Just For Fun? No, Serious Video Game Players Seek Fame and Money 电竞玩家为名利而战

文/彼得·罗 译/刘小娟 审订/马士奎 By Peter Rowe

Just For Fun? No, Serious Video Game Players Seek Fame and Money 电竞玩家为名利而战

文/彼得·罗 译/刘小娟 审订/马士奎 By Peter Rowe

Fan Yang is a member of the five-person squad Cloud 9,which hopes to emerge as “Heroes of the Storm” world champions at BlizzCon1美国电子游戏品牌暴雪娱乐每年举办的年度盛事。in Anaheim.杨帆（音）是五人电竞战队Cloud 9中的一员，这支战队希望在美国加州安纳海姆暴雪嘉年华“风暴英雄”世界锦标赛中夺冠。

从故乡中国来美国时，杨帆还是一个小男孩，之后，他仿佛驶上了实现美国梦的快车道。他熟练掌握了英语，学业表现出色，以A+的平均成绩从拉霍亚高中毕业，后又拿到了加州大学伯克利分校的经济学学位。

[2]现年23岁的杨帆是旧金山一名数据分析师。

[3]不过，目前的工作对他来说只算副业。他说：“其余时间我都投入到电子游戏中。”

Arriving in the United States from his native China as a young boy,Fan Yang appeared to be on the fast track to realizing the American dream.He mastered English and excelled in school. After rolling through La Jolla High with an A-plus average, he earned an economics degree at UC Berkeley.

[2] At 23, he’s now a data research analyst in San Francisco.

[3] But his job is only a part-time sideline. “The rest of my time,” he said, “I’m doing the whole video game thing.”

[4] Yang is a professional video game player. Next weekend, he’ll lead the top-ranked American team to BlizzCon,a two-day competition in Anaheim. His five-person squad, Cloud 9, hopes to emerge as “Heroes of the Storm” world champs, triumphing on an online battlefield crammed with monsters, wizards,assassins and fireballs.

[5] If you think this is a bizarre career path, you’re not alone. Just ask Yang’s parents.

[6] “They definitely are having a lot of trouble understanding what I’m doing,” Yang said. “They want me to get a good job.”

[7] Yet the best pro gamers make more money than some recent college graduates. Forbes reported that the winners of video gaming tournaments in 2012 reaped more than $30 million.

[4]杨帆是一名职业电竞玩家。下周末，他将带领美国顶尖的电竞战队赴安纳海姆参加为期两天的暴雪嘉年华电竞赛。他带领的Cloud 9战队由五人组成，他们期待能在此次暴雪嘉年华“风暴英雄”世锦赛上夺冠，在这个充斥着怪兽、巫师、刺客和火球的虚拟战场上成为赢家。

[5]如果你认为这条职业道路不同寻常，那么，与你持相同观点的大有人在。问问杨帆的父母就知道了。

[6]杨帆说：“我父母很难理解我在做什么，他们想让我找一份好工作。”

[7]然而，顶级电竞玩家的收入比一些刚刚走出大学校门的人要高。《福布斯》杂志公布，2012年电竞比赛获胜者的收入超过3000万美元。

[8]据“电竞收益”网站统计，截至2015年，赢家已将4950万美元奖金收入囊中，其中两名美国玩家萨阿希尔·阿罗拉和彼得·戴奇均得到190万美元。此次暴雪嘉年华将通过比赛决出四款电竞游戏的世界冠军，奖金共125万美金。其中50万将归“风暴英雄”参赛选手所有，冠军队的奖金为20万，由5名成员分摊。

[8] The “e-Sports Earnings” website maintains that there has been $49.5 million in purses in 2015, with two Americans, Saahil Arora and Peter Dager, each winning $1.9 million. At BlizzCon, where matches will determine the world champions in four dif-ferent video games, the prize money is$1.25 million. Of that, $500,000 will go to “Heroes of the Storm” competitors,with the five people on the first-place team dividing $200,000.

[9] “We are competing for fame and money,” Yang said.

[10] Crude video games first appeared in the 1950s. But as technology improved, the games emerged as a popular pastime in the ’70s and ’80s, buoyed by the likes of “Pac-Man” and “Space Invaders.” With the rise of personal computers, the games have come home.

[11] As Internet connections gained speed and reliability, it became possible to compete with others in distant locations, including other countries.

[12] As an industry, video gaming is not kid stuff, with annual revenue of $22 billion. The players, too, are maturing.Of the 150 million American players,the average age is 35. Most are guys,but the gender gap is narrowing.

[13] Females now account for 44% of all gamers. In fact, women 18 and older outnumber teenage boys by better than 2-1.

[14] Yang first discovered video games when he was 7, playing “Star-Craft: Brood War” for hours at a time.

[15] “I was probably pretty bad,” he said.

[9]杨帆说：“我们在为名利而战！”

[10]原始的电子游戏产生于1950年代，到1970和1980年代，随着技术的进步以及“吃豆人”和“太空入侵者”等游戏的推动，电子游戏成为流行的消遣方式。个人计算机的普及则为人们在家里玩游戏创造了条件。

[11]随着互联网连接速度的加快和稳定性的增强，人们能够跟在远方甚至异国的对手竞技。

[12]作为一个产业，电竞并非小孩子的把戏，该行业年创收220亿美元。与此同时，电竞玩家也在走向成熟。1.5亿美国玩家的平均年龄为35岁，其中大多数是男性，但女性玩家的数量也在不断增加。

[13]如今，女性占全部玩家的44%。事实上，18岁及以上女性玩家与男性青少年玩家之比超过2∶1。

[14]杨帆7岁时第一次接触电子游戏，当时他玩的是“星际争霸：母巢之战”，而且一连玩好几个小时。

[15]他回忆说：“我当时玩得可能很差。”

[16] At Berkeley, Yang joined a campus team and entered a college “Star-Craft 2” competition. His team won,each player clearing about $6,000. He entered more contests and won thousands more.

[17] The money was welcome, and eased some family tensions.

[18] “That placated them,” Yang said of his parents, “a little bit.”

[19] At Berkeley, Yang juggled his studies with endless rounds of gaming.He was intent on becoming an internationally ranked player.

[20] “I wanted to get noticed,” he said, “and get picked up by a major team.”

[21] In April, 2015, he led a five-person Berkeley team to victory in “Heroes of the Dorm,” a national intercollegiate competition. For defeating Arizona State University in the finals, the Berkeley players each received a year’s tuition.

[22] That was Yang’s last stop on the college circuit. In June, he was recruited by a powerhouse professional team,Cloud 9. It was the equivalent of being signed by a major league team.

[23] In September, Cloud 9 won the U.S. “Heroes of the Storm” championship, squeaking though the finals with a narrow 3-2 win over Tempo Storm.

[16]在加州大学伯克利分校，杨帆加入一个校园战队，并参加了高校“星际争霸2”竞赛。他的战队最终获胜，每人赢了大概6000美元。此后，他又多次参加比赛，赚得数千美元奖金。

[17]能赚钱终归是好事，紧张的家庭关系也得到一些缓解。

[18]杨帆谈起他的父母：“这让他们稍稍感到欣慰。”

[19]读大学时，杨帆尽力兼顾学业和无休无止的比赛。当时的他，一心想成为国际顶级玩家。

[20]杨帆坦言：“我想受人瞩目，想得到一支实力雄厚的战队的青睐。”

[21] 2015年4月，他带领的伯克利分校五人战队在全美校际“寝室英雄”电竞赛中获胜。决赛中，他们击溃亚利桑那州立大学校队，为自己战队的每个选手赢得了相当于一年学费的奖金。

[22]这是杨帆最后一次参加高校电竞比赛。6月，豪门战队Cloud 9将其收入帐下，这相当于球员与一支大联盟球队签约。

[23] 9月，Cloud 9在“风暴英雄”锦标赛决赛中3∶2险胜Tempo Storm战队，夺得“风暴英雄”锦标赛美国区冠军。

[24] Last week, the international finals began with first-round matches in Burbank. On Wednesday, Cloud 9 was pitted against Logi GIA, a team that the BlizzCon site described as notable for its “quirky picks and all-in attitude.”

[25] The site’s take on Cloud 9: “Standard and consistent, but surprising.”

[26] Cloud 9 won the match, 2-0.

[27] On Friday, the team will face the European champ, Team Dignitas.

[28] The finals are scheduled for Saturday. Thousands of fans will crowd the Anaheim Convention Center (admission starts at $199) to see the action in person. Many more will watch via streaming video (virtual tickets are $39.99).

[29] Karen Lai, 21, Yang’s girlfriend who is also a player, plans to be in the audience.

[30] “It’s kind of like a weird thing,”she said. “This is one of the first generations to be playing video games for a living, so a lot of people don’t understand.”

[31] Still, she’s not surprised by Yang’s success.

[24]上周，“风暴英雄”全球决赛第一轮赛事于洛杉矶伯班克拉开帷幕。周三，Cloud 9与Logi GIA战队展开对决。暴雪嘉年华网站评价Logi GIA战队以“战术多变和态度专注”著称。

[25] Cloud 9则“稳扎稳打，始终如一，出人意料”。

[26]最 终 Cloud 9 以 2∶0战胜Logi GIA战队。

[27]周五，Cloud 9将对决欧洲区冠军——Dignitas战队。

[28]总决赛定于周六举行，届时，成千上万的暴雪粉丝将聚集在阿纳海姆会展中心现场观看比赛（实体门票199美元起）。更多人将通过在线直播观赛（虚拟门票售价39.99美元）。

[29]杨帆的女朋友卡伦·赖（音）今年21岁，也是一名电竞玩家，她计划去现场观战。

[30]她认为：“把打电动当做职业确实有点儿不可思议。不过他们毕竟是第一代以玩电竞为生的人，所以很多人都不理解。”

[31]话虽如此，但她对杨帆的成功并不吃惊。

（译者单位：中央民族大学外国语学院）