Making money by playing video games for free at home has become easier and more profitable recently alongside the rapid growth of the video game industry. From play-to-earn games to content creation, there are a variety of ways how to make money online by playing video games for free at home.
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Sell Video Game Currency
Farming and selling video game currency is most likely the first thing most people think of when thinking of how to make money playing video games for free at home.
Unfortunately, video game currencies are often worth very little and require large amounts of time invested to earn a substantial income. Selling video game currencies can be a fun way to make bonus money if you would already be playing a game and would have extra currency. I would not recommend playing a game with the sole intent of selling currency.
Selling currency is often against the rules of many video games as well and may result in your account getting banned.
Some video games allow selling video game currency and market themselves through their cash-based virtual economies. One video game where selling currency is explicitly endorsed and even facilitated by the publishers is Entropia Universe.
Sell Video Game Accounts and Items
Selling video game accounts is another common way to earn money for playing video games. Many people want to skip early-level content or the grind of ranked video games by buying video game accounts.
You can sell accounts with rare items, high prestige in ranked modes, or even just old accounts for a surprisingly large amount of money.
Similar to selling video game currency, selling video game accounts and items is against the terms of service of many video games. Only sell video game accounts, items, or currency if you are okay with your account being potentially banned, unless the terms of service allow out-of-game transactions.
How to Make Money Playing Video Games for Free at Home with Rollercoin
Rollercoin is a play-to-earn digital mining simulator game where you can earn real crypto just by playing short minigames. Minigames on Rollercoin are flash-based games similar to popular retro games. Rollercoin minigames can all be completed in under a minute.
You can earn 7 different cryptocurrencies on Rollercoin right now and new cryptocurrencies are introduced regularly. Right now in Rollercoin you can earn Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Binance Coin, Solana, Polygon, and Rollercoin token.
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Check out our full Rollercoin review here!
Start a Video Game Blog
Blogging is a good way to earn some passive income online just by playing video games and writing about your experiences. You can monetize your blog with ad revenue, affiliate marketing, sponsorships, and more! Video games are one of the fastest growing industries and people always like reading about the latest news or guides for their favorite video games.
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Blogging about video games won’t result in immediate money, but the articles you write now can continue to generate revenue for you long after being written. From strategy games like Sid Meier’s Civilization and Starcraft to MMORPGs like World of Warcraft to casual games like Animal Crossing, there are so many possibilities for your video game blog.
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How to Make Money Playing Video Games for Free at Home with Task Websites
A common task on task websites is to download and play a mobile game. Many video developers nowadays spend advertising money directly on gaining users through direct payments. You can earn money online by playing video games through achieving checkpoints set by the task website.
Although task websites don’t pay out as much as other methods on this list, it can be an easy way to earn some extra cash just by playing video games for free at home.
Try out Swagbucks to earn money by trying out new video games and get $3 for free!
Make Money Playing Video Games for Free on YouTube
YouTube has quickly grown to become one of the main sources of income for those looking to make money playing videos games for free at home. Video game walkthroughs are always in demand and would be a good example of video game content you can upload to YouTube to earn money.
It is completely free to start a YouTube channel and start uploading video game content. The low barrier to entry on YouTube makes it very competitive though. Despite the competitiveness of making money gaming on YouTube, the potential earnings make recording and uploading gaming content a potentially lucrative venture.
YouTube channels get paid through ad revenue, sponsorships, Patreon subscriptions, affiliate marketing, and other methods. Uploading gaming content to YouTube can be a good way to earn passive income by playing video games.
Video Game Coaching
Video game coaching is a quickly growing emerging industry where your skills pay the bills. Get paid to coach video games like Fortnite, League of Legends, Starcraft, and Overwatch. Video game coaching isn’t just for professional gamers, lots of people just want to learn how to play certain video games.
The amount you can earn from video game coaching depends on how good you are at video games. Top video game coaches can earn more than 200 dollars per hour.
Make Money Playing Video Games at Home with Twitch
Twitch is a popular streaming site for live video game content and has grown to become one of the best ways to make money playing video games for free at home. You can make money just by being entertaining while playing the video games you love!
A common question is how to make money playing video games on Twitch. Just like with YouTube, Twitch streamers can earn money by playing video games through ad revenue, sponsorships, direct donations, affiliate marketing, and other forms of monetization.
Game Professionally
While this option may not seem as accessible as the others mentioned in this article, becoming a professional gamer can be incredibly profitable. Gaming professionally can range from competing in local tournaments to competing in global championships with world renowned e-sports teams.
Becoming a professional video gamer increases how much you can earn from other sources like YouTube and Twitch. Just think how popular professional gaming streams are on Twitch and YouTube.
Play-to-Earn Games
Play-to-earn is the fastest growing way to make money online by playing video games. Most play-to-earn games pay out in cryptocurrency, although some do pay out through PayPal and other methods. Some play-to-earn games are entirely free while others require an initial investment.
Users can typically make money through play-to-earn games by earning in-game currencies and in-game items through the form of NFTs. Currencies and NFTs earned from play-to-earn games can often be bought and sold on exchanges.
Popular blockchains for play-to-earn games include the Ethereum blockchain, the Binance Coin blockchain, and the Wax blockchain. Some popular play-to-earn games include Axie Infinity, Alien Worlds, and Splinterlands.
How to Make Money Playing Video Games for Free at Home with Game Testing
One of the tried and true methods of earning money by playing video games is by getting paid to test videogames. Video game developers and publishers are always looking for video game testers to find bugs and glitches in video games. Video game testing is usually paid on an hourly basis, averaging out at around 22 dollars an hour.
Testing video games isn’t all fun and games though. Video game testers often play the same level over and over looking for bugs and unintended interactions. Testing video games can be a good way how to make money playing video games for free at home if you are passionate about video games and game design.
Where to Start?
The video game industry is growing rapidly and is full of opportunities to make money playing video games for free at home.
Given the large selection of ways how to make money from playing video games for free at home, it can seem daunting to make a choice. I recommend trying multiple ways of making money playing video games at once. By testing multiple methods, you can experiment without relying on any one way.