♪ [cheers and applause] this is "nightline." tonight, the world of e-sports. out of basement and onto the world stage. >> we are one of the top teams in the world. >> they're the competitive gamers making as much as seven figures a year and living large. are you ready for a career change? and deadly doubles. the new horror sensation. from game-changing director jordan peele. >> art that makes you feel ends up making you think. >> a total scream fest that reveals your scariest self.

but first u the "nightline" five. five. number

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the roar of the crowd. it's like a pumped up mix of wrestle mane ye wrestle mania meets the super bowl. these are the sports stars of the future. and all around the world people pack into massive arenas just to watch them play. video games. in a billion dollar industry, these pros, some still in their teens are wracking up wins and stacking up cash. i'm talkin' six-figure salaries. welcome to the world of e-sports. >> do you have a cheer, like? >> no. no. >> reporter: for these five guys, gaming is life. together they make up team liquid. >> my nickname is taco. >> i'm naf, i'm 20 years old. >> i'm 18.

>> i'm 23 years old. >> my name is jonathan, i'm 21 years old. >> reporter: he is one of the top-ranked players in the world. >> i started playing counter strike 1.5 when i was about 4 years old. my dad didn't want my to play that much. he wanted me to play sports and do stuff outside. >> reporter: by the time he was a 17-year-old senior, signed on to one of his top teams. and now they're about to take on some of the world's best at a tournament in new york, on the line, a quarter of a million dollars. their bread and bter is a game called counter strike, a five on five shooter competition. success depends on seamless teamwork and strategy. >> i'm just going to go really light, guys. >> reporter: their coach is a

former pro player himself. >> i'm known as zeus. i'm 30 years old. when people imagine gamers, they expect us to be in the basement. when we play in these arenas, it's something out of this world. we get to play in front of 20,000, 25,000. >> reporter: they jet around the world and all across the u.s. >> i'm from a really small town. it really is an awesome opportunity, and i love it. >> reporter: when they're not on the road, most american teams about gak to los angelgo back to los angeles where their franchises pay for them to live in mansions fit for a king. today i'm hanging out with the philadelphia fusion. check out their crib here. this place is worth $5 million, man. and they tell me this is a little more typical about how teams get down and live and train together. inside, a gamer's paradise. a training room, pool and gym. you have a court outside, hoops.

ping-pong. and training area, too. huh? >> yeah. >> reporter: team liquid is a little different. the players live in their own apartments, but they train here at this brand new 9,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility. >> so welcome. this is the alien ware training facility. >> reporter: if were you to ask serena williams, what kind of racket are you going to use, she's going to be particular. and for our gamers, they want to be enabled to have the very best. >> reporter: each detail has been carefully thought out. from an on-staff personal chef to a pro-level supporting cast. >> we have mental coaches. sports psychologists, physical therapists. so there's an army of folks that are dedicated to making sure these players up their performance. >> reporter: and they have serious backing with legends

like michael jordan and magic johnson. you've come a long way from pennsylvania, man. ive abeen to pa i've been to i'v pennsylvania. it doesn't look like santa monica. >> i always have opportunities to do cool things with the team. >> reporter: the company employs dozens of players who compete in 14 different games. if you have to explain it to a dude on the street what you do for a living, how would you explain it? >> i would explain like we're playing in the nba and you rise up through the ranks and you're only focuses on one game. they think i'm playing multiple games, but i'm focussing all my time on one. >> reporter: he actually started college but left school when it became clear his childhood hobby could become his real-life job. >> i missed about half the classes going to so many tournaments. >> reporter: half? >> and i still did really well, even missing half my classes.

after that semester, i decided i can't do both, and i chose gaming. >> reporter: can you give me a ballpark figure in terms of what people in this space can make? >> i mean, if you are a pro player, depending on what game you play you can make millions. >> reporter: a million or two a year? >> yes. >> reporter: without a college education? >> without a college education. >> reporter: now major universities are trying to get in on the action. emily is the captain of her college's overwatch team. >> i definitely consider myself an athlete. >> reporter: she has become a fearless female gamer in a male-dominated sport. >> being a woman in e-sports is very daunting. you have to establish yourself. gaining the trust of your players is just a tad bit harder. >> reporter: originally, she started pursuing a career in music, but that all changed when she found out the school was launching an e-sports team. >> once i entered the game

design development and programming major i, i fell in love instantly. >> reporter: this is part of a growing number of schools that are investing big money and creating academic majors in gaming. >> we need to get them out of their rooms and have them come and join a team. >> reporter: back in the big leagues, that tournament at barclay's center is under way. >> i like drinking beer and watching people play video games. >> reporter: inside, the sheer size of this billion dollar industry is on full display. vendors pack the lobby and corridors with team swag and all the latest tech. >> go team liquid! >> reporter: this one is extra special. his family is in the stands. >> he's living the dream. >> you can be pushing shopping carts at walmart or doing this.

>> reporter: are you proud of your brother? >> absolutely. >> i'm so jealous of him. >> reporter: and his team has made it to the main stage. if they win, $250,000, and of course bragging >> team liquid! >> reporter: as team liquid enters the arena, the crowd is electric. >> as soon as you start hearing the crowd yelling your name or your team's name. >> let's go liquid! >> it's just adrenaline. you know it's go time. >> reporter: then it's game time. the tension is high. each millisecond liquid. >> reporter: fans anxiously watching. some headiolding their breath. >> this is more stressful to watch than to be a part of. >> reporter: it's a close final.

>> this is counter strike perfection right now. >> stress at an all-time high for liquid in this series. >> reporter: but in the end it's not enough. team liquid defeated. >> they're the champions, mouse sports on broadway! >> i think it was the worst defeat of my career, honestly. it was really heartbreaking. >> reporter: despite the tough loss, the guys put on their game face and go out to meet their fans. >> we haven't really had our biggest victory yet, but we really on the cusp of it, and i'm certain that we're going to have it very soon. roster and new trophy, winning the first championship of the year. >> right now i really hope i'm going to be staying in esports the rest of my life. >> reporter: i'm zachary kiesch in new york. >> our thanks to zachary. the chilling new film from the director of "get out." out."

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they look just like us, and they're creeping ever closer. the deadly doppelgangers in jordan peele's new horror show "us." here's abc's chris conley. >> there's a family in our driveway. >> reporter: silent, shadowy figures, gathered in the night outside an isolated home. >> i knew writing it, okay, there's my iconic image.

>> hey, hey! >> reporter: for acclaimed writer-director jordan peele, it's the eerie image that sets the scene for "us". >> they're standing there, waiting for you to make the move or something. you don't know. and then finally, when they do come, the pit of your stomach is supposed to drop out from under itself. >> reporter: so it does over and again during "us." the 40 year old peele deploying the skills he showed in 2017's "get out", a process savage new fright scape. >> she is a woman who is riddled by this trauma from her childhood that she just can't shake off. >> reporter: peele using the pure sensations of horror to challenge his audience's mind set. why is this kind of genre film the perfect place for you to explore your ideas? >> i love horror, because it gets a visceral reaction. and it makes you feel first.

art that makes you feel ends up making you think. >> reporter: much to discuss, he admits its bloodbaths, peele once again serves up a social critique. >> they look exactly like us. >> reporter: as his vacationing family battles the ferocious doppelgangers. the nyong'o. >> idea of the outsider, the alien. i think we are our own worst enemy, because we are so capable of lying to ourselves. >> reporter: about what? >> our guilt, about our shame. about our sins. we're very good at saying, it's not us. it's them. when you suppress something as a group, whether it's racism,

classism, >> when it is left unattended to, it can swell out of control, rare its ugly head and cause a lot of destruction in the world. >> a lot of destruction. >> a lot of destruction. oftentimes the darkness in ourselves is something we project onto another. and in this film, jordan makes a monster out of that darkness and shows what it would look like if that darkness came for us. >> reporter: a twilight zone fan who's rebooting the classic series, peele says "us"'s doubles were inspired in part by "mirror image." while his own family helped as well. >> just going from not a dad to a dad is like confronting yourself. there's a completely different reason for living. i think that's part of it.

having a kid around this time. and then there's something, you know, terrifying that happens when you stop living for just yourself. >> you got to get it right. if you're going to do it, god bless america. >> reporter: after peele's many ye years as a comedic actor, a best director for screenplay. >> he is redefining a genre, a genre that often says blackness is the first casualty. in "get out", he said what else could be the first casualty? that would be racism. >> i watched "get out" five times in the cinema in a month while we were doing "black panther". >> reporter: lupita said she watched "get out" five times.

so you must have had a hard time getting her in your movie. >> the performances she gave me are some of the great iconic form performances of all time. >> they think like us. >> reporter: double roles all around tax the talents of all connected with "us." what is it like to act opposite yourself in some of these scenes? >> tough, very tough. oftentimes it was just a green x on a wall that you had to perform towards. and there is this menace coming for you, and it's nowhere to be seen. >> it took a while to get into that, you know how to switch. >> five minutes, ten minutes. >> learn how to switch fast enough. >> reporter: with the authority his artistry has provided, peele's become a hollywood player, producing "blackkklansman" and an extraordinary flowering of cinema from african-american film makers and performers. >> i feel our generation, our

cohort of artists at this time is doing something that others haven't had the opportunity to do. >> just the fact that this is a movie with a black african-american family in the center ever center of it is new. it's a tragic reminder of the lack of meaningful representation in this industry. i think it's very meaningful to the black community to see black faces in a film that's not about race. >> and now that we are nuance. i lot osthe >> reporter: aided by "us" still lean $20 million budget, peele remains guided by his own pioneering muse, elevating both the horror genre and the overall discussion. you're coming off the most remarkable success one could imagine u let you center yourself to be able to do this film and not have that freak you out? >> i always would return to this

idea that with "get out", i made my favorite movie that doesn't exist. i always return to that. what movie would i most like to watch right now. make that movie. i think people respond to your truth when it'sthanks to chris. coming up, the rare natural phenomenon that's attracting tourists in droves. droves. hey mercedes, how about letting your hair down a little? how about a car for people who don't play golf? hey mercedes! mix it up a little. how about something for a guy who doesn't want a corner office? hey mercedes, i don't even own a tie. do you think i need a mahogany dashboard? hey mercedes, can you make it a little cooler in here? [ a-class ] i am setting the temperature [ a-class ] to 68 degrees. we hear you. we made a car that does, too. the all-new a-class. all-new thinking starting at $32,500.

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>>nd final it's l of the ofz. of poppies. these rolling hills in lake elsinore, aplaz blaze in orange. this made for social media moment drawing a crush of people. a spot so popular that authorities are now closing roads and limiting visitors, living up to the name, the poppipocalypse. maybe just check out a postcard? just saying.

that's "nightline." if you can't stay up with us, you can watchful episodes anytime on hulu. thanks for the company, america. goodnight. goodnight.