The number of jobs in esports continues to grow at an encouraging rate, according to new data posted by esports jobs website Hitmarker.
The total number of full-time employed esports jobs grew 118% from 3,821 in 2018 to 8,330 last year.
And the number of freelance jobs in esports rose 110.64% year-on-year from 404 to 851.
The amount of hiring companies also increased 17% from 1,184 in 2018 to 1,386 last year.
The UK is the third most-popular location for esports jobs posted on the Hitmarker site, with 677 posted last year. This is in comparison to 6,215 posted in the US and 1,682 remotely. Bear in mind, Hitmarker is a UK-based site and may not be fully reflective of esports jobs around the world.
There are further detailed breakdowns in Hitmarker’s 2019 Esports Jobs Report, which looks at almost 17,000 English language job postings listed on the site over the past two years.
Richard Huggan, Hitmarker MD, said: “This report is a world-first in that it is a comprehensive comparison of esports jobs data from two full calendar years.
“It remains very evident that the esports industry continues to grow apace, with the standout headline from the report being that the [total] number of esports jobs [posted on Hitmarker] grew by an enormous 87% from 5,896 in 2018 to 11,027 in 2019.”
Hitmarker estimates there could be more than 22,500 jobs posted in 2020, with 20,000 of them paid jobs.
While the growth looks encouraging, it is worth noting that esports is still in its relative infancy on the grand scheme of things, and can still be a volatile industry. Last year, most of ESL UK’s staff were made redundant following ESL’s global restructuring plans.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
