Technology is booming, a cliche perhaps, but the computing industry as a whole had a turnover of some $150 billion last year. Obviously, it will continue to grow and expand in the coming years.

One of the biggest areas of the computing industry is gaming, and most people aged 4 to 20 have at least one video game console, whether it’s a mobile phone, a dedicated gaming console, a laptop or some combination of these. Whether it’s shooting zombies or gambling at hellspin.com, gaming offers an escape from everyday reality (and plenty of us have needed that in the last couple of years). Fact is, people spend a lot of time and money looking for a new gaming experience.

Beyond spending money to enjoy a gaming experience, can you make money playing a game? You can, it’s true. The gaming industry offers a lot of ways to make money. Even if there is no purpose, you can get good money by doing these activities in your spare time from work and other things.

So, here’s seven ways to can make money playing games.

1. Create a Gaming Blog

Creating a blog for gamers can be an effective way to attract an audience – and blogs can definitely benefit their owners; there’s more than just advertising revenue, you can attract sponsors as well as manufacturers who may give you free gear.

Some of the easiest options include:

  • Content creation, such as the review and testing of gaming equipment (keyboard, mouse, Gamer chairs, video cards, and so on)
  • Placing affiliate links in the content seller from whom you can buy the equipment
  • If the user reads the link and buys a product, the seller makes the affiliate fees for selling (typically 5-15% of the cost of goods).

2. eSports

Getting heavily into eSports requires a big investment, but the returns can be significant as well. Cyber-athletes spend a lot of time, money and effort developing their skills, and the barrier to entry can be high … so entering the world of eSports to make money can be challenging.

At some tournaments, there can be significant prize money at stake, so if you think you will do well at eSports, it’s best to develop your skills and join a league and see how you go.

3. Game Channel on YouTube

Making money on YouTube is how many people have made their millions, but it is by no means easy to make it big as a content creator. It’s easy enough to start your own channel and to develop gaming content for others, but you will need good ideas and good equipment to make it work.

After all, it’s about finding a niche – if you do the same thing as everyone else, you’re not going to stand out. Standing out is what’s important, this will grow your subscriber numbers, which will grow your access to advertising revenue, sponsors and more.

4. TWITCH Gaming Channel

Twitch is a streaming video service for gamers. This unique platform supports millions of game fans worldwide – and there are hundreds if not thousands of gamers who have turned Twitch streaming into a full time, permanent job. As with the other ideas, though, you will need to be good at what you do – not only at playing the games, but making unique enjoyable content that people will want to watch.

Twitch integrates with most platforms such as Xbox 360, Xbox One, Sony Playstation 3 and 4, as well as with other devices, such as Amazon Fire TV and Google Chromecast, allowing fans to broadcast content. Twitch gives players an excellent opportunity to earn money from video games.

The process is simple: more views – more income. As soon as you have at least 500 regular video views, you will be able to apply for participation in the TWITCH affiliate program. Profit depends on the number of subscribers. Twitch will pay $ 2.5 for each new subscriber.

However, it should be remembered that work on Twitch requires good communication skills, advanced gaming abilities, and great perseverance.

5. Game Tester

Become a video game tester and be paid to play new release video games? Sounds too good to be true, right, but the role does exist. Your job here is to play video games and provide detailed reports and feedback on some aspects of the test games. However, while some companies require certain technical knowledge from their testers, others just want gamers to play beta games.

Earning money in the gaming industry is a real opportunity. Real people who love video games make good money every day.