Being a serious gamer requires, above all else, time. If you want to excel at anything, you need to put in the time and effort to improve your abilities. The lure of being a professional gamer is attractive to some people, but you don’t see the work involved in getting to that level. Take Starcraft 2 for example, which is among the most popular games on the market today. The top-level players who play this game for a living play up to 18 hours a day. The same game all the time, every single day. So you’ll want to keep this in mind if you want to contemplate a career move.

If you just want to be a better gamer, it is probably best to define what genre or game you want to improve in. No amount of strategy guides and videos will replace the experience and skill you will gain with time and repetition. The process of becoming a serious gamer will likely label you among your peers as being a gamer. While playing video games is much more of a social norm than it was a decade ago, the stigmas of being a gamer still cling to those that enjoy the hobby to an extreme level. So pick you game, block off some time, and game on!