THE roar of fans sweeps through a packed arena as out of the shadows come two teams ready for a tense showdown that will put both mind and body to the test.
At stake is a $1million prize pot and international glory playing some of the biggest video games on the market, including first-person shooter challenge Call Of Duty.
Over the weekend, more than 50,000 people were set to pour into Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre to attend the DreamHack e-sports festival, dubbed the “Glastonbury of gaming”.
Even the Army marched on the giant arena, hoping to recruit some nimble-fingered quick thinkers to join the Forces.
With the industry worth a staggering £77.3billion globally, such events can be a serious money-spinner for Gen-Zers talented enough to battle it out in high-stakes multiplayer competitions.
Hardcore fans, amateur enthusiasts and serious pros gathered from around the world for the very first UK DreamHack, which featured appearances from stars such as I’m A Celebrity winner and YouTuber Angry Ginge, as well as social media collective Sidemen.
Then there were the cosplayers — who spend hours dressing up as their favourite characters from video games, movies and TV shows.
If there was a time to show off their hard work, this was it — not to mention the £8,000 prize pool on offer to those brave enough to take part in the catwalk showdown.
But the real stars of the show did not have time to get on stage for fan meet-and-greets — because as the world’s top gamers, they were too focused on play.
Across all three days of the festival, competitions have been held for the likes of Call of Duty, Formula 1 and Halo.
Crowds watched from inside the arena as thousands more tuned in worldwide. And this is no humble affair for hobbyists.
These teams are battling for a chunk of some serious prize money — in this case, $100,000 for the weekend’s Halo competition, or $365,000 for just one Call of Duty showdown.
But the biggest prize of $1,000,000 — and the competition which has taken over an entire arena — is ESL One, a three-day, 16-team knockout tournament playing Dota 2, in which players battle to destroy their enemies’ base.
Among the contenders was Matthew Walker, 23, from Exeter in the South West.
Pass him in the street and you might think he looks like any other young guy of his age. But Matthew, whose online nickname is Ari, is perhaps one of Britain’s greatest-ever e-sports pros.
He is part of team Tundra, which counts footballer Virgil van Dijk as a shareholder and ambassador.
Matthew had been gaming all his life, but it wasn’t until the age of 11 that he started to rise up the global leaderboards. At 15, he was offered a professional contract and wanted to drop out of school — but stayed on and finished his A-levels.
He told the Sun: “Once I hit 18, my mum gave me the chance to take one year off and try and make it pro. If I failed, I’d have to go to university. But I succeeded.”
At first, he was just happy to be playing games for a living, but by the time he was 20, the possibility of serious money became a reality.
Matthew is modest about his earnings, but gaming websites online approximate his total career winnings so far at around $410,050.
“My family like to remind me how strange a situation it is, and to stay grounded and grateful,” he said. But the games buff added: “Even though we earn a lot, we don’t really use it.
“We’re still just playing the game every day, and I invest most of what I earn.”
Like any other sportsperson, Matthew must give his sport round-the-clock dedication.
“You do this every day, all day,” he said. “On some days, the expectation is that you’re practising ten plus hours a day, minimum. There are some weeks or days off, but if you want to be the best at something, you have to put your life into it.”
It’s not just the practice that’s exhausting, as the world of pro gaming is an international affair.
On Matthew’s team alone, including the coach, six nationalities are represented. They visit some 10 global destinations a year, with his favourite being China. Watching Dota 2 as a non-gamer is not easy.
To this clueless outsider, it resembled a baffling mix of chess, capture-the-flag and a Lord of the Rings-style battle.
But Matthew is proud that both his mum and grandparents watch every one of his games. “They’re learning how it works at an alarming rate,” he said with a laugh.
The need for pro players to train with an athlete’s mindset is seconded by Dave Martin, in Birmingham to represent the British Esports Federation.
“The top pros are taking in vast data, training hard, exercising, looking at their diet and nutrition,” he said.
“All become really important to get peak performance on game day, and I tell every seven or eight-year-old who plays video games that if they want to play professionally, think like an athlete from the outset.”
Staff Sergeant Ashley Wilding, 36, said many of the players’ skills would be a huge asset to the Army for tasks including “drone flying”, its “huge cybersecurity division” plus “teamwork and coordination”.
Modern-day gamers, it would seem, are made of tough stuff.
