How an Iowa video game nerd makes up to $500,000 a year playing 'Fortnite'

"What do you do for a living?" a man asked Nick Overton at a bar.

The Des Moines man answered that he plays video games.

"I think they call that being unemployed," the other man joked.

Little did this buzzed stranger know that the 27-year-old man in front of him did not live in his mother's basement — perhaps the oldest, outdated stereotype about gamers.

And he definitely didn't know that he was speaking with an online celebrity of sorts, someone who sometimes gets stopped for autographs and selfies at the local Target.

With an annual income of up to $500,000, the popular YouTuber, Twitch streamer and professional video game competitor is living the career that teens dream of around the globe. And he's doing it from the comfort of his Iowa home.

RELATED: What you need to know about esports

Overton earns more than 97 percent of Iowans. But the humble man with a boyish grin and a deep voice made for broadcast still drives the same car he did in high school. And he hates being called a celebrity, citing the thousands of YouTube personalities   who have more subscribers than he does.

He's aware of how quickly everything can fall apart.

Because it took nearly his lifetime to make it all happen.

A lifelong love of gaming

At 12 years old, Overton was face-to-face with a child’s nightmare: His dad had just sold his Xbox and its accompanying games.

From the age of 4, Overton had a fascination with video games. His father worked in technology, so gadgets and electronics were nothing new to his family.

When he was 6, he got a Nintendo 64 for Christmas, an exuberant moment captured by camcorder. He, his siblings and even his father were absorbed into the worlds of "Super Mario 64," "Super Smash Bros.," "Star Fox" and "Pokemon Stadium." 

RELATED: Everything you need to know about Fortnite Season 6

So, you can imagine Overton's fury when he returned home from Johnston Middle School to learn his Xbox was gone.

“My parents did not like me playing back then. They thought I played too much, didn’t focus on school enough,” Overton said. “I freaked out. I was so mad at him.”

For two years, he didn’t play video games. He was involved in other activities, like hockey, soccer, football and fishing.

And like many other young Iowans, he got his school permit at 14 and went to work a part-time job at a Dahl’s grocery store.

Through his job, Overton saved enough money to get an Xbox 360 — the second generation of Microsoft’s game console. When he brought it home, his dad was furious, but Overton pointed out: He purchased it with his own money.

“The best advice he gave me is, if you’re going to do this, you need to find a way to make money from it,” Overton said.

He took the challenge seriously.

When he lost online, he would study the outcome and practice the skills he lacked.

Between the first two "Halo" first-person shooter games, he put in at least the equivalent of 250 days of game play.

LATEST: Esports news on For the Win

Becoming a streamer and YouTube star

While some students at the University of Iowa relished the party atmosphere and bar scene, Overton joked he did "nothing" for fun as he pursued his undergraduate journalism degree in Iowa City.

“It could suck at times, but that’s how it works,” Overton said. “You need to dedicate a lot of time to make something happen, because if you don’t, someone else will, especially with YouTube and streaming.” 

Before going to the University of Iowa, Overton spent time working for Justin.tv, now known as the Amazon-owned live-streaming service, Twitch. He helped the company decide who should become "partners," broadcasters that could make advertising revenue off their streams.

After graduating in 2013, Overton became the chief operating officer for a streaming company, Streamup.

On his own, he streamed his "Call of Duty" game play and uploaded videos to his YouTube channel, ImMarksman.

Though having a steady job seemed sensible, what he really wanted to do was focus on content creation. So when his yearlong contract was up with Streamup, he decided to take the controller into his own hands.

“I made more money streaming and doing YouTube than working for them, no question," Overton said. "I don’t have to answer to anyone but myself, and it was a lot nicer and more appealing to me.”

The everyday life of a professional gamer and streamer

The alarm buzzes at 3 a.m.

That means it’s time to make a video.

Once a week, when "Fortnite" releases a patch, Overton wakes up while everyone else sleeps and makes a video detailing the software updates to the game.

It’s a necessity, he said. Even though he goes to sleep at midnight.

“It helps get my channel name out there more,” Overton said.

When it’s not a patch day, Overton wakes up around 9 a.m. and immediately starts by talking to his teammates and answering emails. He was recently hired by Counter Logic Gaming, an eSports organization, to play "Fortnite."

The new gig comes with a salary, a 401(k) and medical benefits. There are practices, during which he plays "Fortnite" with other professional players.

He works on his video around noon and will have it finished by 3 p.m.

The video goes live at 7 p.m. and he streams on Twitch between 5 to 10 p.m.

He streams and chats with his viewers through a microphone every day. A webcam shows his face alongside the game he's playing, complete with animated expressions and rage when he gets killed in a game.

Most of his friends he met online.

The schedule of a professional gamer doesn't make much time for him to go out, particularly with the late hours. 

But every night, he's socializing with thousands of people on the internet, many of them who came just to see him.

"I don’t go out with friends ever," Overton said. "I'm streaming every day."

OK, but gaming in Iowa?

Once YouTubers or gamers reach a professional and profitable level, their next goal is typically the same: move to Los Angeles.

It's where most major esports and gaming companies are located. Los Angeles has 331 gaming companies operating within city limits, according to Commercial Observer, a real estate news site.

But for Overton, Iowa is where it’s at.

Other Iowans could make professional gaming a career from their hometowns too, he said. (As long as they have decent internet speed.)

The cost of it is low: purchase a console and a video game. Both can endure thousands of hours of play.

Tournaments are also mostly online. It's about putting the practice in and being willing to take the time to improve game play.

“It’s a way nicer place to live. I like the seasons. I like that people are pretty overall nice,” Overton said. “I like a much quieter place to live.”

How to make a profit, and why most gamers don't

Over the summer, Overton and a partner playing in a tournament known as the Summer Skirmish won $12,500 each for placing fourth.

Right now, he's competing in the Fortnite Fall Skirmish tournament, with $10 million in prize money up for grabs over the six-week event.

Through "Fortnite" tournaments, he’s won $35,000 so far. Combine that with his salary he gets from his team, his monetized YouTube account and his Twitch stream? He makes between $300,000 to $500,000 a year.

That number fluctuates higher and lower though because of tournament winnings. And with something as finicky as YouTube and staying relevant, he estimates he invests about 80 percent of his income.

Overton has over 930,000 YouTube subscribers and over 3.5 million views of his Twitch stream.

Online personalities like Overton play a huge part in the streaming and esports realm, said T.L. Taylor, a professor at MIT and author of a new book focusing on live streaming. They make games more accessible to people.

Developers, like Epic Games, the maker of "Fortnite," are recognizing the work of streamers and the exposure they bring to their games. They’re starting to make sure popular streamers have early access to games and are a part of each step, Taylor said.

“The amount of work they do as media professionals warrants game companies thinking about them in this way,” Taylor said. “They have serious creative expertise that are part of the industry now that have huge fan bases.”

But the vast majority of streamers or YouTubers will never reach the profit level that Overton has.

He is in the top tier of streamers. Those who are less successful might try to sustain the work by selling T-shirts or creating a Patreon, where viewers can make donations to them. The majority also have full-time jobs outside of their streams.

“There’s a deep entreprenuralism they have to have if they want it to be a full-time job,” Taylor said. “They are hustling."

Why are people watching other people play video games?

While older generations might be baffled that their kids are seeking out videos of people playing popular video games, Taylor said they shouldn't be.

Esports first boomed in South Korea, where thousands of people gathered to watch expert players compete against each other, but in the past six to seven years, that phenomenon has spread to the United States.

Spectating is an important part of gaming, ever since people at arcades would linger around an expert player dominating "Donkey Kong."

Online videos and streams have brought community gaming to a new level, where people can seek out particulars about a map they’re playing or consistently watch the stream of a single player they like.

Esports has made things even bigger, with people filling arenas and movie theaters to watch professional gamers at the top tier play against each other, just like they'd watch a basketball or football game, Taylor said.

Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo hired an esports "head coach" to help players in its new esports program, said Stephanie Cherry, associate director of student life. Four years ago, the college started an athletics program, and in March, it created an esports section in recognition of the rapid growth competitive video games have made in the United States, Cherry said.

The 25 students in the program are treated just like any other student-athlete. Hawkeye seeks out the best gamers in popular video games like "Overwatch" or "League of Legends" and recruits them to come to the school.

Scholarships up to $1,000 are offered to the recruits.

There are weekly practices, where students in the program play together in a computer lab and hone their skills.

"People are excited about it. People know this is coming up," Cherry said.

Don't do it unless you love it

The hype is there.

The celebrity is there.

The money is there.

But with the long hours and intense perseverance it takes to get into esports and streaming, there's no way anyone can do it unless they love it, said Overton.

"I never thought I was going to make money from this," Overton said. "I literally only did it because I liked to do it."

Most people think he's living a dream job, which he is, but there are hardships, too. He only plays games when he's doing it for work — just playing for fun isn't fun anymore.

With fame comes troubles, too. Sometimes he gets recognized when he goes out. To his dismay, people have rung his doorbell to try to meet him, which he doesn't appreciate.

It's gone so far where someone has tried to "swat" him, where someone calls a local emergency number and pretends a threat is in progress when everything is actually fine.

But there are upsides, too. Overton's dad is cool with him playing video games now.

Gaming glossary

Fortnite: When people talk about "Fortnite," they’re most likely talking about "Fortnite Battle Royale," a free game that’s available for computers, Xbox One, Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch. Up to 100 people meet on a virtual island and battle to become number one. It was created by Epic Games, a video game developer.

Esports: Esports is a competition involving video games. It has blown up in the United States, generating millions of fans and billions in revenue. The people who compete are often professionals and experts at the game; viewers may watch them online or in person.

Streaming: Streamers broadcast themselves playing video games in real time for others to watch online. Anyone can stream video games, whether they’re high-level players or absolute garbage. The most popular streaming service is Twitch, which is owned by Amazon.