I earn up to £50k-a-year from my bedroom by playing FIFA on my Playstation
- last year
A 24-year-old man says he is living every young lad's dream after earning up to £50,000 a year by playing FIFA in his bedroom for eight hours a day.
Alex Shaw first became hooked on the hit EA Sports football game when he bought FIFA 12 for his Playstation 2 at the age of 13.
After playing the video game for hours on end and thrashing his friends after school, he began to challenge professional players online.
And when he started to beat the pros on the virtual pitch, Alex was invited to compete in an online football tournament in 2018.
The die-hard Liverpool fan became an official FIFA eSports player that season and has made a staggering £150,000 in the last five years playing online footy.
Alex has travelled around the world, facing the best players on the planet, across America and Europe, representing Leicester City, Fulham and Watford.
Every day, Alex spends up to eight hours playing FIFA on his PlayStation 5 in his bedroom on his £5,000 monitor and controller set up.
He is one of around 40 people in the UK playing FIFA professionally for a living and reckons he is fulfilling every young boy’s fantasy.
Alex, of Quarndon, Derbys.,said: “I think if my 13 or 14-year-old self could see what I do now and what I had achieved they would be amazed.
“It is definitely something I know I will look back on when I’m older and be proud of and young lads are definitely jealous of what I do for a living.
“When I first bought FIFA and played with my friends, I wasn’t very good at all, but over the years and hours of practice I started to get better and began to beat professional players.
“I have played against some of the best players in the world and this is where you really learn how to get better at the game.
“I sadly didn’t get placed in my first tournament in the 2018/19 season but since then have entered lots of other competitions and done quite well and won some good prize money.
“I have also been able to travel the world in my job which I love.
“I love my job but if you are playing for eight hours straight, you need to take a break.
“Even if it’s just five or 10 minutes away from the screen it helps. If you don’t, you start to become a robot and your gaming rhythms whilst playing aren’t as good.
“Despite playing for hours a day, I still have a good social life outside of the game and see my friends a lot.
“My career is also very sociable as I’m always talking to and playing people online.”
Alex, who now plays FIFA as his full-time job, has has qualified for the ePremiere League four out of the five times it has been held.
He has travelled to Atlanta, Hamburg, Milan, Canada, and Bucharest to compete in tournaments which last up to three days and has raked in £15,000 in prize money.
Alex Shaw first became hooked on the hit EA Sports football game when he bought FIFA 12 for his Playstation 2 at the age of 13.
After playing the video game for hours on end and thrashing his friends after school, he began to challenge professional players online.
And when he started to beat the pros on the virtual pitch, Alex was invited to compete in an online football tournament in 2018.
The die-hard Liverpool fan became an official FIFA eSports player that season and has made a staggering £150,000 in the last five years playing online footy.
Alex has travelled around the world, facing the best players on the planet, across America and Europe, representing Leicester City, Fulham and Watford.
Every day, Alex spends up to eight hours playing FIFA on his PlayStation 5 in his bedroom on his £5,000 monitor and controller set up.
He is one of around 40 people in the UK playing FIFA professionally for a living and reckons he is fulfilling every young boy’s fantasy.
Alex, of Quarndon, Derbys.,said: “I think if my 13 or 14-year-old self could see what I do now and what I had achieved they would be amazed.
“It is definitely something I know I will look back on when I’m older and be proud of and young lads are definitely jealous of what I do for a living.
“When I first bought FIFA and played with my friends, I wasn’t very good at all, but over the years and hours of practice I started to get better and began to beat professional players.
“I have played against some of the best players in the world and this is where you really learn how to get better at the game.
“I sadly didn’t get placed in my first tournament in the 2018/19 season but since then have entered lots of other competitions and done quite well and won some good prize money.
“I have also been able to travel the world in my job which I love.
“I love my job but if you are playing for eight hours straight, you need to take a break.
“Even if it’s just five or 10 minutes away from the screen it helps. If you don’t, you start to become a robot and your gaming rhythms whilst playing aren’t as good.
“Despite playing for hours a day, I still have a good social life outside of the game and see my friends a lot.
“My career is also very sociable as I’m always talking to and playing people online.”
Alex, who now plays FIFA as his full-time job, has has qualified for the ePremiere League four out of the five times it has been held.
He has travelled to Atlanta, Hamburg, Milan, Canada, and Bucharest to compete in tournaments which last up to three days and has raked in £15,000 in prize money.