Playing video games is often seen as a nightmare for parents, but for many, especially teenagers, making money from gaming has become a considerable source of income. With so many different platforms to choose from and amazing multiplayer games released, the video games industry has seen a massive rise in the number of players.

Playing video games can be a diverting experience and a good way to unwind. But there are many ways to make a name for yourself in the gaming industry. It has become a great way for college students, based on their interests and time commitments, to find their niche in video games and earn some extra cash for pursuing an interest.

How it is an Effective Choice

Having a part-time job as a college student can be pretty daunting, but it has its perks. It makes you more responsible and confident while boosting your work ethic and time management abilities. Your communication skills will also improve, allowing you to build a professional network.

While you earn some added money, one of the biggest perks of getting a part-time job as a college student is that it’s a great way to learn more about yourself and what you want out of life. Working hard in a job makes you an independent person. Also, when looking for a full-time job, the previous experience will provide you with a great competitive advantage over other applicants.

Apart from that, making your name as a professional gamer or gaming entertainer will develop entrepreneurship skills. It gives you a secondary choice of career path where you don’t have to depend on the placement cell of your institution.

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Considering this, we dwell on some ways students can make a little extra money with part-time jobs in the video game industry.

Boot Your YouTube Channel

Suppose you are looking for a way to earn money while gaming; YouTube is a great place to start. The financial gain in the YouTube space is full of opportunities. Through YouTube, you can create your own channel for free and raise your own community base to the point where you monetize your content.

You can either run live streams or upload video content of your gameplay for others to watch as you progress along the game. You can also put videos related to game walkthroughs, gameplay lessons, game reviews, and general gaming tips on your channel to grow your viewership. You get a percentage of ad revenue when your viewers watch videos. You can also feature sponsored on-screen banner ads and put affiliate referral links in the description to earn more from sponsorship and affiliate marketing.

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Earn Through Live Streams

Gaming live streams are very popular these days worldwide. Many players profitably stream their games on the web. There are multiple platforms for live streaming these days, and most of them have a huge sustainable viewership. Anyone can broadcast their gameplay in real-time for the world to see. The goal here is to create a large audience whom you can monetize with ads, links, and on-screen overlays; or a faithful audience/fans that you can monetize with donations, memberships, and subscriptions.

The most popular streaming platforms are YouTube Gaming, Twitch, Facebook Gaming, Bigo Live, Beam, etc. Twitch and YouTube have the highest market share among gaming audiences. No matter what platform you choose, you need to gain followers by showing off your skills or entertaining them.

With a certain amount of growth in audience and watch time, you would be able to claim monetization status. After that, it becomes a part-time earning process where you have to keep increasing the traffic day by day, and the new monetization ways like sponsorship, collaboration, esports, and affiliation, would keep showing up from time to time.

Provide Gameplay Tutorials & Walkthroughs

Many newcomers find it hard to learn a new game, and some competitive games can prove to be really hard to master, like DOTA, Fortnite, etc. In such cases, learning from a pro becomes a viable option for many. Especially PvP games are way harder to become a pro in. Hence there is a market for making money by providing useful information that these people want to learn.

Many game lovers who don’t get enough time to play games regularly often opt for walkthroughs as a means of entertainment. For AAA game titles, the walkthrough’s contents are quite popular, and people often look for them if they are facing a bump in the game. Walkthroughs are more like storytelling; hence making walkthroughs in local languages might help you to gain a more region-oriented audience.

You can take different avenues for game instructions & walkthroughs, for example, creating a blog site for written instructions like blogs on different topics, info archives, etc. You can upload video instructions to YouTube or publish instructions as ebooks on the web. The first two are often monetized through ads and/or donations, while the ebook route generates revenue through sales. This allows you to grow your bank account while teaching others how to play new and improved games and sharing your knowledge.

Compete in Tournaments: Become an Esports Pro

Esports competitions are widespread in PvP gaming. There are various genres to choose from like First Person Shooter (FPS), Battle Royal (BR), Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA), Racing, Arena Fighting, Sports, etc. The most popular games for esports in 2022 are Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Valorant, Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Warzone, DOTA 2, League of Legends, FIFA, Mortal Kombat, Forza: Horizon, etc.

Many tournaments and championships took place annually every year. Most tournaments are organized by multiple sponsors and have a serious prize pool. These esports events may not be a constant source of income, but winning a tournament can bring in a lot of money and might change your career path forever.

Exploring major league gaming sites and circuits is a great option for a student with outstanding gaming skills. You can watch videos and tutorials to improve your skills and feel more confident participating. All of this offers a great window for significant income and is therefore worth considering.

Once you fulfill a certain level as an esports player, later on, you can also be a paid player for professional teams and live streamers. In such conditions, you will be paid a monthly or weekly salary to play with a team in esports, Scrims, or live streams. Many accomplished players turn to a content creator, game analyst, or even esports coach at a later stage.

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Indie Game Development

If you love the concept of video games, but enjoy staying backstage, then game development might interest you. This part-time profession is game-related but requires advanced skills related to coding, game dev platform, CGI design, model design, video editing, rendering, Artificial intelligence, Machine Learning, and many more concepts.

If at a later stage it interests you as a full-time career, a bachelor’s degree is a common requirement for most companies, but if you are a natural in this field, this is a great option for you. You can become part of large gaming companies or work part-time as a solitary game developer (indie game developer) and make money through game sales and in-game purchases.

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Video Game Journalist

If you think of yourself as an author and gaming nerd simultaneously, then gaming journalism is a gold mine to make a few bucks. You can join any existing website or start your own blog site on the gaming genre and start writing news, reviews and interviews related to games, genre, or industry.

If you write for an existing website, you can get paid per article as a freelancer. If you start your website, you can monetize your traffic with ads, subscriptions, sponsors, patron, and affiliate links.

Video Game Podcaster

Podcasts have been on the rise in recent years. Finding your way around this room is a good shot if you enjoy talking and are a good speaker. Podcasts are one of the most rewarding ways to earn money. The experience of the game facilitates your knowledge.

You can broadcast or post your podcast either on Audio platforms like Spotify or video platforms like YouTube. You can also get to meet your favorite creators, gamers, gaming personalities, and industry leaders and can collaborate with them to create an excellent session. So, it is a great rewarding way to start a side hustle and monetize your passion.

Voice Over Artist

If you love both gaming and mimicry, voiceover is a great way to create entertaining videos. You can also create awesome memes using your voiceover skills and trend on social media. The famous Indian YouTuber and Gamer “Carryminati” also started as a voiceover artist on YouTube.

This is a perfect part-time professional opportunity available too. If you want to approach it, you can start by contacting smaller game studios like mobile developers. The indie game developers also keep looking for voiceover artists or vocal artists, so you might start as a freelancer until you make it big.

Video Game Tester

Games go through different stages of development before being released. Nearing completion, developers need outsiders to test their games with fresh eyes. As a playtester, your requirement includes finding and documenting bugs and other problems. Also, as a game tester, you will be awarded accessibility to upcoming games under a closed beta license, so you can play the big titles even before they are launched.

Verdict

Games are fun because they give us a way to escape from reality. Even doctors do recommend opting for small gaming sessions for stress-busting. Earning money by playing keeps the fun going and, above all, gives you one thing: a new source of income. With the recent growth trends in video games, content creation, and digital markets, it has become an excellent platform for freelancers and students to get involved.

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