Every now and again you read an article, or see something on the social media, bragging about making money playing video games.

Cash Crate is a website where you can get paid to take surveys, complete offers and do other tasks, including playing games. To withdraw your earnings, you need to have $20 in your account. Payments are processed the following month – so the cash you earn in June, for example, will be paid to you in July. It is definitely possible to make money playing online video-games, but you have to be diligent in every sense of the word. Making money doing anything would classify you as a professional, and in the professional realm there is competition and a. The first & most sought-after way to make money playing video games is to become a paid video game tester, which as the name suggests simply involves you “testing” video games in return for cash.

Sometimes you hear about it through word-of-mouth.

But is it really a thing? Can you really make money?

It is possible, but there are some caveats. First, banish any idea from your mind that you’re going to make a fortune doing it. 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.

• The better way to make money playing games on the site is by logging into your account and navigating to the “Discover” section, where you’ll find an assortment of promotional offers. There, you can usually find a handful of free desktop and mobile games that offer achievement bonuses.
• A good way to make money is to sell in-game items for real currency. This method seems to be the best for some, because they get to play games and charge up to $25/24 hrs playtime or even more.

With those warnings in mind, let’s take a look at some ways you really can make money playing video games.

Become a Beta Tester

Every video game needs to go through beta testing before it hits the general market. This can be an interesting and fun way to earn some extra money. But be aware you probably won’t be working with popular video games. Instead, it’ll be ones that haven’t hit the market yet. Companies are looking to test their games with real users before bringing them to market.

You may find some of the games you’re working with aren’t terribly exciting, or they may have serious glitches. But that’s why companies look for people to test them out first. Your job will be to identify flaws or ways to improve the product before it goes to market.

The upside of becoming a beta tester is that you can make a lot of money doing it. The difficult part is finding companies who will hire you. The best approach is to develop a strong social media presence, complete with a large following, that might get you noticed by video game companies. If you do, they’ll be coming to you.

Video Game Tournaments

Video games often develop communities, and they can be quite active – and competitive. The competitiveness leads to tournaments, and that leads to prizes. It’s not the same as getting a steady income, but if you have the fortitude to engage in ongoing tournaments, the prizes can be quite generous.

One example is Call of Duty. Thousands of people play this game, but for some, it rises to become very competitive. That’s where the potential payoff is. You get involved with teams and meet up online and either play together as a team or “every man for himself.”

Call of Duty has several different gameplay modes, including online multiplayer as well as zombies. Some of the new games allow for multiplayer campaigns. Whether you work with a team or by yourself, you can go into the playoffs and move on to the championships. If you get into the finals, video game tournaments work very similarly to the regular sporting events. Winning tournaments can result in cash payouts. Exactly how much you can make will depend on the interest in the tournament, and it varies from one to the next.

Take OpTic Gaming (on YouTube) as another example. It’s one of the top performing game teams available, and they are known for winning multiple awards and having some of the best players in the industry. There are a plethora of prizes including small prizes such as gift cards. But cash prizes can run as high as $10 million – if you can believe it.

Become a Video Game Reviewer

If you have an interest in many different video games, you can earn money by becoming a video game reviewer. This is similar to blogging – in fact, you could even create a blog for this purpose. But you can also do it through YouTube, or on popular selling sites like eBay and Amazon.com.

The basic idea is to become a respected review source of video games. As you build up a following, people will come to rely on your opinions. You can earn money by selling the video games you review on an affiliate basis (the manufacturer or distributor will pay you a percentage of each sale you make from your website or video).

There’s no guarantee how much money you’ll make. It depends on the popularity of your site or videos because most of your income will come as advertising. If you’re able to grow your audience into the thousands, you may get video game companies advertising directly. If it reaches that stage, you’ll have a steady stream of passive income.

“Farming” Gold

You won’t make a fortune with this strategy, but if you like playing video games, and you play a lot, it can be a way to earn at least some money while you’re having fun.

Not all video games allow this to happen, but there are a few that do. Two are RuneScape and Counter Strike.

The process works like this…

You can create a character and “level” him or her (raise their skills). Some players will actually pay money for a high-level character that they don’t have to level themselves. In the case of RuneScape, the higher the levels, the more quests you can complete.

The easiest way to do this is to “farm the character.” This means you spend a lot of time leveling up the character, whether it be for a particular skill or for in-game money. You can actually make a lot of money doing this, as some characters can sell for over $1,000. Others sell for as little as $100. It really depends on how much skill you have at leveling, and how motivated you are to play the game.

Become a Twitch Streamer

Twitch is a streaming platform subsidiary of Amazon where you can earn money through the support of your subscribers. Most of the streams involve video games, whether it’s games like Fortnite or something that is played online like Chess, but you earn money through your subscribers.

If you get your subscriber count up and have a lot of views, you can get sponsorships and giveaway opportunities as well. Some of the top Twitch streamers do this full-time and the income opportunities are there. This is how much Twitch streamers make.

You can also post those Twitch videos to Youtube as an additional revenue source.

Work in Customer Service

If you’re a veteran gamer, with experience playing dozens of different video games, you may be able to use those skills to help others – and make some money while you do. Think of it as working on the helpdesk for companies that provide video games.

You can sometimes find these positions by contacting the manufacturers or distributors of video games themselves. They may even have work-at-home positions. You can also try various technology support companies, like Sutherland Global Services. Every now and again they have positions available on video game helpdesks.

Other Ways to Enter the Business

It can be difficult to find ways to make money playing video games.

You won’t find jobs advertised on the job boards.

But there are three general ways to get into making money playing video games:

1. Contact video game manufacturers and distributors directly, and offer your services. You’ll have to be a well-experienced video game player to even attempt this.
2. Become a very competitive video gamer, such that you can get involved in tournaments and other activities that will make you serious money.
3. Become a video game entrepreneur. This is really the business side of video games. You start a website, become active on the social media, or develop a YouTube channel. You become recognized as an expert in the field, drawing many thousands of followers. You can then sell video games on an affiliate basis, or even receive sponsorships from the companies themselves.

YouTube is especially important. In fact, it’s not an exaggeration to say that your YouTube channel is your resume in the video game universe.

So you can play video games for sure, but put your entrepreneur’s hat on, and be ready to turn it into a side business – or something much more.

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Since civilizations took shape, parents have been telling their children to find something they enjoy doing and get paid for it. It’s the basis of an economy and lauded as the core of a fulfilling life.

In spite of some misgivings and warnings from fuddies in the ’80s and ’90s, the ability to make money playing video games continues to grow. Like any industry that makes money, there are ways to get in on that cash.

As a gamer, you know that putting in the work is key to getting the reward. Whether that takes the form of honing skills, learning strategies, or farming the best gear and items, the principle is the same.

Check out this list of ways to get paid to play video games.

Make Money Playing Video Games (with Caution)

This list ranks the difficulty of getting into each avenue, which, as is often the case, also reflects the earning potential of each position.

No matter which path you pursue, remember that learning to save money is always a part of making money. Using capital and resources wisely beats splurge and regret every time.

1. eSports Athlete

How To Make Money Playing Games On Your Phone

As 2019 winds down, projections that the eSports industry will break a billion dollars appear to hold true.

There’s a lot of money in the pot for advertising and revenue from spectacular events, like the upcoming League of Legends World Championship.

Getting a piece of that for yourself takes some dedication, skill, and a bit of luck — but less than in other professional sports leagues.

One of the big advantages of breaking into the world of eSports is that you don’t have to be discovered. Most of the eSports games have a ladder built-in to put the best players toward the top, where they can form teams and get prizes.

Still, if you intend to make money through eSports, you have to take practicing seriously and commit to learning the meta of your given game.

Even if you don’t hit it big by being recruited in a team, its’ possible to win tournaments and contests from the comfort of your home. The purse on some events reaches hundreds of thousands of dollars.

2. Streaming

It doesn’t matter if you go through YouTube, Twitch, or an emerging service. Getting into streaming is a tough field.

As a way to get paid to play video games at home, it has a lot of potential. Some streamers rack up six figures or more a year even before the endorsements and side deals come into play.

The difficulty you find is in finding and growing an audience. This takes careful attention to your presentation and image. The wrong word in the wrong stream can be the end of your career.

Streaming also takes a lot of additional skills outside of the game. Some streamers even specialize in bad gameplay, making the stream itself entertaining through personality or gimmicks.

Consider building yourself a careful plan before starting on the streaming path.

3. Quality Testing

Gaming and quality testing are two slightly different jobs. They are, however, jobs. You show up to a building and put in the hours, often getting paid hourly but sometimes with a salary.

Unlike everything else in this ranking, this method of how to get paid to play video games involves a direct exchange. There is no non-game time or additional work that you’re getting paid for.

You aren’t getting paid for your personality or ability; you get money to brute force through the game and complain about the bits that don’t go well or argue about which bits are best. Those elements are essentially perks of gaming, so it’s easy to include them as job duties that are technically gaming.

4. Selling Currency

Different games have different legality attached to what can and cannot be sold. Third-party sites for selling currency, items, and accounts all carry their own risks but are viable options.

If you enjoy ripping your way through the hordes of mobs to get that just-so piece of loot or currency, it’s not impossible to cash in on the effort.

More and more gamers find themselves with less time to play and more money form other jobs. They’re willing to pay for your time to save theirs.

It serves you to get a good grip on the meta of the game and the item effects before you start. Consider watching prices carefully, and don’t fall into the undercutting to sell temptation that hurts your bottom line.

5. Create a Community

A bit different than streaming but also containing video releases, community creation is about building.

This is the last item on the list because it generates currency the slowest and contains the least ratio of gaming to side work.

Best Way To Make Money Playing Games

To build a community, start by gaining as much knowledge as you can in a game. Build and write strategy guides and walkthroughs. Delve into the lore and make some sensible guesses at future developments.

Once you strike on an interest, pursue it. You generate money by monetizing your pages with ads and asking for donations to keep you going.

Many players are more than willing to put up with a few ads to find a secret or puzzle answer they’ve been struggling with. The more niche your community, the more likely someone will want to chip in and appreciate the work you do to keep a particular game interesting for others.

This method of making money playing video games often lays the groundwork for a streaming career.

Put in the Time

These aren’t the only ways to make money playing video games; they’re just the most common with a proven track record. If you don’t feel ready for any of these, find your own path. Several of these methods have only existed for a decade, so there’s time to build your own niche.

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In the meantime, you can always learn more about saving through gaming. Check out our FAQ to get a clearer understanding of what Lootfeed does for you.