Geartest.com Games - Interview - Life as a professional gamer, with World Cyber Games StarCraft winner Guillaume Patry (Grrrr

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Professional gamer and StarCraft champion Guillaume Patry (Grrrr_ca) stands next to an LCD monitor displaying StarCraft. Patry is preparing to compete against gamers from around the globe at the 2004 World Cyber Games being held in San Francisco October 6 - 10.

GAME CHAMPION Professional StarCraft player Guillaume "Grrrr_ca" Patry will try to recapture his top ranking at the 2004 World Cyber Games before retiring as a professional game player. (Photo courtesy Samsung)

Living the Dream: Life as a Professional Gamer

Geartest.com Staff
Updated October 17, 2004.

Professional gamer Guillaume "Grrrr_ca" Patry was ranked as the top StarCraft player in the world for two years in a row. He aims to recapture that title at the World Cyber Games being held in San Francisco this week.

"Dad, I need your credit card."

Those were the words that launched Guillaume "Grrrr_ca" Patry's career as a professional gamer, according to his father, Rejean.

Guillaume Patry, a Canadian from Beauport, Quebec, started out like many other professional game players do: playing a game at home for hours at a time. In Guillaume's case the game was the real-time strategy simulation (RTSS) WarCraft, which he says he became a fan of while waiting for the science fiction-themed RTSS StarCraft to be released.

Guillaume said that when he was 17 he would finish classes by noon and rush home to play WarCraft. He "became the best" in his town and started competing in tournaments online. His skill earned him an invitation to the Electronic Sports World Cup, an international tournament with $100,000 in prize money at stake. But he would have to pay his own way, which was when he asked his father for help.

The elder Patry balked when his son asked for his credit card, explaining that he needed $4,000 to go to South Korea to play in a computer game tournament. "This is a big risk," he told his son.

Guillaume replied, "Don't worry, I'll win."

At a tournament in New York, Rejean found strangers approaching him to reassure him that his son would win. He did, earning $10,000, in prize money.

Guillaume went on to the South Korean tournament and came in second place, winning $18,000. "I felt like I was living a dream," he said.

Three months later the teenager had a manager, and was training and playing as part of a professional team.

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