How to Make Money Playing Video Games

The Different Ways to Make Money Playing Video Games

There are many different roles and skills for people interested in making money while playing video games. The different jobs that I am sharing with you have huge disparities in pay and technical talent. The amount of time and hard work required to reach each role may differ immensely as well.

Becoming a Videogame Tester

A common job for people wanting to get paid to play video games to go for is video game testing. Most people might think that a video game tester gets paid for playing video games but the goal of a tester is generally to break a video game. A video game tester is generally paid by a studio company developing video games. A video game tester may require thousands of hours of playing and single game. For that reason most people who are interested in gaming might actually find that being a video game tester is not that fun. Becoming a video game test for a large or small company may be one of the fastest ways for any person to start being paid to playing video games. Companies who are making video games are constantly hiring people to test and play different video games they create. Some entry level testers are paid 10 to 17 dollars. Testers who become more proficient and have degrees are generally paid on Average 47,800$ a year. Higher paid game testers are expected to write more in depth reviews and suggestions for the game they play.

Participate in Professional Competitive Gaming Through Esport Events

It is hard to deny that Esports is becoming noticeable force in our world especially when there are companies such as Comcast investing 50 million into an Arena just for people to pay to watch competitive gaming. Esports is a term coined for competitive gaming. Esports has grown massively over the past attracting over 250 million viewers worldwide.There are professional players who are easily raking in 2 million dollars annually for competing in playing video games. Out of the top 500 esports teams worldwide only about the top players on the top 150 teams make a reasonable living of over 40 thousand dollars. Just breaking into any role in the competitive gaming industry let alone playing on one of the top teams can be a really tough challenge. To start off you may want to sign up for local tournaments in a competitive game that you really enjoy playing. If you start to win those tournaments it may be worth it to invest traveling for bigger tournaments. As you start to gain more skills, move up the rankings, and build a bigger brand for yourself then it might be a good idea to reach out to esports teams in the game that you are playing to see if you can try out for their team. Most professional gamers will generally only focus on mastering one game. More and more colleges are starting to offer scholarships for collegiate video game players. Building a name at the collegiate level may be a great way to get recognized for a professional team as well. Professional gaming may seem fun because of adoring fans and being paid a lot of money, however it takes a lot of pressure, practice, and determination in order to make it to the top. If you want to be paid a decent amount of money then you will have to be a top player in a massively popular competitive game in order to make a sizeable living from competitively playing video games. If you want simple tips to jump start your professional gaming career check out this article.

Creating and Sharing Replay Videos Online On Youtube and Facebook

The first era of online video game content came from a large group of people posting replays online of themselves. These replays slowly evolved to gameplay videos of people recording themselves while playing some of their favorite games. Generally people who make money from this method are posting their content on Youtube.com. You can also build fan pages on Facebook and grow an audience on the Facebook platform through shareable game replays. Most people posting video game content in 2019 make money from ads. The top content creators in the field can make a couple million dollars just from ad revenue. The job can be inconsistent especially for smaller influencers in the space. The difference in pay in different channels can depend entirely on the type of content, the trends of the internet, and the loyalty of the fanbase to the channel. Because of those factors there is no accurate way to really predict the pay of a channel. It easy can look back in the time of when Halo replays were on the rage and there were Youtubers on the internet easily making a couple grand for a single viral no scope headshot video.Some people get popular enough on Youtube to make money from sponsorship and product placements for their videos. Top video game creators such as PewDiePie can be making 1 million dollars just from Ad revenue. According to most Youtuber calculator sites, an average youtuber who gets 20,000 views per day may only be making a little over ten grand average per year. As of 2019, creating and posting video game content online is very saturated market and to make a considerable amount of money may require finding a niche, working hard, and a bit of luck. If you need some extra tips on growing your Youtube gaming channel you can check out this article.

Live Streaming Video Game Content Online on Youtube Gaming, Twitch, and Mixxer

The next evolution of posting video game video content is on live streaming platforms. With the introduction of platforms such as Twitch, Mixxer, and Youtube Gaming, watching people play video games has exploded over the past eight years. Creators post live content on these streaming platforms to attract large audiences. Viewers are willing to watch a live content creator play his or her favorite games because of the instant enjoyment of watching streamers attempting to be entertaining while trying to complete a challenge in a game. Top creators can be making millions of dollars per month just off of advertisement and streamer donations. When compared to posting regular video content, live streaming may be less competitive and more monetizable method for smaller influencers trying to build a career off of playing video games. However, today in 2019, live streaming video games is a very saturated field. Live streaming may still be an exciting career for those who want to work hard and work for themselves. Live streamers will still be spending hours in strategically growing their channels through creating content, collaborations, and partnerships. There is an up front cost to becoming a live Twitch or Mixxer Streamer. You will generally need a good computer, great internet, and some good audio equipment. It is hard to estimate how much a single streamer will make while live streaming because there are various ways for streamers to monetize their gaming career. We have worked streamers who have as low as a couple thousand followers who are making a couple thousand dollars per month. We have also worked with streamers with far more followers making far less than that amount. At blerp we personally build tools that help streamers add value to their Twitch Channels. Blerp for Twitch is and app that is specifically providing a unique and fun way for live Twitch streamers to use sound bites to make more money from their live Twitch streams.

Critiquing and Reviewing Video Games For Game Review Sites and Video Game Blogs

You may have heard of people being paid for critiquing movies, but you may not have heard that the same role exists for video games as well. A video game critic will play games and write very in depth reviews for the video games. A video game critic can provide valuable content for gaming sites and magazines. The game reviews are generally posted on credible gaming forums and magazines to provide gamers in depth into a game. A video game critic can either be hired by the gaming magazine or the game itself. A video game critic could also find a job posting their own content online or working for popular game review channels on Youtube. Depending on the expertise of the critic, a game critic can make as low as 30$ per review to as high as an 80 grand salary. If you are really ambitious you could try starting your own Game Journalism site. The amount of work it takes to successful build a content site is hard. Continually producing content and driving users to the content generally takes more work than one would think. Creating content surrounding videogames does not have to be written blog posts. If you are a talker rather than a writer then you may want to look into creating a podcast or video channel for your video game reviews. A gaming critique will have the chance to play a lot of games but they will mainly be paid for the articles he or she writes. If you are interested in building a career critiquing video games this article might be helpful for you.

Creating Professional Tutorial and Guides For Games

As the old saying goes, if you can’t play a sport than coach it. Some people who don’t go into professional gaming may be good enough in a game to teach others how to play it. There are examples on the web of great league players creating tutorial videos and guides on the specific champions that they play. These guides and videos can generally be monetized through ads and donations. Creating content that clearly communicates to people how to improve on a game can be an easier way for a person to grow an audience and eventually be paid for the knowledge that they share. If your professional credibility is strong and the online courses you release are really valuable than you may even be able to sell the courses to your students.

Earning and Selling in Game Content Specifically for Online Multiplayer Games

Depending on the game, this method may be against the terms of use of the game. It is a popular tactic for people to sell in game items and accounts for real money. MMORPGs and other multiplayer games generally have in game content that people find valuable enough to pay for. Back when Runescape was popular there are case studies of people making over fifty grand for selling digital gold. If you really enjoy playing a certain online multiplayer it may be a good idea to look into sites that help you sell content to make some money back on the time you spend playing the game.

Becoming a Video Gameplay Programmer

A far less risky, yet lucrative route to take for being paid to playing video games is becoming a video game developer. A video game developer is not strictly hired to play video games. A video game developer is hired to write the code that powers the game. However a game programming at most mid sized companies will be play testing the code that he or she is writing. This gives a lot of opportunity for any developer in the space to spend time playing the new features that he or she writes up. It is generally harder for a programmer to find work in the gaming industry when compared to other industries. Depending on the area, a video game programmer could be making as low as 40 grand a year to as high as 300 grand a year. You will not be playing a variety of video games for most of the time you spend working. For that reason, if your goal is strictly to be paid for playing video games then this might not be the best option for you. The great benefit of chasing this option is that if your plan to work in the gaming industry fails then you still have a high chance of securing a job that pays really well in another industry.

Here is a list of the top games to stream on Twitch, Mixxer and Youtube Gaming. Are you looking for the best games to play on your stream? Here are the top ten best games to stream for streamers!

Sound effects and audio within gaming has always played vital part in creating a enjoyable experience for users. Blerp has curated soundboards of the top sounds from your favorite video games!