You can earn money playing video games. And there are Canadians who are doing it, and doing it well.

The largest video game tournament ever staged in Canada, a stop on the World Series of Video Games (WSVG) tour, will hit Toronto from August 24th to 26th.

And it will bring with it more than US$70,000 in prizes and some of the world's top gamers.

Among them will be Team EG (Evil Geniuses), a top professional gaming team with key Canadian players on board.

Held in conjunction with Fan Expo Canada, about 50,000 people will pass through the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Gaming is big, and it's getting bigger. Just ask Team EG captain Robert Tyndale. A full time student, he's been playing since he was a kid. Now 22, he staying in the game.

"In the long run, I really honestly see gaming blowing up, there's constantly more and more televised leagues being broadcast around the world. There's always an increase in revenue ... so I just really see it growing and growing."

Cash prizes aren't the only incentives for players. One of Team EG's biggest sponsors in Intel, who is also the main sponsor for the WSVG tournament. Besides providing top of the line hardware for the team, they help cover travel costs and even pay a salary for top players.

Sponsors like Intel gain from these partnerships as well. Intel Canada's Marketing Manager Cassey Tan, says it gives them a chance to both support gamers and showcase their technology.

"The first thing is gaming has become such a popular mainstream activity for a lot of consumers...  it has grown to about a $32 billion industry worldwide. So for us, it's to continue to support it into a much higher level of competition, and in order for people to get the higher level they need the best equipment possible."

Gaming also gives sponsors a chance to showcase "really cool technology," Tan says. "And we have an opportunity to really display the power of the processor and how it delivers such a great dynamic and visual gaming experience, for overall better entertainment for whoever's playing a game."

How the competition builds

One of the best qualities of gaming, according to Tan, is that anyone can be a gamer. While it takes some natural, raw talent, a lot if it is practice that helps build the "reflexes in thinking and strategy" to win.

Team EG player Andy Ryder, 21, says that an essential quality gamers generally possess is their competitiveness.

"Almost every professional gamer is very competitive, they've been competitive in sports previous to being a professional gamer, they have a competitive drive that makes them want to win. That's a trait that a lot of professional gamers have that you need to be at the top."

Tyndale adds that hand-eye coordination and good reflexes are important, but otherwise an understanding and love of the technology is key.

Like Tyndale, Ryder's skills have also allowed him to travel around the world while competing as a professional gamer.

"The other bonus of being a sponsored player is that I end up flying around to places I've never been to, I enjoy that a lot."

Tan says the top players from around the world will be at WSVG, and often players have already connected through the technology, building relationships and friendships.

Tyndale says the technology allows players to stay connected even after the tournament is over, whether they met in Seoul or Seattle.

So the old stereotype of the anti-social teenager hiding in their parents' basement with their computers doesn't really apply anymore, according to Ryder and Tyndale.

And those who continue to play, still play for fun. Tyndale says, "I look for competition and the fun factor. If you enjoy playing the game, and you can continually play it for hours and hours on end, then you just enjoy it overall. And when it comes time to being sponsored, and you're actually getting paid to play a game you'd play for free, it's that much better."

The WSVG tournament will see players compete in both team and individual competitions for popular games like "Quake 4," "Counter-Strike" and "World of Warcraft," the world's most played online game.