Imagine playing video games so often and so well, that you end up turning it into an actual job. Thousands of Maltese people join millions-strong online gaming communities from all around the world on a daily basis, but sometimes, one player rises above everyone else, taking a simple hobby into a lifestyle. Jurgen Cutajar is one of those players, and he’s set to go professional on an international level.

Jurgen is definitely not new to video games. In the last couple of years, the young Maltese gamer has invested over 7,600 hours in First-Person Shooter (FPS) games. And it’s his latest obsession, PUBG (Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds) that’s helped him go from avid gamer to professional esporstman.

“I made friends with some players on another game, Arma 3, and from there on, we bought different games together,” Jurgen said in an interview with a local gaming blog. One of the players Jurgen made friends with was a partnered streamer, and before he knew it, the young Maltese gamer found himself in the middle of sessions with professional players. “This is where I started to get known by killing good players,” Jurgen said. “Teams were contacting me in order to see how I integrate with their team members. I got to try out different teams and go offered different packages. One of the teams was Nova Esports, where I performed really well.”

Eventually, the North American team ended up offering the young Maltese gamer a contract. Soon enough, Jurgen had joined the ranks of the world’s elite gamers.

“Up until now, I had never played in the international esports scene,” Jurgen continued telling Gamers.com.mt. “It feels great when I talk with other professional players and I’m recognised when we are in a game playing against each other. I cannot describe the feeling I get when I am in a game against another professional player and they mention me on stream with their viewers.”

Now that the young Maltese gamer has joined the ranks of international professional players, he’s set his sights on some very big targets. “I want to get a good name internationally to grow even more, so my goals for 2018 including winning some big tournaments with Nova Esports.”

Of course, that all comes at a price.

“I dropped from school because I knew that I had a great potential if I invested a good amount of time into PUBG,” Jurgen said. “I play daily and even trained with different teams before signing this contract. In order to get better, I play around nine hours a day.”

A Nova gamer celebrating a recent victory… and a $150,000 prize

“I cannot count the number of times I heard family members saying that gaming will lead you to nowhere, but here you are,” Jurgen’s brother said in a Facebook post congratulating him. 

So how does a young Maltese gamer end up among the international ranks of players who can literally end up being rich from playing video games?

“If a player is determined and is willing to invest a good portion of his time to get better with some sacrifices, one can achieve this goal,” Jurgen said. “One thing that helped me personally was recording my gameplay and reviewing the replay in order to see what can be improved.”

For all those aspiring gamers, Jurgen even shared a North American discord link where people are looking to join professional teams. “Maybe sometime we can compete together or against each other,” Jurgen finished off his interview.

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David Grech Urpani

Lovin Malta's Head of Content, Dave has been in journalism for the better half of the last decade. Prefers Instagram, but has been known to doomscroll on TikTok. Loves chicken, women's clothes and Kanye West (most of the time).