A major league gamer: Former engineering student focuses on successful video game career

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By Kevin Erpenbeck

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Many kids play video games as a hobby, picking up a controller in their younger years and continuing to play them as they grow older.

For 21-year old ex-UK student Aaron Elam, video games have become a way of life, earning him over $200,000 and a full-time job as a competitive gamer.

The former UK chemical engineering student competed in a free-for-all Halo 4 tournament in September 2013 in Seattle. Over 100 players were invited to compete, with the semifinals and finals matches played in a one-on-one format. The champion of the tournament was named the Halo 4 Global Champion and rewarded with a $200,000 grand prize.

After three days of competing, Elam became that champion.

A year removed from the tournament, Elam said he has done what any college kid would do with $200,000 in extra cash — pay off old student loans, share some with his family, invest nearly $50,000 and save the rest.

“The first thing I decided what to do with the $200,000 was not to throw it away really quickly,” Elam said. “I didn’t want to buy anything crazy like a nice car, because that’s just a money pit. Insurance goes way up, and it’ll just constantly suck more money out of you. That’s not for me.”

Elam decided not to register for his senior year at UK in August because he wants to commit 100 percent of his time and effort to preparing for future tournaments that may come with the release of Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Nov. 11.

“I want to focus on persuing whatever I have with gaming,” Elam said. “I tried to balance out school and gaming during my first few years at UK, but it was just impossible to focus on any one particular thing, especially with my degree. I just want to do this one thing and not have to worry about skipping classes or missing tests for different tournaments.”

Elam said he started playing video games at age four, beginning with the Sega Genesis and Nintendo 64 consoles. Elam spent many hours with his two older brothers, developing his love for the virtual gaming world.

But in 2001, Microsoft released its Xbox gaming console, along with its signature game, Halo: Combat Evolved, and his love for video games became a passion.

“Me and my brothers got an Xbox for Christmas, and we immediately fell in love with Halo,” Elam said. “We played split-screen (matches) with each other all the time.”

In the early stages of online gaming, Halo players like Elam and his brothers were limited to playing against each other using the same Xbox console. It was not until the game’s sequel, Halo 2, came out that online play began to take off.

“When we heard about Halo 2 coming out, we got really excited,” Elam said. “So we got Xbox Live (account) and started playing online. We got pretty good.”

Elam, or as he is more widely known online, Lx Ace xl, continued to play Halo 2 with his older brothers while they attended high school. But in 2005, Elam and his brother Kyle were introduced to the Major League Gaming organization. From then, Elam knew his hobby had become a lifestyle.

“Halo has taken up probably 50 percent of my life, if not more,” Elam said.

All the time dedicated to playing and competing in MLG-hosted Halo 2 tournaments translated when Elam officially became an MLG pro-level player when Halo 3 came out in 2007. He has since competed on a 16-player team in several Halo tournaments.

Elam said he now plays an average of eight to ten hours per day when practicing for any upcoming tournaments. For anyone else who wants to pursue gaming as a career, Elam advised them to commit a similar amount of time per day, if not more.

“Gaming is more than a 40-hour-a-week full-time job,” Elam said. “It’s more than just practicing so many hours a day for tournaments. It’s reviewing film of your matches, talking with your team and strategizing with them, stressing about being good enough to stay on a team … It’s a lot of work. It’s basically been my life since sixth grade.”

What once started out as a childhood hobby for Elam has now become a part of him. He said it has not only made him richer in his bank account, but also rich in life lessons.

“Competing in the gaming community has benefitted my life greatly,” Elam said. “I’ve learned how to communicate with people and work together towards a common goal, just like any other career teaches you in the real world.”