How to Make Money by Playing Video Games

Making money from playing video games is up there as one of the best ways to earn extra cash in your spare time. Our ideas range from quick ways to make an income from home, to full-time career options. And you don’t necessarily need to be a pro gamer to earn money, either (although if you are, some of these tips will apply to you!). These are the best ways to make money by playing video games:

1) Play games to earn money on Swagbucks

Swagbucks is a website and app that lets you make money from playing games, answering paid surveys, watching videos and more.

The more tasks you complete on there, the more SB points you earn. These points can then be redeemed as free gift cards or PayPal money. We explain more about how it works in our Swagbucks review. There’s a wide range of games to choose from.

As mentioned earlier, we’d advise against playing games that require you to spend money for the chance to win rewards, such as casino or bingo games. However, there are games on Swagbucks that you don’t need to pay anything to play.

Check the conditions of how to win SB before playing each game. You might find you need to download an app, reach a certain level and/or progress through the game within a particular timeframe. Moreover, There are some free online games that you don’t need to download. But it’s worth noting that you might not necessarily receive SB every time you play them.

The good news is, if you’re a new user and join Swagbucks via the link , you can get a sign-up bonus.

2) Become a Twitch streamer

As a Twitch streamer, there’s the potential for you to make money by filming yourself playing games. This won’t be for everyone. But, if it appeals to you, it can be a good way to make some extra money in your spare time.

To gain subscribers, you’ll need to regularly post fresh and engaging content. If the videos just feature you sitting in silence in front of a video game, this is unlikely to keep a viewer’s attention – let alone encourage them to pay to watch your streams.

If you’re keen to give it a go, there are loads of ways to make money on the platform. A few examples are receiving bits (Twitch’s virtual currency), joining the Twitch Affiliate and Partner programmes and doing affiliate marketing.

The amount streamers earn varies. Although it’s possible to get rich if you become one of the leading Twitch creators, not everyone will make huge amounts of money from their streams. You can sign up to Twitch to earn your side or full income.

3) Work as a video games tutor

As tutoring is flexible work, it should fit easily around your timetable. A good way to get started is by advertising on sites like Fiverr and Superprof. Check out each site to get an idea of how much other gaming tutors charge, and which types of games they specialize in.

When deciding on the games to focus on teaching, think about which ones tend to be played in major competitions. This could help you stand out to aspiring pro gamers.

4) Compete in gaming tournaments to win cash prizes

As an example, Dota 2 had a cumulative prize pool of $32.85 million (around £27 million) in 2022 according to Statista. However, remember that the biggest tournaments will be incredibly competitive. Even if you put a lot of time into preparing for the events, there’s still no guarantee you’ll take home any prize money.

You might also find there are entry costs for video game tournaments. So, if you’re looking for a reliable source of income as a student, a part-time job would be a safer bet. Having said that though, if you’re fortunate enough to get an esports scholarship, this could cover the costs of competing.

5) Apply for an Esports scholarship

Esports scholarships are pretty unusual, but it is possible to get them. For example, the University of Roehampton offers £2,000 per year to some talented student gamers through their esports scholarships.

Moreover, they’ve also introduced the Women in Esports scholarship, which aims to help more women get into the gaming industry. You can find out more on the University of Roehampton’s website. Not all universities offer esports scholarships. Therefore, if you’re already at university, you might struggle to find one. But, if you’re applying for university and are keen to pursue a career in Esports, this could be something to look out for when choosing which university to go to.

6) Work as a games tester

Getting paid to play games for a living sounds like a dream. But, for those who work as games testers, this is actually their reality. When companies develop games, they hire games testers for quality assurance. Therefore, This job can involve playing games to assess them for things like usability and functionality, and to find bugs that need to be fixed.

Moreover, you could be testing games on a range of platforms, such as on a games console, mobile, tablet or desktop. And, after testing the games, you’d likely need to present your findings in a report. To find games testing jobs, it will help if you have a degree in a relevant subject, such as games programming.

Games testing is often a full-time job. You can usually find relevant roles on CV-Library, Indeed and similar job websites. It’s also possible to do it on a freelance basis via sites like Fiverr.

7) Make money as a gamer on social media

If you love video games and social media, you can combine these two interests to earn money as a gaming influencer. This line of work isn’t for everyone. For starters, you’d need to be comfortable with sharing content on social media regularly and be skilled at building an audience of online followers.

However, it’s a similar principle to making money on Twitch (which we explained more about earlier). If you do like the idea of sharing your gaming experiences with others, this is something to look into.

Making money on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube are all good options for anyone keen to share content about video games online. You could share tips about games or post funny videos that gamers will relate to or a combination of both. To get started, check out other gaming influencers on each social media platform for ideas about what style of content works best and, for tips on how to monetise your content.

Conclusion

All in all, video gaming is a great way to earn money if you know how to do it the right way! Even though video gaming was seen as a way of timepass a few years back, it now holds immense potential to become a professional career! All the ways to earn money through video games we discussed in this article can help you earn great. 

FAQs

1. What are the top games in which I can turn pro?

Here is a list of the top games in which you can turn into a professional player –

• Dota 2:  It is a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena AKA MOBA game in which teams play against each other with the aim of destroying each other’s base.  
• Counter-Strike: Counter-Strike is another multiplier battle arena game in which you play with a first-person POV. 
• Call-of-Duty: Popularly known as COD, this game is widely played all around the globe and hence, has a lot of tournaments in which you can play professionally.  
• Fortnite: You are living under a rock if you haven’t heard about this extremely popular game. Fortnite is a battle royal game with the aim of survival amongst other players. 

3. What types of skills are needed to make money through video games?

Diving into the world of video gaming as a source of income requires an arsenal of skills that go beyond simply being an avid gamer. To truly succeed in making money through video games, one must:

• Develop technical proficiency and gain expertise in specific popular game titles. 
• Mastering strategic thinking and honing quick decision-making abilities to give competitive gamers an advantage during intense player-versus-player battles. 
• Engaging in communication is essential when exploring avenues such as live streaming, video content creation, or coaching, as these opportunities depend on cultivating a loyal and interactive audience. 
• Developing entrepreneurial spirit is a must when venturing into the business aspect of video gaming, whether launching one’s own indie games or designing innovative in-game assets.