Pakistani teen gamer in US to compete for more than $6 million
July 31, 2015
According to a report in the foreign media, Sumail started playing the free multiplayer online game Dota 2 as a 7-year-old. “In the spring of 2014, after a decade of visa problems, the Hassan family moved out of its spacious house in Karachi, Pakistan, to an apartment in Rosemont, a suburb of Chicago near O’Hare International Airport. They were a family of eight, two parents and six kids, jammed into a three-bedroom space. Money was tight and work unsteady; for most of them, the move was a struggle. But their son, Sumail, was thrilled—being in the US meant less lag time when he played Dota 2.”
Set in a mythical world of ogres, magicians, and “faerie” dragons, two teams of five Heroes start on opposite corners of a square map scattered with forests and lava trenches and battle to take over the opposing team’s base. The one and only goal is to secure the opposing team’s Ancient—a fountain with rejuvenating power—before it gets yours.
“For a few select players, there’s more real-world money to be made at Dota 2 than any other game of its kind. The best of the best play at professional tournaments where teams compete for millions of dollars in prize money, and the most popular players can make around $1,000 just by streaming a game directly to their fans.”
The report goes on to say that after a few months in the US, Sumail qualified to play in a North American in-house league (a sort of off-season competition for professional players). “This was his shot, and it didn’t take long for him to get noticed. After Sumail slayed wave after wave of Enchantresses, Centaurs, and Zombies, Charlie Yang, a 26-year-old Dota 2 player-turned-manager, flew to Chicago from San Francisco to visit Sumail’s family.”
“Yang said he managed Evil Geniuses, the highest-earning Dota 2 team in North America. The team would pay for Sumail to fly around the world for training and tournaments. He would earn a small stipend—less than $4,000 a month—but the real money would come from tournaments. After a 10 percent cut for the owners, prize money would be split among the team’s five players. The previous year’s prize pool at the International, the game’s biggest tournament, held annually in August, was more than $10 million.”
A few weeks later, in February, Sumail and his teammates flew to Shanghai for the Dota 2 Asian Championships, with a prize for the winning team of $1.2 million. Evil Geniuses was the third seed but, with Sumail’s help, it made it to the finals.
“Sumail’s payday after one month as a professional gamer, and just before his 16th birthday, was $200,000. By mid-August, he could be a millionaire.”
