As the E-sports industry reaches a critical mass across the globe and millions of people take up competitive gaming as a living, HANNAH RODGER takes a look at why Scotland is lagging behind when it comes to embracing the growing phenomenon, and meets the people determined to make the country home to the next generation of E-Sports megastars.

WHEN young people dream of earning a fortune doing what they love, most people imagine they hope to become footballers, actors or musicians.

Kids spending hours every week kicking a ball outside, or playing a guitar isn't unusual.

But parents are still uneasy about their children spending hours on the computer, playing fighting games or even watching others playing half way across the world.

In Scotland, people in the gaming industry, now known as E-Sports, say the stereotype that games are bad and unhealthy is what holds the country back from producing some of the best gaming stars in the world.

A growing phenomenon, E-sports is now worth more than $1bn worldwide, with some of the top players making in excess of $3m a year from tournaments alone.

Games that most people haven't heard of, for example battle games DOTA2 and League of Legends, see thousands flock to giant stadiums all over the world to watch teams play.

And the players themselves are treated like royalty, with hoards of screaming fans desperate to get a glimpse of their idols, kitted out in logo-covered sports jerseys, sitting behind a computer screen.

When it comes to game development, Scotland is already firmly on the map thanks to Rock Star North producing mega hits such as Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, among others.

But despite its triumphs, only a handful of professional players have ever come from Scotland, with the UK E-Sports industry dominated by players from south of the Border.

Those involved in the industry here say they are disappointed by the lack of support and a basic understanding of E-Sports, which has seen players in China, Korea, Germany and the USA win millions and gain thousands of fans worldwide.

Simply put, E-sports is competitive computer gaming, with games like League of Legends, DOTA2, Super Smash Brothers and Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO) topping the league tables as the most popular in the world.

Some of the top contests have had prize pots of more than $25m, with sponsors including Intel, Coca Cola, Red Bull, Audi and even Airbus.

However Scotland, according to experts, is lagging behind in embracing professional competitive gaming, with barely any sponsors coming forward or funding being put in to the industry.

Those determined to make it a success work tirelessly in between their full-time jobs, helping fledgling players train, travel to contests and improve their skills.

“Our players should be getting recognised in the street, but they’re not.” explained Brian Houston, operations manager at E-Sports Scotland.

“There are grass roots and semi-professional teams, and there’s a tiny gap between them but between semi-professional and professional there are miles between those stages. We’re trying to bridge that gap in Scotland.

“The grassroots scene in Scotland is a mess. They don’t have support, or funding. We lose a lot of talent because of it.

“In Scotland, lots of people don’t have time to focus on their e-sports, they have jobs or they are at university and are studying. In England the professional scene is getting better but in Scotland we don’t have one really, there’s not enough funding available.”

In the last few years, more venues are springing dedicated to gaming and streaming some of the biggest matches from around the globe. They also act as a place for people to meet, train and form new teams.

Summoner’s Bar in Glasgow, for example, opened just before Christmas and is kitted out with 32 high spec gaming PCs.

They regularly screen live tournaments, with hundreds flocking to the small downstairs venue to support their favourite teams.

“Five years ago, places like this just wouldn’t have existed” explained Kilmarnock resident Louise Simson, owner of semi-professional team Team penguin Overlords (TPO).

Louise, 30, wasn’t always a fan of E-sports and gaming, and admitted: “I used to think gamers were lazy and didn’t do anything, like that typical stereotype a lot of people seem to believe.

“The I lost my mobility completely, and my perspective changed.”

Louise had suffered problems with her feet from a young age, and eventually had to undergo three major operations. Her recovery time after each one was six months, and she ended up losing her job as a child protection worker due to her illness.

She said: “ I was really depressed. I was in a really bad state, I lost everything I had worked towards. I used to be in to swimming and cycling, I did a lot for charity but I couldn’t do that any more.

“My partner Craig suggested I try World of Warcraft. I was sitting at home with a stookie on and my feet up, and I discovered the gaming community.

“Five years before I was the type of person who thought that gaming people were lazy, and had that view on it, until I started playing.

“I saw how nice people were, the way they support each other. I had to respect them for the amount of time they put in to the game, they knew it inside out and worked hard at improving themselves and becoming the best.

“I realised there was a lot more to this than meets the eye.

“Craig started his CSGO team four years ago, and we went from there. We built a social media page, started recruiting players. We went round tournaments that were being played at the time too, like talent scouts.

“Now, we travel to tournaments and compete and we’ve had success, but in order for me to be able to v get my teams as full time E-Sports players I would need investors. I would need funding to be able to give them a salary and be able to train.”

Craig, 27, said he had played games from a young age but gave them up as he got older to focus on family, friends and work.

“I’ve just become a dad for the first time, and its been hard to find a balance between E-sports and being a dad but I’m getting there.

“When I was younger I used to play CSGO, but I left it behind to focus on socialising and jobs. When I came back to gaming, I realised that everything we used to do years ago was on a much bigger scale. Games were being played by millions of people across the world, being streamed in stadiums. I wanted to be a part of that community, and for it to be recognised as something more official now its a big thing. There has never been a massive scene in Scotland, so we want to change that.”

TPO’s youngest member Andrew Allan, from Clydebank, is just 15 and is the only member of the team, his fellow players say, with a chance of being picked up by internationally-renowned squads abroad.

Despite wanting to stay in Scotland, Andrew said he knows to achieve his goals he will probably have to move elsewhere, due to the lack of support for professionals at home.

“I’ve been playing for about four years” Andrew explained.

“My parents are really supportive, which is important. I think there’s still this idea that playing computer games is dangerous or unhealthy, but it’s like anything else. You just have to balance it with other hobbies. It’s not seen as something geeky or nerdy to do anymore either, like it maybe was 10 or 15 years ago. I have quite a few friends who play and we play together, so it’s a sociable thing. We’re not all sitting at home in our bedrooms not talking to anyone, it’s the exact opposite.

“I do have to train and practice a lot but I know it’s important if I want to become professional.”

Fellow team mate John McKenna, 32, a gym instructor from Coatbridge, knows what it is like to be a professional, as he used to earn a chunk of his monthly wages from gaming before the industry really took off.

In 2012, he played professionally in a previous version of CSGO, and earned between £400 and £800 a month in tournaments.

However almost overnight, his dreams were shattered when the game updated and players deserted it in droves.

He explained: “I was sent to international events abroad, had hotels paid for and travel and things. Back then the salary wasn’t as good now, these days people get paid up to £10,000 a month. I was getting a few hundred pounds, but it was money to do something I really enjoyed. We would win tournaments that had prize money of £15,000, split between five people. When they updated the game everyone stopped playing it, and they branched out to play other things. It happened almost instantly.”

The constantly-evolving nature of the industry and the ever-changing games and updates, John argues, is one of the challenges of making it as a professional. It not only requires time, but money to invest on the games themselves.

His team mate Kyle Stevenson, 26, from Barrhead, said one of the things holding E-Sports back in the UK is the misconception that it’s a hobby for single people, not played as part of a team.

The law graduate and product manager said: “People think its angry men sitting at home shouting at the computer. If you look at the Scandinavian countries, for example, it’s much more sociably acceptable and something that people do as a group, with friends.

“For me, I started playing with my friends in an internet cafe near where we stayed. The owner was really into one particular game so he had put it on all the computers and me and my pals would go and play after school.

“ I enjoy the competitive side of it, as well as developing a strategy with team mates. It’s always been a very sociable thing for me, and I think people don’t fully understand how that can be the case. Even if you do play at home, you’re still talking to other people.”

Landscaper David Henderson completes the five-strong TPO line-up, and said got into E-Sports after an injury as a teenager stopped him playing football.

The 29-year-old from Edinburgh said: “I loved being part of a team and I really missed it when I got injured. I like being part of that team again, putting in the practice. When I was younger, I was quite sheltered about telling people I played games, but now I don’t care that people know. I think there is a slight stigma still, people think I sit at home and play by myself. It’s completely wrong, I have more of a social life through gaming than I would have had before, and I’ve met so many people through it.