports globally, giving more and more people the opportunity to turn their passion into a career,” HitmarkerJobs.com managing director Rich Huggan said in a statement.
“We’re grateful to be able to play our part in this by providing job seekers with a definitive list of esports jobs, and employers with talented staff. The numbers in our infographic show incredible growth in 12 short months, though there is still work to be done in addressing the gender-split of job seekers and in seeing the number of unpaid roles continue to decrease. HitmarkerJobs.com will strive to be at the helm of this change as we aim to professionalize the hiring space in both esports and gaming.”
Now, one can easily draw a correlation between the improved popularity of Twitch streamers, Mixer streamers, DLive streams, Caffeine streams, YouTube streams, and when it launches, Stadia streams, play in the increased boom of the esports industry.
With more platforms airing content from esports teams, and more prominent Twitch channels associating themselves with esports teams, more exposure is generating at a faster rate.
Furthermore, with an uptick in female streamers, and the mixing of cosplayers within the industry as well, it can be assumed that even more people are being exposed to the esports industry.