HOW TO EARN MONE

What sets top gaming pros apart isn't just slick gameplay, but the way they connect with audiences

- BY LAKSHANA N. PALAT Assistant Features Editor

Do what you love is often dismissed as impractical advice. Passion doesn't pay rent, and enthusiasm alone doesn't build a career. Yet, across the UAE's fast-growing gaming ecosystem, a new generation is quietly proving that gaming can become a viable profession, if it is approached with patience, structure, and rigorous discipline.

Gaming careers here are not built on overnight virality. It takes years of consistency. Strategy. Determination. Blood sweat and tears, and the many understandings that gaming, at scale, is both creative work and business.

Our conversations with star gamers such as Bachar Alkayal and Mohammed Mohammed have helped us compile this guiding list.

PASSION IS THE ENTRY POINT, CONSISTENCY IS THE BARRIER

Most professional gaming journeys do not begin with a plan to monetise. They begin with genuine obsession. Long before sponsorships and payouts enter the picture, gaming exists purely as play, learning mechanics, helping others improve, sharing tips, and talking endlessly about games.

This early phase is crucial. Talent might grab attention for a moment, but it's consistency that makes or breaks a gaming career. Regular uploads, dependable streams, and showing up even when engagement is low are what separate future pros from those who fade away.

In gaming, effort compounds slowly, and is almost invisible. But it's there.

THE YEARS WHEN GAMING PAYS NOTHING

For many creators, the longest phase of their career is the unpaid one.

Content creation often stretches across years without financial returns. Early uploads are driven by curiosity and enjoyment rather than strategy. There are no roadmaps, no clear metrics of success, and no guarantees that an audience will ever form.