Do you love playing video games? Do you enjoy making money?
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With all the ways you can get paid, have you considered monetizing your gaming habit? It’s one of the newest ways to make money online, and unlike other side hustles and side jobs, it can be tons of fun.
Play video games, get paid. Play video games; post it on social media, get paid. Pretty awesome, right?
Despite what your 8th grade English teacher might have told you, you can earn extra cash playing video games. Many people turn their love of Grand Theft Auto, Pokémon, and mobile games into part-time or even full-time income, again, all by just being able to play video games.
If you're already gaming, why not take it to the next level and monetize your fun and help pad your bank account?
Here are several ways you can earn and game at the same time.
Table of Contents
- 1 How to Make Money Playing Video Games?
- 1.8 7. Stream on Twitch
How to Make Money Playing Video Games?
In recent years, they are far more opportunities for monetizing your video game hobby than you might imagine.
We have pulled together the top 15 ways to work toward making money playing your favorite video games!
Get Paid To Play Video Games App Online
1. Get Paid Directly to Play – Try Mistplay!
Mistplay is an excellent app available on Android that is a great way to monetize playing video games on your phone.
The app's main focus on providing users an environment in which they can participate in games in exchange for prizes. Through the earning of points, users can join in in-app games to receive gift cards to various retailers such as Amazon, Google Play, and even virtual Visa gift cards.
With Mistplay, you are eligible to receive compensation from the minute you start playing. You can even play with friends and level up your avatar to unlock achievements and earn units faster. They also support user communications and offer a chat feature, encouraging connections amongst participants. Another important note is that users will not pay any fees to download, join, or play games in Mistplay.
There are several other options for apps to monetize gameplay, but Mistplay is definitely at the top of our list!
2. Gamehag
Play free online games to collect Soul Gems and exchange them for rewards! Earn free Robux, Steam Wallet, Prepaid Mastercard, and more!
Play games, Complete tasks, Get rewarded!
3. Video Game Coaching
One of the coolest ways to make money playing video games is by offering to coach your favorite competitive game (such as League of Legends).
Video game coaches make anywhere from $20 to $200 per hour, depending on how good they are and how in-demand their services are. For example, Metaphor (a League of Legends coach mentioned in the YouTube section) offers coaching services for $50 to $80 per hour.
Getting started as a coach typically means gaining an audience through a platform like YouTube and offering your services to your audience.
4. Game Tester
The most basic difference between a Quality Assurance tester and a ‘Game Tester' or ‘Beta Tester' is that QA deals with a product that is already met a certain level of quality as desired by the developers.
Being a ‘Tester' involves trying to ‘break' a game or find out ways to mess it up or analyze why it may or may not be fun for users.
5. Become a Professional Gamer
Pro Gamers are now competing worldwide and winning millions at events sponsored by the Major League Gaming circuit, the International Dota 2 championship, and Intel Extreme Masters. MLG has built arenas across the country from which to host and stream live professional gaming events. It even has scouts and communities on the internet to find the best, untapped players.
The best advice for getting involved is to pick a game, namely one you consider yourself already good at playing, and become an expert at it. From there, work on building your reputation as both a skilled player and a team player. Then it is time to participate in eSports games!
6. Start a YouTube Channel
YouTube
We've mentioned YouTubers a lot over the past few months, and it's because the financial gain in the YouTuber-verse is full of possibilities. If you're looking for a way to earn money while gaming, YouTube is a great place to start.
Through YouTube, you can build your channel to a level in which you are monetizing your content. If you haven't already, check out our piece here that gives you the insight you need to become a successful YouTube content creator.
Once you've mastered the steps required to monetize your channel, you can take your content in any direction you choose. Whether you want to live to stream your gaming, critique others' gaming, or offer tutorials on gaming tips and tricks, YouTube is an excellent platform to use to address all of these subjects.
We recommend using YouTube to further your gaming research, too. If you're looking for in-depth information on monetizing your gaming habits, YouTube is a wealth of knowledge for that topic, as well. Whatever your approach is, starting with YouTube is the way to go.
7. Stream on Twitch
Many gamers stream their online play to turn a profit. The most common platform for doing so is Twitch, an online streaming mecca for players worldwide.
Twitch has a monetization structure similar to YouTube. It requires you to build a following and apply for monetization status once you've established yourself as a gamer who can drive traffic to the site. Money-making your streaming comes from adventures like Google Adsense, and you get paid for the number of views you’ll get towards your videos.
Ads
When you've reached your status as a monetized streamer, Twitch will compensate you in various ways. For every subscriber who visits your channel, you will receive $5.00.
You will also have the option to add a Google Adsense-like set-up with your channel. This will enable you to receive monetary compensation for ads placed on your page. For every 1,000 ad views you receive, you'll earn $3.00.
Amazon Affiliate Links
Twitch allows its users to capitalize on Amazon affiliate links. This means that gamers can recommend products and items available for purchase on Amazon. They can offer direct access to the products to their viewers via an affiliate link.
Every time a product purchase occurs utilizing the link, the gamer receives payment for creating this connection. It's a passive income generation method for players to advertise items and products they like to anyone who views their channel.
PayPal Donations
Many successful gamers have found that they can market and receive PayPal donations from loyal fans or sponsors.
Yep, you read that right. You can ask for money, and people will give it to you to keep playing your video games. The thought process behind this is that gamers will invite fans to help them continue to game at the intensity they are doing so.
Part of enabling this commitment is assuring that financially, the gamer can satisfy their basic living needs. Okay, maybe some of their needs aren't so “basic,” but we're going to trust that you get the picture.
The reason many gamers will receive PayPal donations is that viewers want to learn and replicate the tips and tricks the player uses. If you think of gaming as performance art, then the idea of donating to a gamer's PayPal account becomes much more reasonable.
It beats the thought of giving some cash to your younger brother for playing video games.
Practical Tips to Increase Revenue When Live Streaming
Much like we mentioned above, thinking of gaming as performance art is the best way to understand how to achieve the highest level of success. Live stream gamers need to be engaging.
They should have larger than life personalities that attract a high volume of views. This goes hand-in-hand with having a voice that is enjoyable to listen to. If a gamer isn't pleasing to listen to or is dull, both of these will turn viewers off.
Another facet of the live streaming puzzle is creating regular content. You'll want viewers to know when they should tune in to your streaming. Keeping a regular schedule will help them start watching you on a particular day and time.
Networking is the final piece to the trifecta of tips and tricks of live stream gaming. Interacting with your viewers, fellow live streamers, and sponsors are some of the most effective methods to advance your reputation as well as your bankroll.
Much like business networking, live stream gaming requires an equal, if not more, amount of investment in your relationships.
8. Contact Potential Sponsors
After you get a following for your stream, whether it's on YouTube, Twitch, or elsewhere, to generate more revenue, you will likely want to contact sponsors. This is very similar to how television producers used to seek sponsors for programs.
To acquire sponsors, the first thing you need to do is prepare to impress them. Make sure your channel displays precisely what you envisioned. You will then want to search for brands that you like that might be interested in sponsoring you. It is also essential to consider whether or not you would use their products. This is important as you will be marketing for that brand!
The most crucial part is that you are presenting yourself as someone that would be a great fit to sponsor their brand.
9. Provide Game Play Tutorials
Providing gameplay tutorials is a great way to grab new viewers and monetize gameplay. Your YouTube channel or streaming site will earn money with every person that clicks on it. Advertisers pay Google, for instance, to display ads on videos. Google, a division of Alphabet, owns YouTube.
To start, open an account at AdSense, and link it to your YouTube account. Choose whether you want video or banner ads to display.
It does take more time to make money off the concept of video game tutorials. You will want to grow your audience into the thousands to make decent money off this concept.
10. Compete in Tournaments
While not a consistent source of money (unless you're incredibly talented), winning game tournaments for competitive games like Call of Duty, League of Legends, Fortnite, etc., can net you some serious cash.
One of the world's top e-sports competitive, Timothy Miller (aka “Bizzle”), earns around $322k per year participating in Fortnite tournaments.
This is probably the easiest way to make money playing video games and not a big earner unless you're really good at the game and consistently win.
11. Quality Assurance Tester
Video games are ultimately the result of computer programming. Getting a computer to react to the developer and gamers want it to, look right, and perhaps feel as realistic as possible. To achieve this, game design companies need some independent people to tell them what is good, what is bad, what works, and what doesn't.
That's where being a QA tester comes in. The designers and developers need to know how users feel about a new game or upgraded design, not just technical problems. They're not testing the wiring or circuitry or power supply. Like kids with a new toy, they're testing how much more fun a new or upgraded game is for players than those already in the market.
QA testers don't just play a game through to its highest possible level. They play different designs; different builds multiple times until they can find nothing to object to and report if they had fun!
Think of working in QA as being paid to solve multiple puzzles. Any glitch or mistake or thing wrong in a program must be reproducible, so developers can figure out how to eliminate it.
Much of QA work is contract work, but it still could pay between $10 and $15 an hour. That's is a pretty good wage for playing video games!
Make Money Playing Video Games App
12. Become a Game Developer
Another way to earn as a gamer is to develop the games yourself. Game developers at major companies like Ubisoft or EA earn an average salary of $83,000. However, jobs for major game companies are notoriously stressful and tend to force you to work long hours and holidays.
Alternatively, you can become a solo game developer and make money through game sales and in-game purchases. For example, Minecraft was developed solely by Markus Persson under his company Mojang. Mojang sold to Microsoft for a whopping $2.5 billion.
13. Work as a Video Game Journalist
Another avenue is through journalism. Most video game journalists earn around $26,000 per year, making it one of the lowest-income opportunities on this list.
But if you love games and love writing and reporting, this is a great opportunity, and you can earn much more as your skill increases!
To get started as a journalist, you'll most likely need at least a bachelor's degree in journalism and some journalistic experience (like the school paper and/or an internship). Speaking of internships, an unpaid internship is a great way to get your foot in the door as a game journalist!
14. Work in Customer Service for a Game Company
Like every other industry, gamers also need customer support. Becoming a customer service rep for a game company is a great way to get paid in the video game industry. The average customer service representative makes $13.64 per hour, with some making up to $20 per hour.
Like Blizzard, some companies even have in-game admins who play the game and deliver support via the in-game chat function.
Landing this job is more about your customer service skills than your gaming skills. You have to be good with people and have excellent communication skills. Getting an internship is one of the best ways to get started on this career path.
15. Create & Sell Video Game Inspired Merchandise
Possibly one of the coolest ways to get paid to play is by creating and selling your own game-inspired merchandise. Just go on Etsy and type “Legend of Zelda” — you get over 16,000 results of t-shirts, figurines, coffee mugs, and more.
If you take this route, it means you're creating a business. The sky limits how much you can make, but getting to $50,000 per year is possible with the right product and excellent marketing skills.
To get started on this, you'll need to figure out precisely what type of products you want to sell. That will then give you the list of what you will need to make those items.
16. Farm In-Game Currency
Many MMO's have a farmable in-game currency that people who don't feel like spending their own time earning can pay you for it.
This is probably the most time-consuming and lowest-paying opportunity on this list next to customer service work — there are gold farmers in countries like China who do this all day for a fairly low amount. This is not the most popular form of getting that extra cash through gaming, but it is worth noting on this list as an option.
Game On!
Now that you have an entire list of options to choose from go ahead and explore which ones are best for you.
Try not to forget that it will take some time and effort to make substantial money while playing those awesome games.
Consider trying several different outlets at once! For example, you could give both streaming and doing game tutorials a try.
Time to grab your controller and start on your journey toward making money playing your favorite video games!
The best game apps that pay instantly to PayPal include platforms making gamers up to $10,000+ for just a few minutes of fun playtime.
Generally, though, game apps that pay you real money can’t replace your regular hustle. That said, these cash games help in supplementing your income and when combined with other easy online money making ideas, the overall payoff can be huge.
Whether it’s when taking breaks in the office or being active in it for the money, there are many games to choose from. From arcade and slots to strategy and survival games, there is an app to suit your preference. What’s more, apart from PayPal money, most of these games come with other rewards such as gift cards for online and offline retailers.
Granted, earning from some of the free games in this post may involve having to engage with sponsor’s ads. However, for the others, you have to stake a little of your money and battle it out with other games for contest prizes.
So, do you enjoy playing games on your smartphone? Here are the best games that pay real cash.
Let’s dive right in…
1. FeaturePoints
FetaurePoints lets you earn money by playing games, alongside other activities like watching videos, referring new users, taking surveys, and shopping online. It’s one of the fastest paying apps in this list of games apps that pay instantly to PayPal.
I love this website because, other than PayPal, you get a ton of other choices for cashing out including gift cards, Bitcoin, quick picks, and credits towards games. Payment is made within a few hours of completing your objectives.
Once you sign up, you can earn free points through a friend’s referral code. The app is available on both Google Play and App Store. Users who’ve used this app give it over 4.0/5 ratings on the two app site, with the website having already rewarded $5.8+ million since 2012.
2. AppKarma
Having received a 4.2-star rating on Google Play from 300,000+ reviews, appKarma is quite a popular app. You get to earn rewards by playing games from their list of gaming apps.
Once you complete any of their objectives you get to choose whether to receive your money via PayPal or gift cards from Amazon, Walmart, Target, Google Play, iTunes, Xbox Live, Playstation, Starbucks, just to name a few.
And you can earn in other ways besides playing games, like taking quizzes, referrals, and achievement badges. Once you refer a new member you get to earn 30% of the amount your friend earns from installation offers available. What’s more, the app is completely free.
3. Make Money
One of the most popular apps on Google Play, Make Money has a 4.8-star rating from over 500, 000 reviews. This proves that it’s definitely legit and most users are content with it. It’s one of my favorite PayPal games for money where you get paid for playing their suggested gaming apps.
However, if playing online games for rewards isn’t your thing, you can earn by taking surveys, watching videos, and referral bonuses by inviting your friends. Every credit here is worth real money sent directly to your account. With this app, there is no flimsy gift cards just pure cash through your PayPal account.
4. Wealth Words
Would you like to sharpen your mind with crossword puzzles? If so, go ahead and sign up on WealthWords. This website provides an unlimited online crossword game that will keep your mind engaged at all times and some cash on top. Incredible!
After signing up, all you have to do next is be accurate when solving the puzzles in order to stand a chance of being rewarded. With winning comes instant pay which is done through PayPal.
Choose your level- beginner, intermediate or advanced- and earn up to $10,000 for a puzzle with a word count of 40. Generally, jackpot games offer a bigger prize. Alternatively, players buy tokens for more game choices with each token going for $0.25. This app is available for both Android and iOS users.
5. CashPirate Buzz
Want to put that Android phone of yours into proper monetary use? Well… CashPirate is just the way to go. From playing games for money and taking up online surveys to referring your friends to the app, and even participating in quick picks, you get to earn real cash.
Once you sign up, You’ll get your unique referral code. Share the code with your friends for a chance to make 10% of your friends’ earnings. This app is only available to Android users.
6. GiftPanda
GiftPanda is a games app from the developers of CashCrate. The app also offers players an incentive of 10% of the earnings that your referral buddies make.
Additionally, if your referral invites another of his/her friend, you earn 5% of their earnings as well. As such, there is no limit to how much you can earn using this app. Payment can be sent direct to your PayPal account or paid in Bitcoins, Visa, or Mastercard.
Make money by playing the available games, taking part in surveys and quizzes, and ultimately making referrals. With a rating of 4.7 and over 300,000 reviews, GiftPanda is certainly legitimate. Why not sign up and start earning today!
7. CashOut
CashOut tops my chart as one of the best games that users love playing. This app has about 5000+ installs with a rating of 4.0 from reviews on Google Play. Top earners from around the globe have cashed out more than $200,000.
You get to earn real cash by playing mobile games but you can also opt for gift cards from Amazon, Apple iTunes, and Walmart. The amount you earn is in the form of coins that are redeemable to your PayPal account. To start earning, simply install CashOut, sign up, complete tasks, and finally claim your rewards.
This amount depends on the task you take with the lowest paying about $0.5 and the highest rewarding you as much as $20. To enhance your earnings, you can also take part in surveys and watch videos. You get to earn free coins for daily check-ins regardless of whether you complete a task or not.
8. Bubble Shooter Pro
As the name suggests, this is a bubble shooting game that you can earn from. It may sound like a simple game, but it’s really fun and addictive. The best part is you can make a little fortune from it.
Get Paid To Play Games Online
All that’s required is to match 3 bubbles of the same color, making them burst, which is later translated into points. The more bubbles you manage to remove (burst), the more points you earn.
You can play this game either online or offline, depending on your preference. But for your points to be recorded and be translated into real money, you have to go online. If you believe you are good at it, challenge yourself with bubble shooter pro mode with more than 490 levels!
9. Spin to Win
In this game, you simply spin a wheel for a chance to win some real money. In other words, you can call it ‘spin to earn coins’. It’s a highly rated gaming app, scoring a 4.8-star rating from 4,000+ reviews.
If you find spinning this wheel a bit monotonous, there are other ways to earn money from the app, including scratch cards and machine games combination. Sign up gets you 30 chances to start growing your cash, that’s 10 spins on the spin wheel, 10 scratch coupons on scratch cards, and 10 spins on the match machine.
Unlike other gaming apps, Spin to Win doesn’t collect user data that is normally sold to other third-party apps for promotion purposes. Download this game today and spin to earn money and get paid through PayPal.
10. MooCash
MooCash is another legit games app that pays instantly to PayPal. The app allows you to make money for not just playing.
As such, you can also earn by taking surveys, sharing apps and games with friends, and watching videos. These offers pop up on your lock screen, just swipe to participate and make real money. Pretty easy, right?
With this app, you can earn up to $5 or more in a day. However, MooCash has put a limit on the minimum amount you must hit to be able to withdraw- $2 or $5 depending on where you are making money from. This amount is paid via PayPal, bank transfer, prepaid recharge, or free talk time.
It takes a little bit of time to get your money, about 7 days, which is a major downside for MooCash. If you like this app, you can upgrade to MooCash+ that rewards you with 150 free coins instantly, amongst other offers. This app is available for free on Google Play and App Store.
11. Solitaire Cube
Do you love stacking cards? Solitaire Cube is almost identical to Microsoft’s spider solitaire where you stack up cards, sorting them by their suits in piles. Yeah, it’s that simple. And you get to earn real cash for doing this.
How do you earn exactly? By enrolling and competing in head-to-head competitions and tournaments where you get to earn real cash prizes. To enter such tournaments, you have to deposit some money and you play against other real players. Whoever gets the most points at the end of it is the winner. Rewards are deposited to your PayPal account
What I like about this app is that you won’t get annoying video ads. It’s a seamless experience with smooth controls and animations. However, unlike other online games platforms that allow kids to earn, with Solitaire Cube you have to be above 17 years to play.
You can download it from the App Store or Play Store.
What Games Pay the Most Money?
Without a doubt, casino games pay more money compared to other PayPal games that pay cash. The reason being, the stakes are high and the pool of players is made up of serious gamers. If you are looking for a big payday, then these are the kind of apps you should target.
But be warned, the higher the expected win, the more cash you can lose.
With that in mind, I have also included games such as Mistplay that pay you by the minute. Such platforms are especially good for beginners since they help you earn as you sharpen your gaming skills.
12. Bitstartz Casino
Are you a fan of casino games? Bitstartz casino is one of the apps that pay users real money to play games. You can even place bets if you are a gambler, with this casino accepting bitcoins among other currencies.
This online casino is available on the internet in both PC and Mobile versions. There are tons of cash games to be played on this platform and earn real money from- that’s 2900+ casino games. It currently has more than 2.7 million registered players worldwide.
Paid To Play Apps
Once you win, you can cash out within 10 minutes with this online casino offering a variety of payment methods including bitcoins, credit cards, web money, among others. The good thing about casino games is that there is no limit to how much you earn. Top winners make more than $2 million from casino games and $5 million from jackpots yearly This makes Bitstartz Casino one of the top games that pay the most.
13. Mistplay
If you spend too much time playing games, Mistplay is just the perfect fit for you. With this app, the longer you play, the more you get to earn. Every 2-10 minutes playing session is worth a cash reward of about $0.66. To withdraw though, you must hit a minimum of $5. Typically, games on the app earn about $2-$5 per hour.
On accumulating the within, which takes just a few hours, your money is emailed to you as a gift card in less than 48 hours. You can redeem your units for awesome rewards including Amazon, Google Play gift cards, Visa, and more. Mistplay also has a variety of games for you to choose from and a grand prize worth $400, launched every week.
Mistplay is a fun way to earn since you can compete against your friends and unlock achievement badges every time you unlock new missions. That’s not all, every badge grants you more units to spend on rewards. This app is, however, only available to Android users.
14. Long Game
Are you wondering what apps pay you real money to play games? And not just real cash, but the money that is insured?
Long Game is one of the gaming apps that not only reward you but also ensures the safety of your earnings. Basically, it’s a ‘gamified’ savings account where you deposit money in your account, and in return, you are rewarded with coins. From there, you can use these coins to play online games.
You might be wondering how you get to earn. Right? By playing these games, you get cash rewards. If you doubt the credibility of this app, you’ll be satisfied to know that Long Game gives you a 30-day free trial provided you are using Direct Deposit. Most importantly, your money is FDIC-insured.
There is no limit to how much you get to earn on Long Game with daily payouts ranging from $1000 to $1 million+. This app is available to mobile users on Google Play and the App Store.
Sign up today to earn real cash from playing games.
15. World Winner
How does playing against people with your skill level for real cash prizes? That’s just one of the advantages of trying your gaming prowess on the World Winner app and website. To begin with, this platform is owned by the Game Show Network (GSN), a company of Sony Pictures Entertainments. Simply put, this is one of the most legit apps to earn money playing games.
Games on the app include Bingo Cash, GSN Casino, and Wheel of Fortune. Over 100,000 contests take place on the platform with prizes on the line amounting to $250K, daily. The best part is that, before you leverage your skills, the app offers free tournaments for newbies to practice on. Also, GSN limits the amount of money you can lose in a year, and once you hit the limit, your account is restricted until the next year. This helps you to play within your means.
Additionally, apart from playing games, you can make money through an affiliate program run by the platform. For every successful referral, you earn $25 plus promotional merchandise from world-class brands. You get your winnings through PayPal or credit card. To date, the platform has paid members or $1.5 billion in cash prizes!
The Bottom-line
While there are many apps that offer PayPal games for real money, the trick is knowing the legit ones from the scams. I have done the leg work for you and presented you with the above legit games apps with the best prizes in the industry. Further, these are apps that will occupy your free time with fun-filled adventures and adrenaline.
However, it’s worth noting that for any app that promises money, it’s upon you to understand the ins and outs of the offer. As such, always go through the terms and conditions before signing up. Also, check out online reviews to understand what current and former users say about the app.
So, which of the game apps interest you the most? Is there an app that pays higher that needs to be on this list? Let me know all about it in the comments and don’t forget to install these apps that reward you for unlocking your phone.