In a bizarre, parallel universe, computer gamers are treated like rock stars. They earn six-figure salaries. They buy insurance for their fingers.

Oh, wait. That’s not a parallel universe. It’s Korea, where electronic games made by an Irvine, Calif., company are credited for a national economic revival.

Gamers are also celebrities in China, Germany and other countries in Europe, but in the United States, only about two dozen gamers survive solely on money made from corporate sponsorships and tournament winnings.

Most players who enter national competitions fund their own travel and bring their own hardware.

Two dozen, however, is up from zero five years ago. Local tournaments have morphed into regional and national events. And national competitions now attract thousands of gamers vying for larger cash prizes, such as the $400,000 reserved for winners of the World Cyber Games, the so-called Olympics of video games.

And all the activity has attracted sponsorships from high-tech companies, which are discovering the key benefit to sponsoring tournaments and gamers: When they do, gamers buy their products.

“These are the guys who are the most active in the PC world. They are buying the latest and greatest technology. That’s why we got involved,” said Kevin Schuh, director of corporate marketing for Nvidia Corp., which makes highly rated computer graphics cards and sponsors Team 3D, one of the top “Counter Strike” game teams in the world. “We wouldn’t do this if we didn’t believe (gaming) was going somewhere.”

Organizers for the World Cyber Games say the number of sponsors is growing, especially with this year’s successful push to hold the finals in the United States after four years in Korea.

“Companies are interested in supporting players for the sake of advertising their products,” said Hank Jeong, chief executive of the World Cyber Games.

Korea alone supports 1,000 professional gamers, who average six-figure salaries.

Samsung Electronics, a founding sponsor that is spending “millions of dollars” on the games this year, pushed for the venue change so the event would attract more sponsors and spectators, said Peter Weedfald, Samsung’s senior vice president of strategic marketing and new media. Samsung’s U.S. computer-monitor division is based in Irvine, Calif.

“The U.S. just hasn’t been a strong contender in any shape or form as a China, Japan or even some European countries,” Weedfald said. “We’re propagating the desire to play games. … We do believe (U.S.) consumers have great interest in gaming, and one way to wake everybody up and jump-start this is to hold the worldwide finals here.” The U.S. finals took place Sept. 18 and 19 at GameWorks in Long Beach, Calif.

Some 10,000 people entered contests nationwide and 300 made it to the national finals. Only 25 made it to Team USA and will compete against 700 players from 60 countries at the international games Oct. 6-10 in San Francisco.

Shuttle Computer Group Inc., the City of Industry, Calif., maker of mini PCs, donated $250,000 this year as a first-time sponsor of the games. After launching a boxy PC about the size of a shoebox three years ago, Shuttle discovered gamers were buying the machines. The company now sponsors eight of the top 20 “Counter Strike” teams in the world.

“These guys usually take their computers thousands of miles and they need something powerful and small,” said Cameron Rogers, Shuttle’s marketing director. “It didn’t take us too long to figure out we need to develop a computer specifically for gamers.”

The pro-gamer evolution is something the Cyberathlete Professional League in Dallas has supported since 1997, when the company first began organizing game tournaments. In its first year, the league had only merchandise to offer winners. Sponsors were typically just local computer stores.

At its last event in July, the league awarded $250,000 in cash, funded by alliances with Intel Corp., Nvidia, CompUSA and Hitachi. Next year, the prize is expected to reach $1 million.

“Hitachi can spend money on a billboard that reaches only a small community or they can invest $100,000 in a tournament that attracts the people who want their stuff. People are thinking, `Where else can we spend our advertising dollars?’” said George Kaspiris, a league spokesman.

But making a living off gaming is difficult in the United States, said Tony Kuo, marketing manager of the National Gaming Association, a Garden Grove, Calif., company that supports tournament play. Many of its 20 employees and board members aspired to be pros but couldn’t afford to dedicate 10 hours a day to practice.

“Technically speaking, most professional gamers play like pros but they’re not making a living off it. There’s probably two to three teams making a $2,000 to $3,000 a month,” Kuo said.

Jonathan Filbeck, 19, who competed Sept. 18 in Long Beach, averages 20 to 40 hours of game play a week. The Anaheim, Calif., resident has competed in tournaments for fun and is looking for sponsors. In the meantime, he’s grateful that his mother is very understanding.

“When my Xbox broke, she dished out $150 right off the bat. I was surprised, but she told me, if it’s that important to me …” said Filbeck, a creative-writing student at Orange Coast College. “She’s very supportive. She let me have friends over to practice.”

So far, the United States has produced at least one bona fide celebrity, Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel, 23. The Missouri native, one of the top PC gamers in the world, starred in his own MTV special, has his own agent and launched a line of keyboards and computer mice with Auravision in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.

“He’s the first gamer to win a $100,000 contract,” said Michael Barnes, a sports marketing agent with Barnes Sports Group who became Wendel’s agent in 2000.

Barnes, whose agency represents licensing for the likes of football star Emmitt Smith, said he did research before agreeing to handle Wendel’s licensing opportunities. One staggering statistic Barnes cites: 50 million people in the world play golf, while 75 million play video games. (The Entertainment Software Association, a trade group of the video-game industry, puts the numbers of Americans who game at more than 100 million).

“It reminds me a lot of when we started representing extreme-sports athletes. Clients who were earning $20,000 a year jumped to six figures when the X Games came around,” Barnes said. “I feel that video games are going the same way.”