From Wolverhampton to Wolfsburg: Low Hill FIFA king signed by German giants

Playing video games has become big money business in recent years.

Once confined to their bedrooms, gamers can now compete against millions of others all over the world with just a broadband internet connection.

The very best players can even make a living out of it, travelling to international events where they battle it out to win massive cash prizes and are watched live by thousands and online by millions more.

Among them is Wolverhampton's Dave Bytheway. When it comes to popular football game FIFA, where gamers take control of their favourite teams and stars, he is about as good as it gets.

The 22-year-old has got so good at FIFA, usually played on the Playstation 4 and Xbox One games consoles, he has attracted the attention of a top European football club.

He started playing the game competitively aged 16 and fended off two million entrants from across the globe to finish runner-up in the FIFA Interactive World Cup in 2014.

The grand final took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in which he lost 3-1 to Denmark's August Rosenmeier, who was then awarded $20,000 (£13,700) and a trip to the Ballon d'Or awards that year to rub shoulders with the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Although he lost that final, Dave, of Leacroft Avenue, Low Hill, was still awarded $5,000 (£3,400) and has continued to impress in gaming tournaments in places such as Las Vegas and New York.

His exploits attracted the attention of German giants VfL Wolfsburg, who have now signed Dave to represent the club at future events.

The deal with the former Bundesliga champions will see Dave wear the club's kit while competing and when he streams his games online.

"There are so many exciting things I can do from here having signed with Wolfsburg," he said.

"Most professional gamers ultimately leave the game to get a job, and I could have done that on several occasions, but I didn't want to.

"I've been doing this since I was 16 and I wanted it to lead somewhere. There are so many different avenues now, this could even kick-start a YouTube career."

Online gaming, on consoles like the the Playstation 4 and Xbox One, is booming, and names such as KSI and Wroetoshaw have achieved international acclaim by playing FIFA, and then uploading videos of their matches to YouTube.

KSI, real name Olajide Olatunji, started uploading videos to the internet of himself playing the game, and commentating as he did it from his bedroom, nearly seven years ago.

According to Forbes' world's top-earning YouTube stars list for 2015, he is worth $4.5 million (£3.1m) and is now forging a career in rap music having recently released a five-song EP called Keep Up.

While Wroetoshaw – Harry Lewis from Guernsey – has almost six million subscribers on YouTube and has owned a chrome-wrapped Range Rover Evoque and a white Lamborghini Gallardo.

Dave has not branched out into the glamorous world of YouTube yet, but is a member of the eSports agency STARK who struck a partnership with Wolfsburg in May last year.

German-Swiss company STARK has previously worked on projects with the likes of sportswear brand Puma, technology giants Google and energy drink company Red Bull.

No English clubs have branched out into gaming yet, but Wolfsburg made the decision to enter the market looking to capitalise on its ever growing popularity. Wolfsburg initially took on two German gamers, overlooking Dave, but seeking another player to join the books, bosses at the club picked him from a group of seven gamers signed to STARK.

Just like former Chelsea winger Andre Schurrle, Dave can now claim to be an employee of Wolfsburg but of course he won't be joining the squad on the training pitch every day.

Instead, he will be practising his skills in front of a TV screen, with a controller in his hand, from his Wolverhampton home.

Dave has said previously that he firmly believes in quality over quantity and tries to play around four to six matches on FIFA every day, against opponents of a similar skill level.

Online gaming attracts millions of viewers on YouTube, with thousands filling stadiums around the world to watch tournaments live.

Dave is also working with Electronic Arts, who develop the FIFA games under the EA Sports brand, to expand its online community even further. But he admits his ultimate ambition remains to win the coveted Interactive World Cup title himself.

He added: "Playing in the FIFA Interactive World Cup final was amazing. The tournament holds the world record for the biggest gaming event in terms having the most players enter.

"There were over two million entries when I reached the final in 2014. As many as five to ten thousand people watch it online.

"People watching live included Brazilian legend Ronaldo and people really high up at EA. I have got to win that tournament."