Derek Trang is an undergraduate student studying law at the University of New South Wales. He works part-time — but not in retail or hospitality — instead, he is paid to play the multiplayer online battle arena game League of Legends professionally.

The market for so-called e-sports is lucrative — worth $374 million in the Asia-Pacific region according to SuperData Research — and though relatively nascent in Australia the country is on the cusp of what players say will be an e-sports revolution.

"It pays reasonably well. It'd be a part-time job but you work your own hours," he said adding that the pay is comfortably supporting him through university.

"The better you get the more exposure you get and how much money you get from that exposure."

The growing e-ports circuit in Australia is opening opportunities for many players around the country.

Last week, 27-year-old Philip Nguyen was flown to the United States to compete in the 2015 Pokemon World Championships in Boston after placing second in the Asia-Pacific round.

He said the video game version of Pokemon allowed players of any age to play at a high level.

"The game is growing globally and the event doesn't [just] attract the hardcore players, it also attracts people who just enjoy playing it," Mr Nguyen said.

Players can have lucrative careers. In Korea, winning a tournament can net teams millions of dollars and players are often offered salaries through clubs and sponsorship.

They earn money through various streams of revenue including match fees, sponsorship deals, coaching and streaming sessions.

"From my experience it is very prevalent that the more individual practice you do, the better you'll get and the better you'll perform on the day so it is very similar to an athlete," Mr Trang said.

He undergoes a rigorous practice schedule for his sport both individually and with the team. It includes team practice about five times a week with each session ranging between four or five hours, as well as separate individual practice and gym sessions four times a week.

"They put in a lot of time and it's very physical as well," Ferlyn Yoshimi, player coordinator at Riot Games said.

"They go to school, they go to uni come back and play a game all through the night.

"But it's not just about playing the game, it's about focus. You have to concentrate a lot, you have to be physical about it as well, so you need to have the stamina."

In Korea, winning a tournament can net teams millions of dollars and can lead to lucrative salaries through sponsorship. ( Supplied: Riot Games )

Career path not as bankable in Australia

Streaming allows e-sports athletes to build a fan base and grow their viewership, allowing them to form partnerships with streaming websites such as Twitch.TV where sponsors can advertise and raise revenue.

In Australia, the career path is not as bankable. One of the issues is internet infrastructure.

Players make a bulk of their money streaming online but a low upload speed in Australia means this source of revenue is diminished.

"It kind of puts us at a disadvantage with the rest of the market because why would you watch a low quality stream from Australia when you can watch a high quality stream from the United States or from somewhere else in the world," said Mr Trang, who plays for e-sports club the Chiefs.

Earlier this year, a US study ranked Australia 44th for average connection speed. Korea, Hong Kong, Japan and Switzerland ranked in the top 10.

The Akami report found South Korea tops the list with an average speed of 25.3 Mbps compared to Australia, which averages 6.9 Mbps.

According to NBN Co only around 18 per cent of NBN users opt for the fastest download speed of 100 Mbps and upload speed of 40 mbps, due to its relatively expensive price.

"So if you're looking at somewhere like South Korea they put the really good fat pipes down into their country about a decade ago which meant that high performance gaming, playing big games at very competitive level, was a possibility not only in the home but also in net cafes, which is a big thing over there," Emma Witkowski, a lecturer at RMIT on game studies, said.

Another issue is the low numbers of viewership due to Australia's low population.

"There are a lot of people overseas in the big countries, in the big economic regions, so China, Korea, North America ... those countries with a lot of viewership, a lot of numbers, a lot of potential for marketing, those are the regions that would be a lot easier and provide a lot more opportunities for people to really flourish with -sports careers," Mr Trang said.

Many e-sports teams in South Korea and other parts of Asia also have big-time sponsors, another aspect that bolsters careers.

"2015 was the end of our first properly laid out structure of the season, so whilst the other regions have been growing for a while and they've hit a point of exponential growth, we're definitely at the beginning of our journey," Riot Game's head of e-sports, Daniel Ringland, said.