5 Ways you can make money playing games (2024)

It is undoubtedly feasible to make money these days by playing video games. But in actuality, it takes a lot of labour to achieve this.

The job component of playing video games ruins the enjoyment for many people who choose this path, and they quit within a few years (or months). People end up detesting what they previously enjoyed rather than pursuing their passions as a job. Additionally, the crowded market makes it difficult to achieve success. 

However, some have successfully been able to make a living playing video games and others have become rich. These are a few possible avenues for making money from video games, along with the associated difficulties.

1. Get paid to play video games live

Anyone may broadcast live games to a global audience. By taking this route, your goal will be to develop a sizable audience to which you can sell advertisements or a devoted following that you can sell memberships and contributions. Twitch is the most popular streaming site, although YouTube is also an alternative.

Building an audience for a live broadcast is a lengthy process. It can take many months to surpass 10 concurrent viewers, and it might take years to reach 100 viewers at once. In actuality, the majority of streamers never make it to that stage; to make a life from gaming broadcasting, you’ll need thousands of loyal followers.

The world of streaming content is oversaturated. When there are so many other well-liked streams available, why should someone watch you? Be different by playing games no one else is playing, becoming a world-class player, or showcasing your unique personality or sense of humour.

Thankfully, there isn’t much of a hurdle to begin streaming. All you need is streaming software, a pleasant personality, a good computer, and a few games that people love to watch. Make sure your PC is strong enough for the games you’re playing and that your internet upload speed is quick enough to support the broadcast.

2. Write about games

The majority of journalism, including games journalism, is competitive. A lot of people want to become professional game writers. If you’re writing for an established website, you’ll probably have to put in a lot of overtime to build your portfolio and demonstrate your abilities. It will take years to develop an audience on your website from which you may make a living.

Journalism is a labour-intensive profession. You’ll need to use a variety of sources continuously while producing news stories to get scoops before others. Doing reviews and interviews well takes a lot of time. Additionally, writing daily may often be quite taxing on the mind.

Seek for available jobs in medium-sized gaming establishments. For the time being, disregard popular gaming websites and startups with little viewership. Make sure you have some examples of your writing available. Send in your application to as many locations as possible, along with writing examples, and wish for the best. If you don’t have any prior experience, think about writing for smaller websites as a volunteer initially.

It is not advised to start your own games journalism website unless you have many years of experience contributing to a well-known publication. Writing consistently is difficult enough. Running a website atop that? That’s a whole new degree of work that may quickly result in burnout.

3. Write tutorials and guides for video games

Reading guidelines is a favourite pastime of many inexperienced players of various games, particularly those that are multiplayer (PvP) games. Thus, there is a market for making money by giving these individuals access to helpful information that they want to learn.

There are many approaches you may take when it comes to gaming guides: you can write written tutorials and distribute them as ebooks, or you can create a website and post video guides to YouTube. The ebook approach makes money via sales, but the first two are often made profitable by contributions and/or advertisements.

You must write guides for well-known games if you want to earn any money at all, but the more well-known the game, the more competition there is. You will need to differentiate your guides from others by providing more information than they can, which will require a significant time investment and skilled positioning.

Choose a well-liked game, ascertain what issues other players are facing, become well-versed in that issue, and then instruct others on how to resolve it.

One should strive for gold guides, levelling guides, and raid guides in massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). Look for build and mechanics instructions for PvP games like Overwatch or Valorant. Additionally, you’ll most likely find success in single-player games with targeted instructions covering things like obtaining a certain trophy or milestone. While “getting started” manuals are widely used, there is fierce competition for them.

4. Run a YouTube channel or podcast on gaming

Consider producing a gaming-related program on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. It may be a series of interviews with well-known players, a roundtable discussion centred on opinions, advice on how to win a certain game, or anything else that piques your interest.

YouTube monetization options include sponsorships, adverts, and other revenue streams for podcasts and videos. Specifically, Patreon memberships may also support this format.

It will take some time to develop a sizable following before you start making money. For people to tune in, your program has to be interesting enough. The program won’t be successful if it is dull, superficial, has subpar production values, or is inconsistent.

This resembles a cross between live streaming and guidelines. You need the devotion and charm of a streamer combined with the expertise and understanding of a guide developer.

Positively, you don’t have to have the same depth in your podcast material as you would in a guide, nor do you need to have the same unique style as a streamer. For example, you might create a channel only for gaming news related to a certain genre. Although you won’t have to keep people entertained for hours on end, you still need to make time for regular creativity and scheduling.

5. Earn Money Testing Video Games

Before being launched, games go through several development stages. When a game is almost finished, creators want outsiders to playtest it and provide new perspectives. It is your responsibility as a playtester to review whatever the developer asks you to, including identifying and recording bugs and other problems.

Becoming a video game tester these days isn’t too hard, although the labour may be tedious. The majority of game testing jobs are for mobile games, which aren’t as exciting as full-fledged console and PC releases unless you can get an inside role at a big game production firm.

Conclusion

The good news is that you can make money from playing video games, though you should keep in mind that it won’t be easy. However, when you start making a steady income, all the hardships to get there may be worth it in the end.