Video games have been a popular form of entertainment for quite some time; however, as more and more consoles and games have been released, they have become a part of millions of households worldwide. As of 2016, there were 2,080 gamers throughout the world, and Statista predicted that by 2021 that number would grow to 2,725 million. In the US, 63 percent of households have at least one frequent gamer, and 65 percent of households have a “video game-playing device.”
These days, we have popular YouTube video gamers like WillyRex, elrubiusOMG, and Markiplier who have turned the pastime into a full-blown business that makes each of them more than one million dollars each year. Their success has prompted amateur and professional gamers all around the world to pursue their passion and turn it into a source of income. These days when a kid says, “I want to play games when I grow up” they mean it, and it’s a viable option.
Playing and posting about video games on YouTube isn’t the only way to turn gaming into a business. There are quite a few other ways that you could harness your hobby and bring in income. Here are five ways that you can turn your passion for gaming into a business and start bringing in money:
Start a YouTube Channel
As mentioned, it’s not the only way to make money gaming, but it’s fun and effective. Having a gaming channel on YouTube isn’t all about playing the games, though. You’ll need to brand yourself and your channel and be consistent with the brand. You’ll also need to make sure you publish at least one video every single day.
Additionally, you’ll need to add variety to your content—don’t just post videos of yourself playing games, try posting reviews and invitations to play, etc. There are a lot of other things you can do too, to draw in a following and keep them interested—by offering giveaways and hosting contents, you’ll be able to build up your following pretty quickly. Once you have everything figured out and running smoothly, you’ll start to see money coming in and may even be able to quit your day job after a bit.
Design Video Games
This doesn’t involve as much playing, but if you’re interested in coding or concept design, then getting onto the other side of video games is a good way to go. You can create worlds and characters that people can’t pull themselves away from, or you can code all of it to make it a reality. There’s a lot of money to be made in design, too. If you love video games, but don’t necessarily want to play all the time, design might be the best way to go.
Find, Earn, and Sell Stuff In-Game
A lot of social games these days have a lot of packs, tools, skins, etc. that are valuable but rare. If you get lucky enough to find one or two, you can always use them for yourself, but there are other players out there who would be willing to pay a pretty hefty amount of money for what you have. If you know where to look and how to collect them, you could make a lot of money reselling the special items to other players.
Write eBooks
Have you ever looked up Easter eggs, cheats, or helps to get you through a certain level of a game? People are always looking for guides whether they want more in-depth information on what they’re playing or they want to get past a particularly difficult boss. If you’ve beaten all the games you’ve played (or are working your way through some new games), you can write eBooks about what you did, why, and what the result was.
They have eBooks for business and eBooks that are fiction, so why not create eBooks to help people with video games? You might be surprised at how many people buy your books and how much money you’re able to bring in.
Game Competitively
You’d have to be good at the games you play to game competitively, but if you spend the time to build up your skills, it really could pay off. Dota 2 has tournaments worth over $96 million dollars, and League of Legends has tournaments that are worth over $38 million. Once you build up your skills and get good, you can join an eSports team and get into competitive gaming instead of making a daily commute.
Ideally, how would you like to make money off of video games?
