This article is written in partnership with ExpressVPN.
Almost every gamer has thought about being a professional player at some point, but only a few of them are able to make a career out of it.
One of the reasons behind this is that not everyone is able to invest the amount of grind and hours needed to become an esports pro. In a survey conducted by ExpressVPN, Mayline-Joy “Astra” Champliaud, a member of Ninjas in Pyjamas’ female CS:GO team, revealed that “professionals generally have 6,000 hours of play time behind them.”
This may seem like an easy number to achieve for youngsters, but the study also revealed a shocking truth. Only five percent of the gamers belonging to the 16 to 25 age group actually spend 16 to 24 hours each week gaming, while only three percent spend more than 24 hours.
This percentage tends to increase with age. Six percent of the respondents in the 26 to 35 age group spend more than 24 hours per week gaming, and the percentage increases drastically from nine percent to 18 percent for the 36 to 45 age group to the 46 to 55 age group.
This shows that millennials can be more dedicated to gaming than Gen Z, which completely flips the image of an average gamer that many people might have in mind.