The unstoppable rise of the UK’s favourite homegrown ‘Call of Duty: Warzone’ player, Jukeyz

You might not think that there’s much common ground between professional football players and youngsters that make a living playing Call of Duty. But in a year where winning the World Series of Call of Duty battle royale Warzone could make you £220,000 richer, it’s hard not to draw comparisons to more mainstream sports.

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Content creators from the world of video games are becoming household names. Professional athletes themselves spend their time watching streamers play games – and some (like England cricket legend Ben Stokes) have even set up their own companies in an effort to muscle in on the booming esports industry. At the forefront of Britain’s push into this brave new world of online competition is Liam ‘Jukeyz’ James.

James, now 24, began his illustrious career by streaming quick and dirty £3.50 wager ($5 USD) games to a smattering of Twitch followers. Within a year, the young Scouse lad was entertaining over 130,000 viewers, winning tournaments and dominating more established players. He’d go on to be only the second video games athlete signed by Red Bull UK, appearing on the same personnel roster as local hero Trent Alexander-Arnold.