Professional gaming, better known as eSports is nothing new in 2016. It began all the way back in the 70s with video game competitions but has upgraded to a more global landscape. While there are many games that are classified as eSports, four stand out amongst them as globally prominent competition wise.

1. Counter Strike: Global Offensive

Counter Strike is not a new game at all but may seem like one. Unless you’re a PC game player or follow professional gaming organizations, you might not have known of its existence. Nonetheless, Counter Strike is a first person shooter exclusive to PCs or the “old” box computers. While it takes much skill in order to play Counter-Strike, probably the most out of the four on this list, it is also fun to watch it competitively as it’s much more intense than the other games throughout tournaments rather than in just finals.

2. Halo

Halo's uniqueness on this playlist is that it's more futuristic than the others. It involves jetpacks, plasma guns, and grenades. This sounds ridiculous but isn't because of its intense gameplay. While it is similar to the other games in that is a shooter game, the range of guns can leave you dead in a minute or have you completely dominating the map. One miss can cost your team the entire game.

3. Gears of War

Gears of War is a third-person shooter game that can be fun to play unless you are playing it competitively, then it's serious. The Gears of War eSports community is also the rawest. Whereas the other eSports games on this list involve a great deal of sportsmanship, the teams in the Gears community carry their real life animosity towards each other into tournaments and there may not be sportsmanship shown in the end.

4. Call of Duty

Finally, the most recognized eSport: Call of Duty. Call of Duty is the usually one of the most anticipated games every year outside of the professional gaming circuit and it's even more anticipated within the eSport community. It has many tournaments held throughout the year with CoD Champs being the "playoffs." It's also the easiest to make money off of as there is an easy way to play others online for various amounts of money (this is not supporting gambling.)

Although there is a way to make money playing these games, it will take a lot of time and energy to be good enough to play with the pros. While many of them are between the ages of high school and college students, some go to school and upload on YouTube to garner an income. So if you're trying to be a pro, just know you can't just be good but great.