Gorilla on FIFA esports: "You can do this for a living"

Spencer 'Gorilla' Ealing is one of the top FIFA players in the world, winning the FIFA Interactive World Cup last year, and when the British Esports Association spoke to him recently, he told them that competitive FIFA has changed his life in a major way, especially with regards to his success.

"Last year was the first time I qualified for the FIFA Interactive World Cup [which has now been renamed to the eWorld Cup] and I knew that if I had the opportunity to compete, I'd be able to show my skill at the top stage. And obviously I won," he said.

"But it's changed my life massively from a competitive standpoint and also personally. It's always been a personal achievement of mine to win a world title, so it was massive for me. I always had my doubts, I've won tournaments before but not at the scale of the FIFA Interactive World Cup."

"The prize pool wasn't too bad either! So that was a nice bonus. But for me it's always been about the trophy, I've always wanted to collect the trophies. When I retire that's what I'd love to look back on."

When asked about the money, and whether that helped him in his career, he said:

"I think not for me personally. But I think the intent that's been shown with the prize pools, for a lot of pro players it just shows that you can do this for a living."

"I think that solidified it for me last year, to know there's progress with this. $200,000 [USD] last year and $250,000 this year... I think it's only the start and I'm looking forward to the future."

Do you think FIFA esports is up there with the best?