TECH SA: Local female esports player competes for big cash

SAN ANTONIO – A 28-year-old San Antonio woman is making big money playing video games.

Brianna Becker is a software engineer by day and competes in esports in her free time. 

"My dad, like, he was really into video games. He was a computer programmer himself," Becker said. 

Becker spends about 30 hours a week playing video games. Earlier this year, she competed internationally. 

"It's like one of the biggest gaming events, kind of, like in China," Becker said. "Each player came out with $12,000."

Some esports players can win their way to a six-figure salary. 

"It's not just sitting on your computer and just wasting your time playing video games," Becker said. "It's like you learned important skills, you still have to be healthy to perform well."  

Becker said esports helps people learn many skills. 

"You have to learn how to communicate to people, how to be on their good side, how to break hard stuff to them, like you know, constructive criticism," Becker said. 

Becker hopes to inspire other females wanting to join this movement. 

"It's definitely something that is starting to become more viable for women, because now, there's like, you know, these female-only tournaments that are trying to spread awareness for you know females in gaming," Becker said. 

Becker plans to compete in online leagues with a team and practice until the next competition gets announced.

She has an English degree with a minor in education from the University of the Incarnate Word. Becker also has taken some computer science courses at Texas A&M University-San Antonio. 


About the Authors:

Tiffany Huertas is a reporter for KSAT 12 known for her in-depth storytelling and her involvement with the community.

Jason Foster is an executive producer at KSAT. He's worked in the news industry in Texas for more than 15 years, including as a photojournalist, and been at KSAT since 2015.