>>1916882
cod and valorant are subsidized by the developers, franchise models with guaranteed revenue for orgs with no risk of missing a major or anything, and my understanding is that they're STILL dying. valorant looked like it was thriving in na because riot games pretended they were hosting auditions for franchise partners, and every org under the sun paid a fortune out of pocket to get picked (if you scroll through https://www.vlr.gg/rankings/north-america/120/vct-stage-1-qualifiers there's like 100+ real orgs trying their luck), and when riot finally picked the teams, everyone puled out and the t2 scene died
the fortnite esports winner, bugha, was 16 when he won, kids definitely do grind games after school when they have no responsibilities, they never do it full time as neets. regardless, the "peak" of fortnite was kids watching ninja play random pub games. I think the same is true of apex, it's streamers and not esports-first like cs
there is no money in competitive play, there is only money in streaming to an audience and being good and/or entertaining, so they will consistently pay you money. being a pro is a gamble on suddenly getting picked up and paid, from 0 to $10k/mo or whatever. being a streamer is a tangible visible and gradual slope to being able to quit your job, and you can do it after work for a couple hours a day