INSIDE: Do you want to know how to make money gaming? It’s actually possible to earn some nice dough from your hobby, and we’ll tell you 7 ways to do that right here!
One of the best parts of life is playing games, whether it’s board games on family night, video games after a long day of class or work, or role-playing games on the weekends.
If you love games, why not have fun and make some income at the same time?
How to Make Money Gaming: 7 Ways to Earn by Playing!
From earning a little spending money to making real money by embarking on a full-time career, here are seven ways to make money playing games.
Play online games via points clubs
This first one isn’t going to make you rich, but when you are learning how to make money gaming, it’s a great place to start.
Sites like Swagbucks and MyPoints offer their members opportunities to play online games in exchange for points, and these points can then be traded in for gift cards or even Paypal payments!
This method of making money playing games often includes spending some money up front: You purchase game tokens at GSN.com (or whatever game site your points club partners with) and earn a certain number of points in exchange.
But if you like to play those sorts of online games anyway – games like Super Plunko, Deal or No Deal Slots, and Bejeweled 2 – this can be a good way to turn your enjoyment into a gift card or cash return. And Swagbucks even has some free games on its site!
If you like this idea, you might also want to know how to make money from watching videos or from online music jobs.
Provide customer service for other gamers
I know: Technically, this isn’t a way to make money playing video games. Still, it is getting paid for the expertise you’ve developed while playing games!
Companies such as Sutherland Global Services sometimes put out the call for gaming consultants – a player support position for people who are experienced gamers or experienced with gaming technical support.
Sutherland Global Services even supplies some of the equipment you need; all you have to bring is your gaming experience and a few other skills, such as being great at social media and multitasking.
Often these positions are part-time, but they’re well worth your time if you love gaming. These positions reportedly net about $9 per hour.
Become a playtester
If you have a critical mind and love trying out new games, then knowing how to make money gaming by being a playtester is a perfect match for you.
This is especially true if you enjoy really getting into the guts of a game and pushing it to the limits – basically, trying to break it. Game tester should be your next title!
As a playtester, you’re often provided with a video game in a prerelease state (along with some testing guidelines), then you’re asked to play the game extensively. You’ll need to provide extensive reporting on how the game responds.
Sometimes a game tester job requires you to be in a particular geographic location – close to the video game company headquarters, for instance – but many companies are also considering remote playtesters these days.
To find these positions as a video game tester, keep an eye on your favorite video game industry websites – they’ll occasionally put out a call for playtesters, though they sometimes compensate with product rather than pay.
Or keep tabs on the game testing positions open at quality assurance companies such as VMC. You can also sign up to be a video game tester at PlaytestCloud.
Become a professional gamer
Being a pro gamer is a risky method of making money, but it may be worth it if you enjoy the thrill of competition!
Professional gamers need to be the best of the best. And if you want to be an eSports player, you may need to try out for and make an eSports team full of the best of the best.
So where does making money playing games come in? That comes from winning championships and landing investors or endorsem*nts; as eSports become bigger, they’re attracting more attention and more money, with prize money adding up to millions of dollars.
If you’re in North America and hoping to land on a professional gaming team, check out Evil Geniuses, and Cloud9.
Become a gaming coach
When sports develop, a whole industry follows – and while there are many potential professional gamers, there are just as many teachers and coaches!
You can get in on this developing industry by putting your gaming experience to work as a coach. If you already have a solid reputation as a pro gamer (or at least as a skilled public gamer), you could recruit private students directly.
Or you can apply to a site such as Gamer Sensei and make up to $25 hourly as one of their teachers.
And if you’re a really skilled professional gamer? You could become the coach of an eSports team. Reportedly, coaches of big teams can make tens of thousands of dollars each year and receive full benefits.
Write for games
If you’re a talented and creative writer or artist, you may be able to write or produce art directly for games.
While it can be incredibly difficult to break into video game writing, being a content creator for tabletop games can be a very attainable gig for freelance writers with tons of tabletop role-playing game experience.
And for artists, this is even more true! Keep an eye on the career or submissions pages for gaming industry companies such as Fantasy Flight Games, Green Ronin Publishing and Onyx Path Publishing.
Become a YouTube star
So you love gaming – but are you also funny and engaging? Do people love listening to you talk about video games and laugh at (almost) all of your jokes?
Then you have the potential to turn that into money, my friend!
There’s a lot of competition, but truly entertaining gamers can become YouTube celebrities and earn ad revenue off videos of themselves talking about and playing games.
You can do Let’s Plays, where people watch you play a video game while you narrate what you’re doing, or even simply review games. If you become popular enough, you may receive complimentary merchandise from game companies who hope you’ll talk about them!
Just understand that you’ll need to hit 10,000 lifetime views on your YouTube channel before you can start showing ads, and you’ll likely want to keep it family-friendly to ensure a large audience.
Final Thoughts About How to Make Money Gaming
Ready to game for money yet?
That’s what I thought! I’ve given you the roadmap to work with and several gaming companies to approach.
Now you’ve just got to get out there, make contact and follow through when the opportunities arise. Don’t forget to let me know how you’re doing – I love to hear my readers’ stories, as you all seek to establish your work-at-home life!
