‘Geeky’ kid up for big-money gaming job
Ryan Ward, 19, known online as "Offbeat Ninja," is among the world’s best players of Dead or Alive 4, a combat-based video game.
He spent the weekend at the Los Angeles tournament – which he won – before Tuesday night’s first-ever "e-sports" player draft, hosted at the Playboy mansion by a video game league with real competitors, real teams and real salaries.
If drafted, Ward would need to make the team’s final roster – a likely step for a high draft pick. He’d then begin collecting a $30,000 US base salary, plus winnings, in the Championship Gaming Series, a start-up American gaming league.
