5 Methods to Make Money Playing Video Games

Playing video games is an activity that is fun and entertaining. We all have once played video games when we are still young. Our parents probably hate it when we spent so much time playing video games because it has no beneficial purpose in our life. However, have you ever wonder that you can make money playing video games? Gaming is an entertaining past-time, and turning it into a full-time income is a dream for many.

This might surprise you that there are many people out there who actually play video games as their career. They were able to make money from doing so and turning it into a full-time income career. I have done my research regarding how you can earn money playing video games and found out that some gamers were able to earn more money than a traditional job. Some gamers were able to make six, seven, and even eight figures playing video games for a living.  

It's insane to know that you are getting paid to play video games. Because of this curiosity, I went to do extensive research on how you can make money by playing video games. This article will discuss how you can monetize playing video games and make it into your dream career. 

Method 1: Start a Blog.

Video game review is a huge industry. Many people like to get information online regarding the upcoming games that's going to come out. If you're a talented and creative writer or artist, you may be able to write reviews and news on video games.

You can start by building a dedicated website or blog that is in the gaming niche. The basic idea is to become a respected review source of view games. As you build up a following, people will come to rely on your opinions.

There's no guarantee of how much money you'll make since the income comes as advertising. It depends on the popularity of your blog. If you're able to grow your audience into the thousands, you may get a video game companies to advertise with you directly. If you reach that stage, you'll have a steady source of passive income.

If you have trouble with starting a website or blog, I have written this article "How to Start a Blog & Make Money" if you want to learn to make a blog step by step. This article walks you through the entire process of picking a domain name, setting the web, and what to do to be successful in this field.  

Method 2: Start a YouTube Channel.

Another way to do video games review is to utilize YouTube and create your channel. YouTube is one of, if not the biggest earner on this list. I can give you an example of a top earner video gamer that utilizes YouTube to make money playing video games. PewDiePie (picture is shown below) earned approximately $70 million in 2019. He has close to 105 million subscribers to his YouTube channel.

I know you readers probably know that gaining followers to a gaming YouTube channel is not easy. So what are the things you can do to gain followers in your gaming YouTube channel? I'm going to explain the ways that you can do.

You can create videos on how to play the game better with guides, tutorials, and commentary explaining why you make certain decisions in the game. People want to know how to be a better gamer, and explaining guides and ways to viewers can help them become one.

Also, you can make video games review new games to help people decide whether the game is worth buying or not. Some people turn to YouTube to know whether a game is a great buy or not. By creating videos on game reviews will let viewers make a better decision whether they should buy the game or avoid it at all.

People are also interested in watching gamers play video games. By recording play through of a game (new or old) can be an entertaining source for the audience. As I get older in age, I prefer watching people playing video games on YouTube rather than playing the games myself. This proves that there is an opportunity for gamer to show their walkthrough of the games they want to share online.

Method 3: Compete in Tournaments.

Video games often develop communities of players around the world that can create the game to be competitive. Competitiveness leads to tournaments that lead to prizes.

Competing in tournaments can be a source of income as a gamer. This is not a consistent source of money since you probably need to be extremely talented. Similar to professional athletes, professional gamers can earn handsomely for their talent. One example is Timothy Miller (aka "Bizzle"), who earns around $322k per year participating in a game tournament called Fornite.

Letting the world know about your talent in a tournament can help you get your name known to others. This can lead to having an easier time promoting yourself when people recognize you as a professional gamer.

Method 4: Become a Video Game Tester.

It's also possible to make money by testing video games. Every video game needs to go through beta testing before it hits the general market. Gaming developers often hire testers to ensure that the gameplay is smooth, helping to spot any bugs or glitches in the game. Companies are looking to test their games with real players before bringing them to the market. This can be a great source of income for you while playing video games.

Your job is to identify flaws or ways to improve the game before it goes to the market. This can be an exciting job for you since you are technically getting paid to try out the game in development, however finding the companies who will hire you can be difficult. The best approach is to develop a strong social media presence, with a large following, that might get the gaming company's attention to hiring you.

Method 5: Stream on Twitch

Twitch is a streaming platform where viewers can watch others play their favorite games. This is the go-to platform for gamers hoping to turn their hobby into a little extra cash.

Many of the gaming influencers earn their incomes from a mix of their Twitch Streaming and their YouTube videos. They can make seven figures per year through their subscriptions, sponsorships, and a share of ad revenue.

Just like many other online platforms out there available, you can't attract an audience overnight. This is the same with Twitch. To create a successful channel, you need to build it up over the years, not over days or weeks.

You might make a little money here and there at first, but don't expect a steady income until you've put in a lot of work. If you feel you are not the most skilled player, you can try to be funny so that audience will be entertained while watching your channel. The variety of methods to make money from Twitch is from subscriptions, donations, video ads, sponsorships, affiliate links, and seller merchandise.

Bottom Line

I hope this article provides the information you are looking for to make money by playing video games. It might sound easy, but it can be challenging if you are looking towards earning a full-time income. Just like many other businesses, building your brand in the online world requires dedication and time.

If you are looking to be successful overnight, you probably end up disappointed. To be a successful gamer that earns money from his or her hobby requires time and effort that need to be invested. However, if you are passionate about playing video games for a living, you can give the list of methods I provide a try.

I felt that this can be a good side hustle if I was still a teenager. I use to spend countless hours playing video games, and develop pretty good skill at it. However, because I am no longer young, I don't have much interest in playing video games anymore. I don't get the same euphoria and rush feeling like when I was young. Video games are not my interest anymore, but knowing that there are opportunities to make some money as a gamer is an excellent knowledge to understand for people who spend countless hours playing video games.