A professional video gamer from Iowa named Nick Overton, also known as ImMarksman, manages to make $500,000 per year playing video games like Fortnite.
Fortnite is easily one of the most popular games in the world right now, and as a result, many people have been able to make a significant living from playing the game. This includes 27 year old Nick Overton, a professional gamer who has managed to turn playing Fortnite into a legitimate career that pulls in about $500,000 for him per year.
Overton runs the YouTube channel ImMarksman, which has nearly 1 million subscribers, and he also streams live on Twitch. Overton has also worked directly with Twitch in other capacities, and even started his own streaming service called Streamup. Currently, Overton focuses almost exclusively on content creation, mainly playing Fortnite and making YouTube videos about the popular battle royale game. This venture combined with his eSports participation has helped Overton make $500,000 per year, which is 97 percent more than other people who live in Iowa.
Of course, Overton puts in a significant amount of work to make this much money. He wakes up at 3am every Thursday to create a new video detailing the latest Fortnite patch, which he credits with getting his channel more recognition. Most of his day appears to be dedicated to playing Fortnite and creating content about the game, so he has to invest a serious amount of time to make the kind of money he is currently earning.
Overton’s dedication to video games started at an early age. At the age of six, he was playing Nintendo 64 with titles like Pokemon Stadium and Super Mario 64, and eventually got an Xbox, only for his parents to sell his console and games because he wasn’t focused on school enough. Overton didn’t play video games for two years, but when he turned 14 and was able to secure a part-time job at a grocery store, he saved up the money to buy an Xbox 360.
Overton rediscovered his passion for gaming, but took it a step further. Primarily playing online multiplayer shooters, he studied his matches and tried to figure out ways he could improve. Overton invested huge chunks of time to games, reportedly playing the first two Halo games for a total of 6,000 hours. The time commitment and his analytic approach to gaming helped him develop the skills that he still uses as a professional gamer today.
Overton making about $500,000 per year from playing video games and creating video content about them is nothing to scoff at, but he could eventually find himself making even more. After all, fellow Twitch streamer Ninja makes $500,000 per month from playing Fortnite, so if Overton is able to grow his audience, he could very well one day find himself on the same level.
Fortnite is out now in early access for iOS, Android, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
