So your parents are telling you to get a job, or maybe you are looking for a career change – you are good at playing games, but the money just isn’t there for you yet and you are having a hard time figuring out where to get started. Well look no further. We are here to tell you that there is real money in gaming and this post is going to help you to find the avenues in which you should look into in order to find it!
Gamers in general spend a ton of money on games, an estimated $135 billion in 2018. Gaming companies aren’t the only ones making the money though, the gamers are too. Gamers all around the world have turned playing video games into a full-time job that can earn some of them millions of dollars in just a few years. That’s a lot of money, seems to be just another benefit of being a gamer huh? Where does the money come from though?
eSports Tournaments
The Future Of Esports Betting
If you are the best at a particular game, you are going to make the most money from competing in tournaments and showing the world (and your wallet) who the best player is. Tournaments can range from small to huge with payouts that match the size of the tournament. There is big business behind eSports as it has generated over $635 million dollars globally per year the last few years alone, and that figure is growing each year – you might even say that eSports has gone “pro” since most of the esports teams are owned by companies that are making more than traditional professional sports teams.
Some of the biggest of these companies are Cloud 9 and 100 Thieves, who own teams that compete in games like Rocket League, Counter Strike, PUBG, and of course Fortnite. It pays to be good at these games, and it pays even more to be on a team that is good at these games. How much does it pay you ask? On a game like Overwatch the minimum player salary can be as much as $50,000 – that’s a typical annual salary in the working world. Other games such as League of Legends (LOL) has a much higher player salary around the $320k range.
Epic makes ‘Fortnite’ biggest esport in the world with $100 million in prize money
Why are these salaries so huge for playing games? Because companies are willing to pay top dollar for the eSports audience, because the audience is huge – and there is growing demand there. You don’t have to be “the best” at a game to make money playing it though.
Live Streaming
Gamers play games for the love of the game, they just want to play it – not necessarily be the best at it. So how can you make money just playing games? If you have a good personality, you can attract people to your YouTube channel, or Twitch stream. There you can gain views/likes, and money! With YouTube if you put on a consistently good show playing the games you love – people will watch you, and that over time will make you money – it’s really that simple. To do this you have to have a computers, some games, some recording or streaming equipment, and determination! Learn how to setup a YouTube Channel (or a Twitch channel) – they are free to create, but they aren’t going to make money themselves.
It takes a lot of time and hard work to grow a YouTube channel, you have to do the playing, the recording, the editing of the videos, the managing of the schedule – comments, users, questions – it can be a bit overwhelming, Ninja can tell you. That is how it should be though as nothing worth having has ever come free! After a few years of pruning your video game voice, and your original style – you’ll have followers and a solid income from your video game business. You don’t just have to play through the game as it is intended either, you can create funny videos, you can create tips and walkthrough videos, you can even show people how to play online battle royale games like the new Apex Legends, or Realm Royale, or casino games like Mega Moolah, or show hidden Easter eggs in hidden retro gaming gems – and make some moolah of your own from the views while you do it!
Blogging About Games
How To Start A Gaming Blog Today (Step by step)
Yes even gamers can blog, you can write your thoughts on gaming, give tips for games, walkthroughs, game collecting, collection, etc anything that you want – all great websites, especially blogs come from a place of passion, and if you are passionate about gaming, it will show in your writings. For this route you need to be able to create a website, or get someone to do it for you. Basically you just need a domain name, a hosting setup, and a fresh install of WordPress and you are off to the races! Your topics of choice and what you choose to write about (Nintendo only? Sega? All retro gaming? etc) is up to you.
You can earn money from a website in similar ways that streamers do, affiliate commission, ad clicks, sponsorships, etc. Give it a try!
Selling Games
Video Game Arbitrage: A Step-by-Step Guide to Reselling Popular Games
In the world of eSports it’s easy to forget that gaming came from humble roots – and physical ones too! Digital games are all the rage now but it makes everyone appreciate (and want) the older physical versions. Remember when games used to come with manuals? Well now collectors are selling and trading their wonderful game collections for top dollar. If you have an old game collection you can sell it for a lot these days.
Even if you didn’t have an old game collection – a lot of gamers are making their living now by hunting down good deals on retro and other physical games and collectors items and re-selling them on sites such as eBay. Nothing beats honest hard work and if you take the time to learn the physical gaming world and what everything is valued at, you can find some great payoffs. At the end of the day you are dealing in things you love, and along the way you’ll learn a lot about the games and maybe even get to play some rare gems that you had never heard of (and would have never otherwise found) – Game collecting is great, and being able to make a living off of selling games is also a great thing, you could even use some game goodies to bootstrap a new gaming rig to jump into one of the other fields we mentioned today! The sky’s the limit!
We hope that this guide has helped you to find your footing in the world of online gaming and how to start making some money doing what you love – playing games! Thanks for reading