How 20-year-old ‘MkLeo’ went from poverty to top gamer with nearly half a million dollars in the bank

How 20-year-old ‘MkLeo’ went from poverty to top gamer with nearly half a million dollars in the bank

If the growth of into a isn't enough to convince you that video games are more than just a way for kids to while away hours on end in their rooms, then consider the career trajectory of professional gamer Leonardo " " Lopez Perez. Today, the 20-year-old Mexico City native is one of the esports industry's top gamers, widely considered to be the player of "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate," a fighting game for the Nintendo Switch where players battle each other as like Mario, Donkey Kong and even Pac-Man. the largest "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" tournament ever held, at the 2019 Evolution Championship Series in Las Vegas, taking home a prize of . But, growing up, Perez's family didn't have a lot of money, he says. He lived with his parents and older brother in Naucalpan, a city on the outskirts of Mexico City that is considered to be one of the most dangerous areas in that country. "We didn't used to have anything," he says. "I remember that we used to sell a lot of things just to have money to eat, like [once] a week." Playing video games literally changed his life. Now, as one of the world's