Thanks to the young media today, the world of video games has taken the world by storm. Of course, gaming is something that has captured the minds and the hearts of people of all ages. The video gaming center has become so advanced that when coupled with the internet, it has actually become possible to earn some money.

You will find a lot of streaming options on popular platforms like Twitch and YouTube. There are also thousands of professional gaming tournaments that have huge payouts. Then, there are also gaming celebrities and legends.

Any of us can use a bit of time off from our daily life and work. Personally, I find playing computer games presents a welcome distraction even though for just short time. Second, it may not be quite as fun and exciting as it sounds on the surface – making money rarely is. And third, you have to be able to separate the real opportunities from the many scams out there. With those warnings in mind, let’s take a look at some ways you really can make money playing video games.

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The question here is – can you earn money by playing video games? The answer is yes, you can. Many options can help you make money from the video game industry like streaming, YouTube videos, and everything else in the middle. If you are a gaming fan and looking to earn some money out of it, there are some ways you can do to earn money with video games.

Of course, it is never an easy job to create a website from scratch. However, a website that caters to gamers and games attracts the highest amount of traffic. You can review games like Sonic Playing video games on the website.

Once you have your target audience, you might even receive free games or any other type of sponsors. Of course, you do not have to become the next Games Radar overnight. Sites like these have been around for years, and you will not be able to compete against them immediately.

It is recommended to start small in a niche where you are an expert. For example, you love strategy titles; hence, start a Lego video games website to review such titles. Expand to other niches slowly.

It is the job of a programmer to bring video games to life. Companies tend to spend thousands of hours to ensure that their customers receive immersive titles. However, before a game is launched, companies rely on external testing panels to try the titles before they hit the market.

The quality assurance officer will play video games at the highest setting level and provide the required feedback. They also let the company/developer know what works and what doesn’t. If the officer has nothing to report, the company will know that the product is finished and ready for launch.

Similar to a QA officer, a video game tester’s job is to test the app. However, these individuals are in-house members of the gaming company and play the final rendition. The testers are established and successful gamers that have a foothold on the gaming industry.

On average, a tester may earn more than $70,000 per year. While becoming a video game tester might sound fun, it does entail a lot of work. You will have to sit in front of the monitor the entire day and play, even partially at night. Additionally, you will have to play a single game for at least a hundred times to look for any bugs or issues before the product is ready for its launch.

If you love to play video games when bored, then you can definitely look into becoming a professional YouTube streamer. If the number of subscribers on your YouTube channel crosses a specific limit, the video streaming platform will start paying you. A site is also a great option if you want to put in some commentary on games that are being played live.

For example, PewDiePie is one of the most successful streamers today. With more than 100 million subscribers, the number of views on his YouTube video can reach over 20 billion. Thanks to this, PewDiePie earns more than $500,000 per year from this ad revenue on his videos.

Twitch is yet another popular gaming community that was started by avid gamers. Similar to YouTube, Twitch allows you to monetize your streaming videos. Channels earn via advertising revenue by live-streaming their gaming sessions.

There are some requirements that you need to fulfill if you want to start earning on Twitch. Thankfully, these requirements are quite easy. Once done, you can expect the money within a month. One of the most popular Twitch streamers is ‘Ninja,’ who earned more than $10 billion in 2018. You will be able to provide something special like Wasteland 3 to all your viewers on Twitch.

If you are not much of a fan of live-streaming on social channels, you can consider starting your career as a game developer. If you love coding as much as gaming, you will earn a decent amount of money in the gaming industry. Many video game companies like Ubisoft and Blizzard offer an average salary of $83,000 to their game developers.

However, you should also know that being a game developer has its share of pressure. You will have to put in long hours of work, even on weekends. If you do not like the idea of working for someone else, you can also start your very own company.

The world of gaming has become big today. You will find several tournaments taking place each month for titles like Wasteland 3, Call of Duty, PubG, and Fortnite. From Japan to the United States, these tournaments take place all over the world.

For instance, 16-year-old Kyle Giersdorf won the grand prize of $3 million in the 2019 Fortnite Tournament hosted by Epic Games. Kyle’s gaming was witnessed by an audience of more than 2 million people around the world. Competing in gaming tournaments such as Wasteland 3 is one of the best ways to make money by playing video games, all while sitting at home.

eSports are slowly becoming a huge deal in the world of online video gaming. The total revenue of eSports exceeded more than $850 million in 2018. If you love gaming, you can sign up with an eSports team and take part in competitions all around the world.

On average, eSports gamers can earn roughly about $3000 per month. You will also find regular tournaments taking place for titles like Fortnite, DOTA2, Counter-Strike, etc. The eSports sector will only grow in the future.

If you love journalism and gaming, you can think of becoming a game journalist. While the pay might not be so great, it can become your side hustle if you love writing reports and have a passion for gaming as well. You must have a journalism degree to start this career.

However, you can also submit your writings as a freelancer. All you need to do is have a good command of English and be able to engage the reader. You also do not need any formal education.

When you are looking for gaming T-shirts online, you will find a lot of results. Similarly, you will find all types of merchandise when it comes to gaming. Some popular examples include cell phone cases, mousepads, coffee mugs, etc.

Many sites can help you sell T-shirts and other merchandise. Alternatively, you can also join a gaming company to sell the merch officially. Who knows, the company might even send over a game or two if you are great at your job.

Final Thoughts

The above are just some ways, among many others, to earn money if you love gaming. Of course, it might take some time for the revenue to become constant. On the same note, you can come up with other ideas and get started on them. But remember that hard work is the key. If you have any questions, you can drop them in the comment section below. If you have better ideas, please share them as well!

Thomas is a passionate writer, psychologist, and amateur gambler. He distracts himself with mr.bet during breaks and does a great job at his job in HR. Thomas currently lives in Seattle.

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It sounds like a dream come true, doesn’t it?

Well, it’s not a dream anymore. It’s now a reality. People have found out how to make money on Twitch just by streaming their gaming sessions.

With Twitch.TV, you can join 3.8 million broadcasters and live stream anything from you playing your favorite game to a tutorial on how to assemble a computer table Ikea-style to more than 15 million daily viewers.

As of 2020, Twitch is the number one esports live streaming service in the world.

It beats direct competitors Mixer, SmashCast.tv, and YouTube Gaming by a long shot.

And streamers are leveraging the power of the platform to make more money than ever thought possible.

How Much Money Do Twitch Streamers Make?

Making money with Twitch can be impressively lucrative, especially if you’ve got the right mix of personality, skills, and luck.

For example, popular Twitch streamer Ninja (real name: Tyler Blevins) has previously revealed that he earns around $500,000 per month from Twitch Prime subscriptions, sponsorships, and partnerships, as well as YouTube revenues from his 5 million subscribers.

Note that Ninja has been livestreaming since 2008.

Nowadays, though, Ninja exclusively streams on Twitch’s rival Mixer. He’s now worth upwards of $15 million, so he’s not doing too bad.

Not everyone will be pulling that kind of money, of course. But it’s still possible to earn some money.

How much cash you can make by will depend on your popularity, number of subscribers, type of content streamed, and the monetization option you choose.

How Do You Monetize Your Twitch Account?

Donations

Donations may seem like an insignificant monetization option, but imagine having a million followers who all decide to each donate a dollar within a span of 30 days.

You’d be a millionaire in a month, just from the donations.

Realistically, though, only a few of your viewers will donate, so keep this as a secondary option for income and don’t depend on this too much.

Affiliate marketing

Another common way to monetize your Twitch account is by joining various affiliate programs and promoting other companies’ and people’s products and services.

You do this by displaying a customized link to a site where your viewers can make a purchase. For every purchase coming from a click to your custom link, you’ll get a percentage of the cost.

This is different from the Twitch Affiliate Program, which you’ll learn about below.

Sponsorships

If a brand is impressed with your content and happens to have the same target audience as your videos, they might ask to sponsor a livestream or two (or two dozen, if you’re really good) so you can get paid to promote their brand to your viewers.

To be seriously considered for sponsorship, whether one-off or long-term, you’ll need to have a huge fan base with specific demographics that appeals to a certain brand. Plus, you’ll need to maintain a solid, reliable reputation.

As you know, these don’t come overnight; it takes a lot of work and a lot of livestreams to build a fan base and a good reputation.

Once you have these, though, it can really open up a huge source of steady income for you.

The Twitch Affiliate Program

Twitch sends an invitation e-mail to any streamer who has been working consistently to produce content.

Those with at least 50 followers, an average of 3 (or more) simultaneous viewers in the last 30 days, at least 8 hours of total broadcast in a month, and at least 7 broadcast days in the last 30 days get an invitation email from Twitch to be part of the Twitch Affiliate Program.

Once you become an affiliate, you can earn by accumulating “Bits” or when people subscribe and support your channel.

You also have the chance of earning from game sales and in-game items that originated from your channel.

Twitch Subscriptions

Once you’re a Twitch Affiliate, your viewers can subscribe to your Twitch channel.

Subscribing to a Twitch channel is more than just following; it’s following with added monetary support.

There are three subscription tiers currently available to users: $4.99, $9.99, and $24.99 monthly subscription.

Twitch also offers Twitch Prime, which is included with Amazon Prime and Prime Video, which viewers can use to subscribe to a channel of their choice for free.

What do viewers get from their subscription? They get unique emotes (or emoji), badges, special alerts, ad-free viewing, exclusive chatrooms, and exclusive competitions.

Which viewers are willing to pay subscription fees? Your genuine fans who truly like and appreciate the content you’re offering.

As for you as a streamer, subscriptions are a good, steady way to make money on Twitch. Also, it’s a good incentive to keep creating content.

Twitch keeps 50% of the fee and the Twitch Affiliate or Partner gets the other 50%.

Ad revenues

Twitch affiliates can earn money with shares in the advertisement revenue generated from video ads shown during their streams.

There’s no set income earned this way, but as a streamer’s followers increase, so will their ad shares.

Traditionally, video ads on Twitch streams are disruptive, but Twitch is introducing changes to make advertising on Twitch beneficial to everyone: advertisers, streamers, viewers, and Twitch, of course.

Twitch affiliates (and partners) are now allowed to take ad breaks and show ads via picture-by-picture so viewers don’t miss any of the gaming action. Enabling ad breaks would also allow streamers to disable pre-roll ads, that is, video ads that play before every stream, for a certain amount of time.

This is similar to the primary way of making money on YouTube, which is through ads. There are also a few other ideas listed there that could possibly be used to make money on Twitch as well.

The Twitch Partner Program

Any Twitch streamer who aims to make it big in the site dreams to be accepted into this program.

Unlike their Affiliate Program, the Twitch Partnership program is exclusive. You’d have to send an application for Twitch to check if your channel is qualified.

There are no published, set criteria on how Twitch Partners are selected, although they are known to consider content quality, average viewership, your engagement with your viewers, and stream frequency and consistency (that is, can they expect new content from you every week on a certain day?).

When you do make it as Twitch partner, you’ll reap all the benefits offered to affiliates, plus live chat privileges, custom emoticons and prefixes, verified user badges, and other exclusive-to-partner perks.

12 Ways You Can Make Money on Twitch

Below are 12 ways people are making money on Twitch to give you some ideas on how you could start and what kind of niches are available on the site.

If you’re just starting out, try and remain mindful of the type of monetization path you’d like to pursue down the line.

Make sure you keep your content relevant to that path to further your chances of succeeding.

1. Live video game, “Let’s Play” style

Twitch.TV is first and foremost the home of esports, so expect the competition among gamers to be fierce.

But if you’ve mastered a particular game and have a unique personality, there’s a good chance you’ll succeed in competing with older, more popular streamers.

The best thing about Twitch is that anyone can do it. Take Mackenseize, for example – she’s been diagnosed with a seizure disorder as a teen.

Now, even if the 25-year-old Hearthstone streamer seizes every once in a while during a stream, her 37,000+ followers continue to support her with every game she explores.

2. Speedrun

Speedrunning is the same as livestreaming any game, except that the goal of “speedrunners” is to complete an entire level or a whole game as fast as possible.

TheMexicanRunner, for example, is a hardcore speedrunner for classic games and has made a huge following with his NESMania quest, wherein he tries to finish every officially licensed game from the original Nintendo Entertainment System at record-breaking speeds.

3. Talk shows and podcasts

Twitch.TV also has streamers who host talk shows on gaming, where they talk about various games, review them, talk about the latest news, gossip, and issues about the gaming industry, and maybe even interview guests and hold round-table

Other talk shows on Twitch.TV do not focus on gaming.

h3h3Productions, for example, is an Israeli-American comedy channel produced by husband and wife team Ethan and Hila Klein.

With more than 570,000 followers, H3’s main content is a mix of commentaries, sketches, satires, and reaction videos about internet culture, YouTube policies, viral trends, and online personalities.

The duo even interviews YouTubers and celebrities.

Because more and more people and content creators are staying at home these days, expect Twitch to have more and more talk shows covering a variety of topics.

4. Play casino games

If you’re not a fan of video games and instead prefer playing poker and other casino games, there’s a special place for you on Twitch.TV.

Whether you’re a fan of slots, poker, or roulette, there’s room on Twitch.TV for you.

The most popular Twitch casino streamers as of 2020 include ROSHTEIN, CasinoDaddy, and ClassyBeef.

5. Radio-style stream

It’s not as popular as esports, but the Twitch Music category is a goldmine for anyone looking to create content or just chill.

Aside from taking advantage of the Twitch Music Library, which houses precleared music for Twitch broadcasters to use in their livestreams, you can also discover other streamers like NoCopyrightSounds who are focused on providing non-stop music to the Twitch community.

Of course, if you have the resources, you can always copy the success of legit radio-style streaming channels of Monstercat, SpinninRecords, and RelaxBeats, among many others.

6. Perform music

When the Music category was first launched in 2016, Steve Aoki, T-Pain, Deadmau5, and other EDM artists supported Twitch and the users embraced them wholeheartedly.

Today, big-name artists like Kanye continue to use the platform as a way to promote their music, increase followers, or simply chill with the Twitch community.

Even if big-ticket artists are sure winners on Twitch, it shouldn’t be stopping anyone with real musical abilities to earn money from Twitch, or even make it big.

There are plenty of hidden gems on Twitch, such as husband-and-wife gamers/musicians Travis and Allie of a_couple_streams, Kyle Landry’s Piano Madness, and a whole lot more.

7. Livestream your art

If musicians can livestream their music, graphic artists can also livestream their art on Twitch.

The Art category on Twitch is one of the most interesting non-gaming categories on Twitch, featuring artwork on different media, physical as well as digital, being created live while audiences watch.

Some watch to relax, others want to learn new techniques they can incorporate in their work, and still others like to see their favorite video game characters or worlds come to being as tangible artwork.

If you do plan to do this, make sure that your “info” section has relevant information and links to your portfolio so that your subscribers can find your other artwork.

Also, if you have a shop where they can buy your art, it’s also important to link to it so they can buy your art.

8. Make crafts

You can find streamers making all kinds of crafts under the Makers & Crafting category.

If you sew or make your own costumes for your cosplay, assemble your own gaming computers, or create jewelry or accessories, this might just be a video category you can get on board with.

Considering this is still primarily a video gaming stream site, you can make more money on Twitch if your crafts are related to games. Not only will more people view your videos, but they’re also likely to buy what you’ve made.

9. Play Magic: The Gathering

The cool thing about livestreaming is that even physical games like Magic: The Gathering can be broadcasted from your home.

And if you’ve been a master-gamer of Magic since it was launched in the early 90s, you can still bring out your card collections and revive the glory of competing against other Magic fans.

However, playing the digital version of Magic: The Gathering, Arena, has been more popular in recent years, enabling gamers who aren’t in the same location to stream their game.

Interested in joining Twitch.TV and earn money from your Magic: The Gathering skills, but don’t know where to start?

Check out the channels of LSV, Caleb Durward (CalebD), Kenji (NumotTheNummy), and Bob Ristau, and see how you can stream your own MTG plays and actually make money.

10. Live IRL

Twitch opened the IRL category to a ton of criticisms, but once the initial shock has passed, many existing Twitch streamers welcomed the idea and use it themselves for downtime, non-game streaming.

Within the IRL category, gamers could eat, sing, craft, cook, play sports, and other activities without being reprimanded for doing so at their respective game-specific category.

Since then, the IRL category has broken into different categories, but you can still tag videos as IRL.

IRL streams can be anything under the sun. Here are multiple examples that actually happened on Twitch IRL streams:

• KitBoga calls IRS, tax, virus, and other scammers and plays along for hours. He uses a voice changer to get into full characters like old-lady Edna and fools scammers for as long as possible.
• Someone doing math homework
• A guy assembling an Ikea closet
• Someone decorating a Christmas tree
• Architect designing a house
• Fully clothed Andy Milonakis streaming from inside a running shower
• Someone staring at a wall (this kid made $100 for this activity)
• A guy making balloon animals for over an hour
• An American reading books in French
• Bounty hunters who livestream while working
• Someone who made two Google Homes talk to each other for hours
• A garbage collector streaming his job on a regular day
• Japanese man going to his local barber, eating out, and taking his viewers to interesting parts of his city
• An Arby’s employee who streams his entire shift

As you can see, IRL is the most flexible and fastest-growing tag yet still provides a way to make money on Twitch.

As long as you go live with your idea and give it your all, you’d be surprised that there will always be a market for anything streamed.

People generally want to be entertained, taught to do things visually, or just get a good laugh from something totally random.

11. “Just chat” with your viewers

A natural offshoot of the IRL category is the “Just Chatting” category.

Just Chatting videos are exactly what they sound like; it’s you just talking to your viewers and subscribers.

You can try to share your views about the latest news about the topic of your streams, educating people about certain issues that are near to your heart, or maybe even just funny stories.

Even merely asking how they are, answering their questions, asking them questions, and at times merely acknowledging your lurkers (i.e., those in the chat, watching but not commenting for various reasons) can increase engagement with your community, keep them coming back, and spread the word to new viewers.

Aside from your regular content on your channel, having a stream under the “Just Chatting” category every once in a while can boost your popularity, and thus your earnings.

12. Cook food (and eat it!)

Another popular non-gaming Twitch category is the Food & Drink category that has all kinds of food prep, meal prep, cooking, baking, and all other videos related to food.

Free Games You Can Make Money On

Videos under the former category Social Eating remain tagged as such but seem to have been lumped in this category as well, where streamers eat live on camera and share their meals with the community.

13. Go to work and make money on Twitch

The majority of game streamers on Twitch have some sort of IT-related jobs or skills.

There’s a huge demand for game development tutorials, so if you’ve got the patience, talent, communication skills, and passion to teach programming, coding, web development, photo/video editing, robotics, or any other tech topics, you’re good to go.

Twitch is where it’s at.

This also goes for specific programs.

For example, if you have advanced knowledge of Blender (the 3D modeling software), you can stream how you do things and you’d be surprised at the interest these streams bring.

If you’re under 20, you might want to check out our list of online jobs for teens for some ideas on jobs you could potentially stream from the comfort of your home.

14. Wrestle

If you don’t know it yet, Twitch.TV has been promoting professional wrestling in recent years.

They’ve got several big companies already involved and have partnered with the likes of IMPACT! Wrestling and House of Hardcore to grow a Twitch community around wrestling.

Twitch even joined WrestleCon, giving its partners like Tangent access to stream the slams, dives, and global wrestling action live and share it to other fans.

If you’re a fan, don’t miss Knokx Pro Wrestling Academy’s Twitch channel, where you can watch streamed pro wrestling and listen to the input from the crowds watching to influence matches.

You can definitely get some ideas on how you can run your own wrestling channel there.

Are You Ready To Start Making Money On Twitch?

The best thing about Twitch is that it’s free to use for all. You don’t have to set out to make money on Twitch, but why not create an account, start streaming while you game or do your other activities, build a following, and see what it turns into?

Games That Pay Real Money

Who knows, you may be the next hottest Twitch streamer!

Games You Can Make Money On

Are you a Twitch viewer, subscriber, streamer, or all of the above? Were you inspired by any of the ideas above? Share your story in the comments!