BY
Poong Qi Tao

Hype Deputy Editor

Hype Issue #59

Published on

August 21, 2024

Playing video games is a good way to de-stress and take a short break from reality. However, for some, it is more than just leisure. Some take their passion and transform it into their career. Meet Ezra Long, 20, a Year 2 Ngee Ann Polytechnic student pursuing a diploma in Tourism & Resort Management.

Ezra playing in The Campus Legends tournament in 2023. Photo courtesy of Ezra.

Where it all began

As an avid gamer from a young age, gaming runs through Ezra’s blood. He recalls his first memories of playing video games on his Playstation Portable (PSP), before transitioning to console games on his Xbox, and finally to PC gaming. 

He started playing PC games at the tender age of 13. From there, Ezra played the popular tactical first-person shooter game, CSGO (rebranded to CS2 in 2023), for around 5 years straight. In 2020, he transitioned to playing Valorant, another first-person shooter game, which hit sky-rocket popularity even before its release. 

In his first year of playing Valorant, Ezra would play the game casually together with his friends. 2022 was when things started to take a turn.

Turning Passion into Purpose

“I started getting into more competitive gaming back in 2022 during my second year in ITE, when I finally got a bit of free time to follow my hobbies and compete for fun,” he said. Fast forward 2 years, the 20-year-old gamer has played in over 10 different competitions and 4 teams. 

He says the first 2 teams were formed with his friends to simply have fun playing together. Together with his friends in Explorers (the second team), Ezra represented Ngee Ann Polytechnic in the 2023 Campus Legends tournament and emerged victorious. They won another competition later that year.

Ezra (far right) with team Explorers. They emerged champions in the 2023 SAFRA Yishun Esports Fiesta Tournament. Photo courtesy of Ezra.

In his third team, which was semi-professional, Ezra served as a substitute player for only one tournament. It was that tournament, which earned Ezra a contract as a full-time professional player in his current team, Elevate, a North-American-based e-sports organisation.

“Initially in Explorers, we tried to participate in that tournament but we lost quite early into the tournament,” he said.  

“So there was this situation where this team needed a substitute and they were already trying to qualify for the playoffs. One of the main players had an issue with his PC, so they needed a sub and approached me.”

Ezra helped the team to win all four of the games he stepped in to assist with. 

Although he did not continue playing in the playoffs as the main players wanted to play together, this incident gave Ezra the opportunity to show the quality of a player he is to people in the gaming scene. Seeing the potential in him, Elevate approached Ezra for his service.

Team Elevate tournament match banner featuring Ezra (centre), who goes by the username “PUDJ” in-game. Photo courtesy of Ezra.

The Struggle for Balance

While we can appreciate all of Ezra’s achievements, we cannot forget that he is a student too. Balancing this e-sports career of his and school is another hard feat to achieve.

From Monday to Friday, Ezra’s team will adjust to his school schedule to train. Occasionally, there is training on weekends too. Each practice session lasts between 3-4 hours, which includes scrim matches with teams from other Asian countries. After practice, Ezra will start doing his school work. 

“Because I have to do school work, [over] the last few months, I’ve [only] been sleeping 4 hours every day,” he said. Sleep isn’t the only thing e-sports has deprived Ezra of, but exercise too. 

“I haven’t exercised in the last two months,” he mused. “It really sucks, because from the moment I wake up, throughout the whole day, I have something to do. I don’t have free time.” Ezra describes it as a “relentless cycle of work”. 

Despite his hectic and tiring schedule, Ezra’s cumulative GPA currently sits comfortably at a high score of 3.94, showing that he does not let gaming affect his grades.

Ezra (in picture) playing Valorant. His parents fully support his venture into the e-sports industry. Photo courtesy of Ezra.

The Human Side of Competition

One thing Ezra dislikes is the arguments that happen occasionally within the team, which he calls “blame games”. He says it is a very terrible feeling when he comes back from school tired, hops onto a gruelling 4-hour long practice just to get scolded.

This became too “overwhelming” for Ezra when he was training for the most recent competition he played in. Ezra states this as the “biggest setback” in his e-sports career to date.

“This happened in the last week of the very big games, the semi- and quarter finals,” he said. “I wanted to quit the team mid-tournament because of feeling overwhelmed with having way too many commitments of school assignments and practising for the tournament.”

Fortunately, his girlfriend’s moral support was enough to ensure he did not give up. 

“My girlfriend told me it’s just one more week, like you didn’t practise for two months, Monday to Friday, everyday, just to end it on the last week,” he said. With her encouragement to press-on till the end, Ezra went on to finish the tournament and his team came in third.

“Everyone in the team wants to win right? So, sometimes words can be said that really hurt but you can’t do anything about it, you know?” Ezra explained. “At the end of the  day, you need to do what you need to do to win.”

Ezra (standing) in jubilation after winning the 2023 Campus Legends tournament. Moments of adrenaline and winning games continuously motivate him to compete at the highest level. Photo taken from @campuslegends.sg on Instagram.

Looking Ahead: Aspirations & Advice

Regarding his future, although Ezra understands the certain aspects which make e-sports an unstable job, he wishes to continue his passion and play Valorant competitively as a full-time career. If he is unable to do so, he has another plan in mind.

“If I cannot play Valorent competitively, which is under Riot Games, then I would just work for Riot Games,” he said. “So I can at least still be a part of the [e-sports] scene.”

Finally, Ezra wishes to share some advice to youth like him who want to pursue a career in this field. He strongly feels that “the right mentality” is a must-have quality to succeed. 

“I think it’s all about mentality, whether you want to sit there on the computer and rot away, or commit to it,” he said. Another quality is “placing trust” in yourself. 

“If you think you’re gonna do well, just go for it. Maybe you’re scared now, but there’s no harm in chasing something you like to do,” Ezra said. “Maybe in the moment you might lose or whatnot, but at least you’re doing something that you enjoy.”

“Just go and try. If you don’t, you won’t know.”