A British 18 year old has jumped into the world of professional gaming and has brewed up a storm by becoming a professional at the tender age of 18, he’s already made it into the record books! Michael Barrett, from Watford, was just 10 years old when he first picked up a PlayStation and now 8 years on, his favorite game is FIFA football, in which he competes in tournaments across the world. His team is named the Birmingham Salvo.
However, that is not the only game he plays and last week he proved it when he entered the Guinness World Records Gaming Edition and achieved the highest ever score on the Xbox 360’s Halo 3.
Barrett said, “I’ve always been playing computer games. I never played properly until I picked up FIFA. I played people online and won and it went from there. Because I’m a big football fan, I love playing football whether in real life or on a TV screen. If I’m not out with a couple of mates and I get into a good session, I play three or four hours but not every day. It depends how I’m feeling.”
Barrett is a 2nd year student at Amersham and Wycombe College and studies 3D animation and visual effects. He first attracted attention for his gaming skills when he made the UK FIFA Championship finals and was then drafted by the Salvo last year.
As a result, Barrett now receives a £15,000 annual salary and travels to tournaments all over the world to compete.
He got more recognition when he visited Berlin and was in Los Angeles at Christmas. Whilst in Los Angeles Salvo finished 3rd in the Championship Gaming Series and collected prize money of around £35,000.
But the money isn’t everything, last week the Arsenal supporter travelled to Barcelona as the UK ambassador at the launch of the game FIFA Street 3 where Barrett got to meet Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho.
Barrett said, “E-sports are really taking off. Tournaments, sponsorship and the money involved is growing. It can be nerve-wrecking but to be a pro-gamer, you’ve got to learn to cope with pressure. Competitions keep me on my toes. If I’m winning every single tournament, it’s not difficult to keep my motivation but it keeps me more focused on what I’m doing. I enjoy playing against other people and winning, but I don’t want to take the fun element out of it. People are there for fun. If you lose, you lose. It’s one of those things.”
When asked about his plans for the future, Barrett said, “I just enjoy what I do. Next year I want to focus on CGS. The money in that will get even bigger. The year after maybe I will go to university. Everything is going so brilliantly at the moment.”
Barrett concluded that he plans to continue his gaming career and that he hopes to get a job at a game publishing company and achieve his dream of developing his own games.
At the Guinness World Records Gamers’ Edition Launch in London last week, Michael Barrett who also uses the alias Bazza, failed to break the FIFA record for the most goals scored against the computer in legendary difficulty mode. However, alongside team-mate Samantha Whale, who goes by the alias of Ricochet, he was able to achieve the record for the highest score achieved in Halo 3, level Sierra 117, within five minutes.
If the record remains unbroken until the end of the year, his name will be entered in next year’s book.
He said, “I’m quite proud to be known as a world record holder. However, keeping in mind, there is a lot of time between now and the end of the year.”
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