Playing games is always fun and we tend to think we just do it in our spare to time to relax and unwind. But there are many people who do this as a profession and usually make good money from it.
Professional gamers make a good level and steady income from a diverse stream. These diverse streams come from Live streams, sponsorships, Youtube videos, and much more.
These are only some of the ways that professionals make money online but there are other ways they can also make money, especially from tutorials and competition-based games.
Do gamers make a lot of money?
There has been an increased interest when it comes to gaming content to the point where professional teams and organisatins are offering investment to gamers who have a good amount of following as well as good gaming content.
To determine whether a gamer can make a lot of money we first have to analyse the sources of income they’d receive. In general, there are two main ways they can make money from gaming.
Live Streams
Playing games live on popular social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Facebook can rapidly grow your audience. You always have the opportunity to pre-record and post them beforehand but you’ll just get more users to join your live stream as you play the game.
Youtube
Youtube is one of the best ways to put yourself out there and keep dropping good gaming content. Gamers who regularly post content on their youtube channel and have proven to build an audience or get a substantial amount of watch time or views can then monetize their channel via ads, affiliate income, and sponsorships.
Gaming Tournaments
Gaming tournaments are a common way for modern gamers to make a sizeable income for themselves. If you’re really good at gaming and put yourself out there for others to see, you can join an esports company by winning tournaments and getting sponsored which can make a very healthy and steady income.
Twitch
Twitch is known to be the most used streaming platform, it currently has 75% of the market. It hosts many gamers and this is a way for many modern gamers to build an audience and then monetize their audience through several means. Gamers who are on the platform make money through donations, advertisements, subscriptions, and sponsorships. The most common is the ads generated and a subscription-based model
Becoming A Gamer – This is what it takes
There are few ways to get started to become a gamer and make a good amount of living by doing it. But with anything, it requires hardwork, commitment and being consistent with it for a long period of time.
1. Create a youtube channel and build an audience
One of the easiest ways in building an audience online is through Youtube by targeting specific questions that people are searching for and answering those questions through a series of Youtube videos. This is relatively effective because people will naturally find your channel and resonate with your message.
The next step would then be to create content around tutorials, playing games live, reviewing games, gaming pcs and consoles, and general gaming tips and tricks that would be helpful to your organizations.
As long as you’re consistent with the content and making sure their your engaging with your audience as much as you can then it is a matter of time when your subscribers become massive and generate good revenue for yourself in a short time.
2. Get Started on Twitch
Twitch is known to be the leading social media that hosts the most gamers and helping them getting the right audience as well as earn a substantial amount of income for them and their families.
The primary reason why many gamers use twitch is that the platform’s sole purpose is video games. This also provides the opportunity for users and fans to interact with other viewers and gamers. If the gamer is really good then they can create a subscription-based model where they charge a fee for users to join the stream.
There are many games that streamed on the platform such as Fortnight, League of Legends, Grand Theft Auto V, needless to say, the more popular the game more the interaction and traffic you’ll receive. So get really good and then start playing the high-level games to get more of an opportunity for yourself.
3. Become A Gaming Journalist
Becoming a gaming journalist is a popular way of making good money whilst exploring your interests as a gamer. The job would entail writing gaming news/releases from other video game companies, playing games and writing your review on them and also reviewing consoles, gaming pcs and much more.
The process of becoming a gaming journalist is relatively simple, you’ll just need to have a sample of your writing and then directly apply for a video gaming publication or become a freelance gaming writer and source clients from freelance websites such as fiverr.com or upwork.com.
4. Becoming A Game Tester
Becoming a gaming tester can be fun and you’ll be making a decent amount of money testing all of the new games that come before anyone sees them. A tester would involve trying to figure out the vulnerabilities of the game or another way to put it is to try to break the game or alternatively find a way of messing it up really badly. This is because the organization would need to understand what could be causing some of the issues for users in the future and whether they can fix the problem way before the issue arises.
5. Become A Professional Gamer
If you’d asked me 10-15 years ago that it is possible in the slightest to become a professional gaming i would laughed and giggled but we are living in unusual times and everything revolves around the internet.
Professional gamers are now going around the world competing and sometimes winning millions of dollars at high-scaled events through sponsorships by the Major League Gaming circuit, International Dota 2 championship, and Intel Extreme Masters.
Wrapping Up
It is evident that gamers can make a lot of money if they use the right platforms and build the right type of audience from the beginning. They would also have to be exceptionally skilled when playing these high-profile games. Since the bulk of the money is coming from live streaming as well competitions, the gamer must practice a lot so that they can beat out the competition.
