Ocoee High graduate becomes professional Halo 5 player

OCOEE  There’s a saying: “Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.”

And for recent Ocoee High graduate Tom Wilson, that statement rings especially true right now: He’s been able to turn his love for the Halo video games into a job.

Wilson — better known in the gaming community by his gamertag, Saiyan — became a pro Halo 5 gamer for professional esports video game organization Luminosity Gaming in February. But the 18-year-old’s history with the game goes back several years.

“My big brother got me into it,” Wilson said. “I started playing when I was 4, playing the first Halo with him. Now we’re up to Halo 5, but he was always a big gamer and he got me into it. I’ve always been a fan of Halo but didn’t start getting into competitive play until a year ago.”

GOING PRO

Although he’s played the game for years, he started getting serious about it in summer 2016, during his search for a job. The market for summer jobs was tough, so he decided to spend his free time getting better at the game. The key is to play often — and play well.

“A lot of it just comes to playing a lot, and people recognize the talent,” he said. “I was in the amateur tier when I first started playing and then was playing a lot of online multiplayer. People start to notice if you’re consisting playing well online. That brings attention to you.” 

Wilson moved from the amateur to the pro ranks in February after consistently playing well enough to be picked up by Luminosity. Currently, he is under a yearlong contract with the company and plays the game with his teammates, occasionally  traveling for large-scale competitions.

“They have many different teams in other games as well, so they make money off having teams placing well,” he said. “They receive a percentage of what we earn. They’re organizations we play under and represent. It’s a job because I make money as a salary.”

He also earns money from the competitions. The weekend of Oct. 20, he traveled to Denver for one, coming back with $2,500.

Many gamers will watch livestreams of the players they admire to figure out how they play and learn from them. Players can study each other and look for qualities they want to implement for themselves. The game requires a wealth of mental skill, as well as good dexterity to move around the controllers.

“Halo usually takes a bit more skill in the way of how hard it is to kill someone in the game,” he said. “There’s more strategy there, and it’s much more team oriented. There’s a lot of focus on individual skill, but the best kind of gameplay and teams are going to be those that work together.”

BALANCING ACT

It’s also a commitment of both time and funds. Good setups cost money, and getting better at the game doesn’t happen overnight. Wilson practices a minimum of three hours per day, while balancing classes at the University of Central Florida, where he is studying chemistry.

“I pretty much am among the top players of this game, so I’m constantly practicing,” he said. “It’s my job. … We do have set scrimmages against other teams, because it’s not just myself, it’s me and three other players (on my team). Being a professional Halo player means being among the top eight teams in the world.”

Playing on a team requires constant discussion and placing trust and confidence in teammates. Wilson and his teammates will often use an in-game replay feature to pinpoint mistakes made or figure out how to improve gameplay.

During his senior year of high school, he said, balancing his professional gaming with college-level classes was even tougher than it is now. He dual-enrolled his junior and senior years and took Advanced Placement classes, completing six college-level courses each year.

Now, he’s taking four at UCF and doesn’t have to be on campus every day, which opens up time for gaming. But as fun as it is to go professional in the world of Halo, he said, putting school aside is not an option.

“Currently, I just want to keep playing as long as I can while also managing school,” he said. “I can just manage my hours throughout the day — If I need to be up earlier and do schoolwork later, I can manage it either way.”