The world of online games is a large and vibrant one, with countless possibilities for making money and enjoying life. While Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation might be the most popular gaming platforms, there are various others that allow for much wider monetisation, and many of these are completely free. Whether you want to build a reputable online business or make a quick profit, there’s an opportunity to do so in gaming.
The Potential to Scam People
One of the most appealing aspects of online gaming is that it’s fairly easy to scam people. All you need is a few hundred bucks and a bit of ingenuity, which is more than enough to set up a phony gambling site or a social media account that looks real enough to trick people into giving away their sensitive information. It’s become such a common strategy in the past that many online scammers use their own game engines or use publicly available ones along with a few tweaks to make a quick buck. The potential to scam people is one of the main reasons why Paypal and similar alternatives have largely been supplanted by cryptocurrencies when it comes to online transactions.
The Growth of Online Gaming
Although the world of online gaming is still in its infancy when compared to other digital industries, it’s definitely not a young man’s game. The fact that it’s now possible to make a full living playing video games might suggest that they’ve always been a popular choice for those looking for extra cash, but the reality is that they’ve gained popularity because of the advent of the internet and the ability to connect with more people than ever before.
Now that so many people have become engrossed in the fun of gaming, the industry has shifted from casual play at home to full-blown online battles. This has led to a much broader audience, with increased competition and higher earnings potential. In 2020 alone, the income of gamers worldwide was approximately USD 16.2 billion, with global spending expected to hit USD 24.9 billion by 2025.
With so much potential for making money, it’s no wonder that many people are looking to enter into the world of online gaming. If you’re interested in making money online, now might be a good time to explore the various opportunities.
Top Tips for Newcomers
If you’re looking to enter the world of online gaming, here are a few tips to help you get started.
Focus On Building A Following
While it’s great to have a popular game that people want to play, you’ll never make any real money off of it. The truth is that most games with large followings are free to play, relying on adverts, microtransactions, or a combination of the two for their revenue. Unless you have a social media following in the hundreds of thousands, it’s best not to waste your time on these games. Instead, look to build a following on social media platforms like Twitter or Instagram, or create your own blog to engage with potential customers.
Understand The Economics Of Gaming
With most games being free to play or heavily discounted, it goes without saying that costs need to be recouped. As a consumer, it’s important that you’re aware of how money is made in the gaming industry, and what this means for you as a player. When you understand the economics of gaming, you have a better chance of making sensible decisions and anticipating changes to the industry that may impact your financial well-being. Cost-to-income-ratio is important to consider, as the more you spend the less you’ll make.
Learn The Risks
Although you might be able to earn a quick buck, this doesn’t mean that everything you try and make money off will be smooth sailing. Like any other digital industry, the risk of cybercrime is a serious one and you need to be aware of this. Game developers and publishers need to protect their intellectual property, as do you as a player. This means that you need to take care not to reveal any trade secrets or provide any assistance in breaching defences. If you’re ever asked to do anything suspicious, it’s best to say no thank you and walk away. It’s also worth noting that the risk of being cheated by scammers is also very real, so make sure that you’re not being fooled by reviewing the credentials of any site that you consider a potential source of income. If in doubt, walk away.
Pick Your Battles
Although it’s tempting to look at the success of others to guide your decision-making processes, this is a mistake. While observing what others are doing might give you an idea of whether or not it’s worth entering a particular market, you still need to decide for yourself. If you try and emulate others, even closely, you’ll never fully understand how to make money online, as you’ll never be able to foresee all situations that may arise.
Which Games Make Money And Why?
Now that we’ve covered the various ways in which you can make money online with games, let’s take a look at which games actually make money and why.
It’s well-established that there’s a huge audience for free games on the internet, with many titles making thousands of dollars per day from microtransactions or adverts.
Here are some of the most popular games around right now.
Fortnite
Lets’ be honest, if you’re reading this, then you probably already know what Fortnite is and why it’s so popular. Essentially, Fortnite is a combination of Scrabble and Pictionary, with the latter element making it appeal to more people. One of the main reasons why Fortnite is so successful is due to its massive popularity and its free-to-play model, which allows for wide accessibility. Additionally, the game’s creator Epic Games recently revealed that Fortnite’s player base now exceeds 100 million registered users. In light of this, it’s clear that there’s an audience for this type of game and that it’s able to make money from numerous sources.
One of the most popular paid add-ons for Fortnite is the Scrabble Quick Word Finder, which allows players to look up words and earn rewards for each correct answer. In the words of the game’s maker:
“Fortnite is a game that everyone knows and loves. We wanted to bring the Scrabble Quick Word Finder experience to mobile, but retain the spirit of the original game with all new graphics and animations.
“The best part of playing is connecting letters to form words and seeing the letters blur in front of you as you type. On a desktop or laptop, you’re used to seeing each letter individually. On a mobile phone, everything happens quickly, so the letters often appear to blur together. This is made possible through a technology called texture compression, which reduces the amount of information needed to display a given image. This leads to better performance and lower energy consumption on mobile devices. While we were originally careful not to overload users with data charges, now that more and more people are relying on mobile data, it’s crucial that we keep the resource usage low. We needed a way to ensure that our texture compression technology meets the demands of today’s mobile users, so we’ve taken this opportunity to optimize it for newer phones as well.”
As the game’s popularity grows, so does the demand for new content and additional functionality, which is something that Epic Games is happy to oblige. While the developer focuses on steadily improving the base game over time, it also ensures that updates are rolled out frequently and that new content is added regularly.
Pokémon Go
Although it became a somewhat controversial addition to this list, it’s important to consider Pokémon Go in the context of the growing trend of people wanting to make money online. Since its launch in 2016, Pokémon Go has been widely credited with helping to usher in the era of digital nomads, with many people choosing to take a gap year, travel the world, and work remotely via Waze, Google Maps, or Pokémon Go itself.
One of the reasons why Pokémon Go is so unique is that it was one of the first major mobile games to truly take advantage of the infinite possibilities that Google Maps offers. Essentially, if you have a smartphone, you can use Google Maps to discover places all around you that are PokéStops, where you can catch Pokémon. People have used this feature to great effect, with numerous examples featuring wedding proposals, people meeting for the first time, and even finding missing children.
However, just because something is popular doesn’t mean that it’s profitable, and in some cases, this can be the opposite. The truth is that the Pokémon Go viral craze led to an incredible number of people gathering in big cities, causing traffic headaches and social awkwardness.