Let’s face it. If making money from gaming was easy, we’d all be doing it already. What better way to make a living than by doing something you love? However, that does not mean it’s unrealistic. Chances are, you’re not going to make a career out of it. But you can still make extra money from doing what you’re going to be doing anyway.
There are plenty of people making lots of cash gaming on services like Twitch and YouTube. The problem is that those platforms require you to be entertaining, and not everyone is up for that. Some people have natural presence, but I know I’m not alone in saying that’s just not me.
The good news is you can still make money from gaming. Here are some ways you can go about it.
Host Gaming Servers
Gaming servers are fundamental to playing multiplayer games, as you well know. You’ve experienced this on the part of the gamer. But you can easily move into the business side of it by hosting gaming servers. You buy up the servers and rent them out to admins. The admins pay you, essentially, just for being there.
As a gamer, you’re better placed to profit from hosting gaming servers, because you know which games are likely to gain a high player base in the near future. You don’t have to be particularly clever about it – going with a sure winner like Minecraft will guarantee you profit.
But if you’d like to make money playing the actual games, you could try some other strategies.
Beta Testers
The role of a playtester is something we’ve all dreamed of. A gaming company gives you games for free, and then proceeds to pay you to play it and report back to them. This is not just a pipedream, and you don’t have to be one in a million to get into playtesting. There are many companies out there looking for testers constantly. They will have different requirements and different pay grades, but the foundation is the same.
It’s not perfect, obviously, or everyone would be doing this all day every day. You’re not going to find a full-time job testing games, and you’ll have to play games you don’t necessarily want to. You also have to commit to providing good feedback. But as a way of supplementing your income, this is a really great option.
Review Games
Finally, one of the most consistent and reliable ways of making money from gaming is to review games online. You can do this through a blog, or even just pitch your ideas to popular websites. When a new game comes out, get your hands on it and post a review as soon as possible.
Once you have a reputation, you can get companies to send you their games pre-release in exchange for a review. If you do really well, you can get partnerships with retailers, and earn money from any sales that come through your reviews. This can be a great source of extra income.
Gaming does not have to be something you only do for fun. It can be lucrative as well, and not only by becoming famous on YouTube or Twitch.
I'm a published author and proud US Army veteran who happens to be a gamer, so I decided to combine the two and love every minute of it! Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments and I'll be sure to get back to you.
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