Top 10 Ways To Earn Money Playing Video Games

This might sound a bit far fetched, but your obsession with certain types of games could be used to get you the experience you need to take on some professional work. Take for example Jann Mardenborough from the UK whose obsession with Gran Turismo eventually earned him a place in the European Formula 3. Also Armed Forces across the world now also use video games to help train soldiers and specialists, with the US Army releasing America’s Army to help gain the interest of potential soldiers. Use your head and you might find something someone hasn’t thought of.

So you've amassed a huge amount of in game wealth in your favorite MMO. Maybe you hit max level a while ago, maybe you've got that ultra rare item that's so coveted by your fellow players. But regardless, now that your done with the game, what to do with your character and all that gold? Well, some people are willing to buy your in game characters and currency for real world cash. Easy money for you, quick shortcut for them. Just be careful; scams abound and many games forbid this practice, so know the rules before you buy or sell anything.

With new games coming out all the time there’s always going to be a demand for what to do when you get stuck in a game, or tips of how to get an edge in a multiplayer match. Someone’s gotta write those walkthroughs. Website Killerguides.net can will now buy game guides that you wrote and publish them eBooks for other to purchase and pay you for. Alternatively, if you have good capturing software; How to videos and online Walkthroughs on Youtube are also ideal options, but we’ll talk more about YouTube later…

Are you one of those people who likes to find way to break a game? Well this job might be just for you. One of the few jobs in the gaming industry that requires little prior-experience, your job as a Quality Assurance tester is to essentially to play the game, usually a specific part, over and over again in an effort to make it break or glitch out, and then report your findings to the developers. It can get repetitive playing the same thing over and over again yes, but it’s also a great way to get your foot into the gaming industry.

There’s always something new happening in the games industry everyday, be it interesting stories, reviews for new releases or finding games that aren’t very well known. Since there’s a lot of new and upcoming publications, mostly on the web you’ll be able to begin by working freelance with various sites, or you can start your own blog and eventually monetize it to earn revenue. Make sure you also know how to utilize search tags, and it also helps to be unique if you want to build an audience, since you don’t want to be labeled as “Just another reviewer.”

QA Testing not for you? Or maybe you've been doing it for a while and you're ready for something bigger. The next step is actually working on the games in question. Nothing gets you closer to the games you love than being part of their very creation. And just because you aren't a programming wiz doesn't mean there isn't a place for you in the industry; art design, public relations, marketing, social media management: game design doesn't just end with the designers. For more tips on how to break into the gaming industry, check out our (upcoming? Recent?) video on the subject.

While only the very smallest of percentage of players are good enough to even compete in the larger tournaments, this IS something that a select group of people makes a lot of money off of. Your best chances to get involved in the scene are usually to join a team and play with other professional players to get the practice you need, the best ways to get into a team is to get involved in the online ranked matches, be active in the community and most importantly; don’t be a jerk.

So you’ve joined a team, but how do you get paid in between tournaments? That’s where Sponsorship comes in. When your team has a large enough reputation sponsors can support your team, either with merchandise or cash, usually in exchange of showing off their products like Headsets, Chairs or Gaming mouse’s. Not a pro player? Well Sponsorships can also come to you, if you just so happen to fall into our next 2 entries.

It’s the latest trend on Youtube these days, gamers with electric personalities play games while giving commentary and feedback on the game they’re playing. Some Youtubers use an in camera feed, and the most popular of players almost all eventually get sponsors for the channels. If you’re planning on doing this, it certainly pays to make a proper investment in a decent system and capturing software, as well as a quality microphone. And make sure you feel dedicated; because if you’re not interested, your viewers won’t be either.

Just like Lets Play videos but live instead of record, Twitch.tv is perhaps the biggest live steaming website out there right now, where you earn money through both ad revenue and through subscriptions. Just like Lets Playing, don’t expect large audiences on day 1, most People who stream for about a year can usually only get an average of 100 viewers. The best way to build your audience is to interact with said audience, if you can give them good reasons to stick around they’ll keep coming back for more. Speaking of coming back for more, a good, dependable schedule is also paramount, as your viewers need to know when to tune in to get their fix.


Do you agree with our list? Is there any other advice you could give to others? For more informative Top 10’s published daily, be sure to subscribe to Watchmojo.com