ISLAMABAD: The pressure to win is intense for 25-year-old Hamza Khalid.
As the sole breadwinner for a family of five, every online gaming match he wins brings in extra income for the day.
An engineer by profession, Hamza works at an IT company for seven hours daily. Outside of work, he spends as much time as he can gaming.
Hamza is part of a growing number of young Pakistanis turning to gaming platforms to supplement their income, as unemployment continues rising and wages remain low.
“Studying for four to five years in a university and getting a degree out of it – that will just get you a basic salary of 40,000 to 50,000 Pakistani rupees (US$143 to US$180) at the maximum,” he told CNA.
He added that investing the same amount of time in the esports industry could bring in up to 500,000 rupees a month.
Youth unemployment remains a major concern in Pakistan, where job opportunities are struggling to keep pace with a rapidly growing workforce.
According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics data, the number of unemployed people increased by about 1.4 million over the past five years, reaching nearly 6 million in the 2024-2025 period.