Do 40K 'professionals' exist?

[Denzark]

I was looking at an article on BoK about entry costs to a fictional upper-middle class WASP kid, and how he could get all the trimmings etc. It also mentioned how he could consider 'professional' tournament training.

That got me thinking, are there genuine 40K professionals out there? People who make a living solely from playing 40K?

OK, let me clarify:

I don't mean GW staff especially designers, BL authors etc.
I don't mean FLGS.
I don't mean Website owners such as Bigred - technically any money made (not saying this is a living either) is from advertising not 40K.

I do mean:

People who live solely on tournament winnings OR some other method where their sole income is linked to the playing of 40K.

To some extent, I would be surprised if any of the pro-painters, either the Ebay crappy ones or genuine good studios, make their sole living from painting.

is there anybody arrogant enough to offer 40K tournament coaching? I'll offer you for free: Spam Cron Air with GK allies as per any one of half a dozen internet cookie lists, go first and have lucky dice. I have potentially saved young Tim Nicebut-Dim a pretty penny.

Your thoughts appreciated.

[Sonikgav]

Well considering to my knowledge there are no prize money tournaments out there (at least not major) then id say no. This is not League of Legends or some other 'Vidya game' tournament setup.

From what i can tell the only ones who do make money are the painters.

[Power Klawz]

If by professional you mean "parentally subsidized housing" types probably. You can probably win some kind of money somewhere for playing 40k... I guess. It certainly wouldn't be enough to live any sort of life off of however, more like enough to fund your hobby if you're really good/lucky/unscrupulous.

[Wolfshade]

I do not know. I know of people who purport to be professional painters, but obviously I haven't seen their accounts to verify.

I do not think that there are enough tournaments to be one. The tournaments would need to be independent as the official GW does not offer it so it would be the indy scene and these seem to be mostly prizes rather than money, though obviously, then you would need to deduct the entry fee and hotel and transport costs.

[Psychosplodge]

The lack of tournaments with major prize money would suggest not.

[zenjah]

I don't mean Website owners such as Bigred - technically any money made (not saying this is a living either) is from advertising not 40K.

I'd point out that many professional players of various games and sports are essentially earning their money from "advertising" as well.

[jifel]

Definitely no. I've reached the point where my hobby is mostly self funded by RTTs, if I win I buy something if not I plan a better list. But to have ones entire income? No way. 40k isnt close to popular enough to run adds based off players and all tourneys Ive been to go with prizes not cash.

[SotonShades]

Before working for 'Eavy Metal, I know Joe Tomaszewski made a living painting miniatures. Admittedly he was able to paint up a model in just under an hour and put it on ebay for around £80. Even taking into account costs of the models, paints and glues, he was still making around £60 an hour... Given that the current UK mimimum wage is about 1/10th of that...
Now, Joe is an exceptional painter, and obviously now does make his living painting, working for GW (so no longer counts for the purpose of the original question) but I can't imagine he is the only person in the world who would be able to do that.

Living just off tournament winnings? I find that harder to believe is possible. I did see one tournament offering something like $150. One, once in the year. Even assuming you could go to and win that tournament ever week of the year... I wouldn't fancy trying to live off that wage, even though it'd be tax free. And that assumes they are all in the local area and you don't have to pay entry.

[DrLove42]

Even if there were professional tournies its too unpredictable to really make moeny off

Things like LoL, Starcraft or MLG things it is just your skill. ON the 40K tabletop it does come down to luck. You could be the best player, but if the opponent's first shot of the game wreck your landraider against all odds, or your uber IC fails his 2+ LoS and3++ and dies to shot 1, theres not a lot you can do!

[Mr Mystery]

In reality? No. No such thing.

But in the heads of centre egotistical nutters? I'm sure they do consider themselves 'pro'....

Take the notorious (at least on Dakka) 'Wrecking Crew'. The self appointed and self described 'elite 40k gamers'. What made them 'elite'? It would seem a complete disregard for the rules, the very worst WAAC powergaming attitude, and an ego the size of a small country. They went quiet after they were caught cheating in various tournaments....

[Drunkencorgimaster]

In reality? No. No such thing.

But in the heads of centre egotistical nutters? I'm sure they do consider themselves 'pro'....

Take the notorious (at least on Dakka) 'Wrecking Crew'. The self appointed and self described 'elite 40k gamers'. What made them 'elite'? It would seem a complete disregard for the rules, the very worst WAAC powergaming attitude, and an ego the size of a small country. They went quiet after they were caught cheating in various tournaments....

Interesting. I had not heard of these guys. How long ago was that?

[Chaoschrist]

Like others said; I think the minimal amount of actual tournaments on top of the lack of major prize money doesn't make 40k a viable thing to make a living from.

Recently I heard a "local" gaming store has a tournament going on. And they do so every few months. There is prize money, but considering the amount of prize money, the fee to participate and the limited amount of tournaments in any area, doesn't make it viable. And if you were to go travelling around more, you'd have to take in consideration hotels and travel expenses. Which in most cases will not be covered by, even the perspective of, winning said tournament. I mean...the local store has a 5 bucks fee to participate, and the main prize is what... 25, 30 bucks at most? At that rate, I'd have to play at least a tournament a day and win to cover my expenses as a "pro". Not to mention expenses for armies/paints and so on.

Perhaps it's different in the US. Perhaps there's a bigger playerbase and perhaps it's easier to round up enough people for regular tournaments with enough participants across the pond.

And I'm not to sure about rules and enforcement. Unless we can look at movement and shooting exactly and precise, it's something that's usually done by "this seems the correct distance", it's susceptible to cheating. Being a Magic: the gathering player rules enforcement in big tournaments is quite a big deal in this game, and I don't know how well such enforcement would translate when we're talking 1/10th of an inch, as opposed to "You're not allowed to draw a card right now". Especially when we're dealing in big prize payouts.

[Mr Mystery]

Interesting. I had not heard of these guys. How long ago was that?

Blimey now you're asking! Erm....around 5 years ago?