They say when you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. That statement is common among doctors, nurses, and emergency responders who love what they do… helping others. Well, what if what you loved to do is play video games?
That’s not exactly the ideal image of loving what you do in a way that contributes to the greater good of the world, but hey if you love it then great! Now, the question is, can you make decent money from playing video games?
Truthfully, Yes You Can… But…
Being an avid gamer can earn you a nice chunk of change, but it is recommended that you don’t quit your day job! A lot of people will take on the challenge of gaming full-time, but playing video games as a source of income can kind of take the fun out of playing.
A 2016 survey conducted by the Entertainment Software Association said that 60% of households have at least one member of that household who plays video games at least three hours or more per week. So with that statistic in mind, if that one member of a household were to try and play video games for a living, they have a high chance of hating what they once loved.
Give It a Try!
So, to answer the question of if you can make money playing video games, yes you can, but you’re better off doing it as a source of additional income to your primary source. But you definitely have the potential to make a nice amount of money all while doing what you love. Check out these great ways you can earn while you play!
Make Money Going Live
How to Do It
Going live is the hottest thing out right now. The goal of going live is to build a large following of people. You can either gain your revenue by way of ads or even through donations and subscriptions. You can promote the latest in gaming accessories, give reviews, and showcase your reactions to certain games. You just need to make sure that you’re setting yourself up on the biggest platform for success.
The Tricky Part
The truth is, it takes quite a while to build up your followers for streaming audiences. The reality is, it can take several months to get 10 followers, let alone hundreds of followers. The key here is to make yourself stand out from everyone else with the same money goals as you.
Recommendation
Figure out what would make people want to watch you more than the next streaming sensation. Create your own personal brand with unique humor or stand out by playing games that you don’t see too many gamers playing, to spark their interest.
Put Your Gaming Experiences in Writing
How to Do It
You can become a contributing writer to an existing site or you can create your own blog. If you create your own blog you have the capabilities to write news on when the newest of games will be coming out, give you review on different games you’ve played and whether or not you recommend them to others, and conduct interviews with other gamers!
The Tricky Part
The world of journalism is already a very competitive industry, but it’s especially competitive in the world of gaming journalism. As a contributing writer, they’ll ask you to write for free or for pennies until you’ve established a nice portfolio. If you go with your own blog, it can take many years to get the number of followers you want to come to your site.
Recommendation
Start out looking for job openings or guest post options from intermediate-sized gaming sites. Don’t go for the big ones like IGN until you have enough writing samples to present. You also want to steer clear of new sites that have 0 following.
Participate in Tournaments/Get Sponsored
How to Do It
Tournaments for PvP are very popular among gamers, and the more popular the game is, the larger the cash prize will be. If gaming talents are exceptional, you could be eligible to join an esports organization and earn decent compensation through winnings and getting sponsorship.
The Tricky Part
You have to be really good at playing video games, and if you only play them because they’re fun, then you won’t be able to make money through tournaments. You have to have a real passion to play, and not everyone has that. Furthermore, if you get knocked out early in a round, you will go home with nothing.
Recommendation
Look for PvP tournaments for popular games. Once you find them, PRACTICE! As you perfect your gaming skills, you’ll be able to meet other pro gamers and network. This will get your name out there and give you the inside scoop on more tournaments that you didn’t know about.
Put Your Gaming to the Test
How to Do It
Before a game gets released to the public, it must undergo several stages of development. Once the game is almost complete, the developers will test it out but they already know the layout of the game, which is why they want “fresh eyes” to test it out.
As a game tester you’ll be looking to see if there are any kind of kinks or bugs that need to be worked out, and if you do find any discrepancies, you’ll need to document it and make sure the developers know about it to improve the game.
The Tricky Part
The way video games are rolling out, it’s not hard to be a game tester but the pay isn’t great… in fact it might actually be right at minimum wage, so you definitely don’t want to look at this as a way to quit your day job!
Recommendation
Search for playtesting companies or consider looking into becoming an internal tester at a company. It can be hard but for this particular one, you’ll just have to try your luck.
