Confessions of a Caster — Part 2: What would I do as a new CS Caster?
I’ve had people ask me on how to become a CS caster or what I would do as a new CS caster. So I figured that I’d write this article to…
Confessions of a Caster — Part 2: Location, Location, Location
I’ve had people ask me on how to become a CS caster or what I would do as a new CS caster. So I figured that I’d write this series to help new and aspiring casters out.
And this part is to really highlight how much your location plays a factor. For example, if you’re in Australia, if you’re not in Sydney then you’re already at a handicap.
FIND OUT WHERE YOUR ESPORT IS POPULAR AND MOVE THERE!
Let’s take CS2 as an example. CS2 is extremely popular in Europen with secondary areas such as Asia and North America. As a English caster, I would move to Europe/NA or be in a American/European timezone. Why? NA and Europe are Mechas of English Broadcasts. Asia could be great for you as well but the demand for an English Broadcast is a lot less.
Australia is a very small pond in relation to esports broadcasts with very few casters even working full-time as a caster or even earning money for it to be a full-time career.
In Europe and NA, there are a lot of tournament organisers who are looking for casters. A lot of these tournaments are easily Tier 2 and Tier 3 especially in Europe.
A lot of theses casts often involve you being set up with a duo or a pool of casters or even casting it by yourself. Either way, you will be meeting a lot of people along the way.
You may have a load of competition in relation to casters but there is always a surplus of work. You are also more likely to be able to go to LANs or be talent at LANs.
Compare that to Australia where you get almost no LANs and your only real online league is ESL and your only real TO outside of it is LPL. And not to mention that Australia’s entire talent system is to select 10–12 people to cast all of the esports to sustain the scene.
Attending LANs is very important especially with networking and making connections as people who are admins, observers or running LANs all know each other. It is a small world. They can essentially get you into most places.
And who hires the most? Europe followed by North America. So yes, if you are in North America — you can still be successful. If you’re not in either of those areas then you might have to move to make it. Tournament Organisers aren’t going to pay you to fly over from wherever unless you’re unbelievably good. Trust me, I’ve offered and they’ve still declined.
Why should you move?
Using my experience in CS, SPUNJ, a top tier Australian colour caster lives in Malta. LucyLuce, an Australian Play by Play Caster lives in England.
Look at this talent roster from ESL Pro League Season 19 for CS
The only odd one out is Michael Campagna (MC) who lives in Australia. Every single person on this list is either in Europe or North America.
This is the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 for CS
The only odd one out is Bleh who lives in India (which is pretty close to Europe though). The other two who casted the RMRs were Mac and TeaTime. They are both from Australia and Pakistan respectfully.
We can also go through the various tier 2 and tier 3 tournaments and ignoring the exceptions which was ESL Challenger Melbourne. A large amount of the casters were from Europe or North America.
If you want to make it full time — you are going to have to move to Europe or North America. You may point out the exceptions such as Mac, Bleh or Teatime. However, you are unlikely to be the exception. You are more likely going to be a part of the norm.
It is a rare occurence that you are able to stay in a country like Australia if you want to make it as English Talent. The only person who does is MC because he does a lot more than observing for ESL. You often see the results of his work with the HUD.
The Benefits of the Move to Europe/NA for CS2 Casting
In Europe — you’ll be on the same time zone and also it is easier to travel to whether you need to work especially if you live in the European Union.
The longest flight within Europe is 3 hours which means that you can easily fly-in to attend a LAN and then return home the next day.
You also have access to Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 events at any time who are looking for casters. I’m not even in Europe and I’m still being approached by T2-T3 tournaments because they do not have enough casters.
Being an Euro-centric timezone will help you out considerably as you could potentially cast all these games.
Not to mention that if some of these tournament operators try to avoid paying talent. The talent will talk amongst each other and you’ll know which TOs don’t pay.
And you don’t have to worry about it either because there are many other TOs that do pay and you walk straight to them.
You’ll also have a lot of European Orgs that will straight up pay you to cast on their channel. There is also large amounts of ESL National Leagues still running as well.
For North America, you do have Fragadelphia, a more rewarding cash cup and plenty of Tier 2 events and challengers during the year. You also get an IEM in the form of IEM Dallas.
You also have a lot of orgs that want casters to cast their ESL Challengers League and Advanced games which they do pay for. There is also the opportunity to particpate in South American tournaments as well.
The Downsides of Moving
There are a lot of downsides of moving especially if your family is quite far away. You may develop being homesick and being unable to be back with your family for significant events.
Examples include such as visiting a relative before they pass, your niece/nephew being born or being unable to catch up with friends.
This was highlighted in particular by Sjokz in 2021 and 2023 when both her grandmother and mother both passed away. Sjokz went on stream to essentially vent what she was going through.
It was an incredibly tough watch as Sjokz felt incredibly bad that she wasn’t there for them and she wanted to be with them more. It was so raw and emotional.
It just highlights that you will miss significant moments with your family and you’ll not have the ability to visit your family at your own choosing.
Another downside is getting the Work Permit/VISA situation. Some countries have Esports VISAs which are a bit easier to navigate but other countries do not. You may find yourself being charged and filling out lots of paperwork and you’re not even guaranteed income.
Once you get your work permit, the next part is ensuring you get paid enough to live, pay rent and what not. Esports is notoriously bad at this where you may receive payment weeks (if you’re lucky), months or even years down the track. There are tournaments where talent STILL hasn’t been paid and it has been years.
Sometimes, you will have to work underpaid roles just to put food on the table. Essentially, when you’re unfamiliar with the country and don’t have the support systems in place. You might just wear yourself out.
You can already see the mental stress and fortitude that moving location can bring. If you’re already in a career such as being an accountant and what not. It might be an incredibly risky to venture from a place where you will be paid a certain amount to a place of uncertanity on your payment and even your job prospects.
You may notice that a lot of these are parts of the esports casting job in general. However, being a person who has travelled over to live magnifies it greatly.
It is the main reason why casters are VERY thankful when they make it because they have gone through all these downsides. I have seen very few talent either glamourise their career in making it into casting.
Becoming an esport talent in particular at the start was a great sacrifice for your own passion at the risk of your own mental and financial stability.
That’s why when you even consider moving to make esports your career, you must really question yourself. Are you willing to sacrifice emotional and financial stability to have an opportunity to make it as talent?
Be honest with yourself in regards to this as it’ll have a large impact on your life for the long-term. It could be a lasting impact whether it is positive or negative. I encourage everyone to follow their passion and give it their all but never fall into the traps of delusions of granduer.
Moving is something to take incredibly seriously and whether you believe that you’re ready to make it your full-time career. I wish good luck to everybody trying to make it in this industry. It can be incredibly trying and difficult.