How to make money by playing video games

Jared Wynne Published 04/06/2020

We all know that there’s money to be made in gaming, and not just through game development. In recent years, gaming has opened up a whole host of new avenues for potential income. Gaming has evolved far beyond what most ever thought it would be.

Competitive gaming

Taking part in esports is one clear way to earn some money while playing the game you love. Most competitive online games have some kind of ranked system or professional league that gamers can compete in to earn money. Not all of them do offer monetary rewards, so it’s important to keep that in mind as some titles offer in-game currencies and items instead.

If you’re determined to earn some money while gaming, it’s a good idea to look for games with a large competitive scene. Those are the ones with more money and prizes are available. Most such games also involve playing with a team, such as in League of Legends or Dota 2.

Being a competitive gamer takes a lot of hard work and training. At this point, you are no longer playing just for fun. To earn money, you need to spend a lot of time not playing the game, watching how better players react to situations, and studying the evolving meta. The highest ranked players are the competition here, and beating them will never be easy.

Selling items

This isn’t possible in every game, but many online games allow for trading and the potential to earn money through the practice. Digital items and currency like PoE orbs are gaining more of a real monetary value now. So it’s no surprise that gaming items and currency are included in this.

Websites such as Eldorado allow gamers to buy, trade, and sell items or currencies they don’t need or want to keep in exchange for real money. Items can be sold in the game for digital currency of course, but that doesn’t always mean much. There are cases where rare items aren’t valued highly in the game, but selling them on a platform such as Eldorado provides real money in exchange. Plus, selling items provides more of a reward for the often difficult efforts that go into grinding rare items.

After spending the day killing bosses or completing raids, players don’t have to just sell items to the in-game stores for virtual currency. They can look for opportunities to get something real in return rather than throwing away unwanted items and loot.

Having this option can provide a small amount of extra money each month, unless one really dedicates themselves to it. When games allow for trading, there’s cash to be made from them.

Content creation

YouTubers and Twitch streamers are now digital celebrities, and some of them are even becoming household names due to the size of their fan bases. Becoming so popular is hard, but there’s still money to be made here.

It’s all about defining a niche and sticking with it. It will pull viewers in, but one still needs to be good at streaming to keep that attention.

Video game tester

While gaming may be fun for most, testing is a rigorous practice. Testers need to write a lot of reports about the games they’re reviewing. They’re the first line of defence for dealing with bugs and problems that slip through the cracks during development.

Keep in mind that more game developers are now running open alphas and betas through which regular players participate in what is essentially a live testing environment. There are less developers looking for video game testers, and more people are trying to become one as a way to open other doors in the gaming industry.

Jared Wynne

About Jared Wynne

Jared Wynne is the Editor-in-Chief at WIN.gg, overseeing its content. He has been working in digital media for over two decades, most often in and around the gaming industry. His all-time favorite games include Baldur’s Gate, Doom, and Counter-Strike, but he’ll play just about anything that seems interesting. His previous credits include The Daily Dot, The Esports Observer, GameLand, and more.

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