Yes, you can earn money by playing video games. With the rise of Esports, Twitch, and professional gamers, there’s never been a better time to make money from your video game hobby.
The best part is that you don’t have to be an expert to do it. Even people who don’t play video games all the time are getting in on the action. In this article, I’ll talk about some real ways to make money playing video games.
10 Ways to How to Make Money by Playing Games?
1. Video Game Coaching
Video game coaching is a great option if you know a lot about a certain game and love it. You can teach other gamers through tutorials, screen-sharing walkthroughs, and group classes. Wouldn’t it be cool to get paid for sharing your tips, tricks, and advice?
On sites like Gamer Sensei, you can set your own rates and availability, which are usually at least $30/hour. But not every coach who applies gets in. This keeps the platform’s quality high, but it can be discouraging if you’re just getting started.
You could also set up coaching gigs for your favorite games on Fiverr or try to find clients in your area. When you’re making your profile, try to think like a potential customer. What makes you worth hiring? What do you know about video games?
Your rates will depend on how much you know about the game, how popular it is, and how much competition there is.
Most video game coaches charge by the hour, and their rates are usually between $20 and $200 per hour. But you could make even more money if you took group classes.
2. Group Video Game Classes for Kids
Outschool is one place where you can sell these group classes. The K–12 online education platform has classes for both schoolwork and fun.
When it comes to extracurriculars, video game classes are very popular. Why? Parents love the idea of their kids being able to go online and be safe and cared for.
In this video, I met Devyn Ricks, a mother of four. She told me that she makes up to $4,000 a month playing video games on Outschool.
3. All Skill Level Video Game Tournaments
You’ve probably heard that top video game players can win a lot of money at high-level tournaments. GameChampions lets people of all levels of skill join in on the fun.
They use a “Fair Play Guarantee” to put you in games with people who are about as good as you are. So far, they have given out more than $10 million in prizes.
Players must be 18 or older to join GameChampions. However, play-to-win money games are not available everywhere. When you sign up for an account with the company, you’ll get a $5 bonus.
4. Video Game Reporting
Becoming a video game journalist is another way to make money from your love of video games. Reporting on video game news and upcoming games, writing reviews of games, and even reporting from e-sport tournaments are all part of the job.
As a staff writer for a gaming magazine or as a freelancer are the two most common ways to make money here. Depending on your experience, writing skills, and portfolio, you could make anywhere from $26,000 to $100,000 a year.
5. Video Game Testing
Video games go through a lot of playtesting before they are released to the public. Here’s where your many years of experience come in handy!
Knowing how a good game should work and telling the people who made it that can be very helpful. Also, most game companies hire people to test their games for bugs and other problems before they go on sale.
This could be a good side job or career for you if you like to play new games all the time and want to make a difference in how they turn out. A quick search on Indeed turned up a number of job postings with annual salaries between $30,000 and $85,000.
6. Start a Video Game YouTube Channel
YouTube is still a popular place where people play video games to make money. Several avid gamers have made their own YouTube channels and stream their live gameplay or show recorded videos that depend on followers and subscribers.
You can do more than just stream. You can:
- How to play guides
- engaging video game reviews
- tips on how to play
Followers can tell their gaming friends about you, which can quickly bring in a lot of money. YouTubers who make money off of video games do so by:
- Money from YouTube ads
- Partner marketing
- Partnerships with other brands and sponsorships
- Donations and help from viewers
- Products and sales of them
For every 1,000 views, a video game channel may make $3 to $5 in advertising money. If your channel is popular, that can add up quickly!
Another way to make money on YouTube is to recommend products and put your affiliate link in the video’s description. So, if someone buys through your link, you’ll get a cut of the sale.
7. Stream on Twitch
Twitch is now one of the most popular places to play video games around the world. It’s the best place for video gamers to stream their games and make money.
As the number of people who follow you grows, you’ll start getting money from subscriptions and donations. Some of the best streamers make as much as $700,000 a year.
Twitch works best if you are very good at a game or if you are a lot of fun to watch. Remember that you are competing with other people for your followers’ limited attention, so the content you post needs to be very interesting.
And, like YouTube, as you build trust and a relationship with your audience, you can make money from them through donations, merchandise, brand deals, and other things.
8. Crypto Gaming
The rise of cryptocurrency and NFTs have given video gamers a new way to make money. In Axie Infinity, for example, players raise, trade, and fight NFT pets called Axies. Your characters get more valuable as you level up, and you can buy and sell them.
Then, you can buy or sell Axie Infinity Shards, the game’s currency, on exchanges like Coinbase. It’s important to keep an eye on crypto gaming.
9. Create Video Game Guides
A friend of mine used to make thousands of dollars every month by selling a guide to Minecraft on Amazon. He self-published the book and had no readers, but people searching for “Minecraft” on Amazon found it and bought it.
People can use guides or tutorials for video games to learn how to beat hard levels or get better at playing. It’s another way to make money with your skills.
After you’ve made the guides, you can share them on social media, put them on YouTube, or sell the whole set as an online course.
Even though this isn’t a video game, it may still be useful. Kat Norton made videos on how to use Excel better on TikTok. Those went viral, and she ended up making an in-depth training program for Excel and other Microsoft products. (And turned those into a business that made a lot of money!)
10. Be a Professional Gamer
Do you have what it takes to become a pro? There are video game tournaments all over the world, and the prizes are often a lot of money. Choose a game you’re good at, look for tournaments in your area or online to improve, and keep leveling up.
Elite gamers can make millions of dollars, but most people barely get by. This is like professional sports or acting, where the average income isn’t very high, but getting paid to do what you love is a huge draw.
Also Read:
Comments are closed.