Long gone are the days when Gaming was considered to be nothing but a sheer wastage of time. As of 2021 the gaming industry is making major strides. Predictions imply that the increment of viewership in this domain shall increase to about 577 million by 2024. The industry in itself has an estimated worth of around $4.2 billion by 2027. Due to this exponential growth rate, the gaming industry is naturally becoming more competitive thus if you do possess the skills the industry is looking for, there is no better time than now to dive into the virtual world of gaming and make some money while you are at it:
1. Quality Assurance Tester:
One of the most common ways to make money off of gaming is to become a Quality Assurance Tester. While a game developer dwells in coding, algorithms and programs all day, a QA tester’s job is comparatively much easier. How? Well you are essentially being hired to play the game where your primary job is to find and report all the possible bugs, irregularities and technical issues that a player might come across along with the overall gaming experience. A QA tester can make as much as $15 an hour which is quite appropriate for mere quality assurance.
2. Gaming Journalism:
If you are good with words you can consider a career in gaming journalism which is quite a popular domain these days. When it comes to written content in gaming, interviews, reviews, news and problem eradication articles are quite common. As a freelancer you can get paid for every article you write either hourly or per-word rate. You can also manage your own sites and monetize it accordingly using ads and viewer/reader traffic etc.
3. Gaming Tournaments:
Gaming Tournaments are also a plausible source of earning for dedicated gamers. While these tournaments may seem the most widely known representation of the eSport industry, they are known to be perhaps the most difficult to make a living off of due to unpredictability and lack of consistency. A gamer would have to be one of if not the absolute best when it comes to a mainstream PvP game to have a shot at being selected by a well-known team in order to win the tournament. Rationally speaking, the only thing to assist a gamer to earn through tournaments is immense amounts of practice and luck.
4. Game Tester:
The prime difference between a game tester and QA tester is the extent and the intention of the said test. While a quality assurance tester might look for general bugs and gaming experience, a game tester otherwise known as a play tester literally is testing to break the game which, simply put, implies testing with the sole intention to find loopholes, errors and glitches which the developer might have overlooked. A game tester’s job is to report such issues to the team and retest the game after revision. An internal tester at a gaming company might get a sufficient pay though working as a freelancing game tester might not be that beneficial to you as a career since it’s mostly contract work.
5. Gaming Guides and Tutorials:
Players of all experience levels require answers to queries ranging from the simplest errors to the most complex gaming complications. To cater to such questions, gaming guides, podcasts and tutorials are very common. You can discuss the new gaming trends, feature gamers through interviews and share your tips, tricks and experiences with others. Writing guides concerning popular PvP games are sources of good money. Though the time and energy spent in researching and drafting up the guides in order to reach the level of other useful guides available on the internet might be very bothersome.
6. Become an Affiliate Partner:
Even in the gaming industry, sponsorships and advertisements are a crucial source of earnings. As of 2019 the sponsorship revenue for eSport was around $457million. Steamers and professional gamers can make millions off of such sponsorships but one must have a significant and loyal audience for big sponsors to consider investing in your brand. Others can also make an earning by working with gaming companies such as PureVPN and the likes to promote their products and services as a gaming affiliate.
7. Streaming:
Streaming platforms such as Twitch or YouTube are a great source of earning. Though it may take you a while to get there but once you do, there is no stopping you. Twitch is a great resource for gamers who might not want to pursue competitive gaming, such players can rely on streaming live gaming sessions to make an earning. Building a considerable and loyal audience is one of the hurdles in the streaming domain since to make a consistent earning one would need around thousands of viewers further earnings can be made using ads, donations and subscriptions.
