Making extra bucks on the side in college always feels right and helps you start your journey toward financial freedom. One of the ways to earn money as a college student is by playing video games. While some people do it as a full-time job, others consider it a part-time occupation. You can earn from gaming in various ways, from being a tester to becoming a Twitch streamer. It’s crucial for students to find different earning methods that don’t interfere with their school schedule, and gaming gigs offer this since you will be working remotely often. Let’s review how students can earn extra cash from gaming. 

Become a Twitch Streamer 

Want to make quick money to pay for essay, buy groceries, fuel your car, and cater to other college expenses? Take advantage of Twitch. You can earn money on Twitch by streaming various content, such as recording yourself playing video games. You can also film yourself giving video game recommendations. To earn on Twitch, you must grow your account by posting fresh content that attracts more subscribers. If you record yourself sitting just playing video games, it may not appeal to your viewers. To make the video enjoyable, you can add commentaries or background music and sounds to make it more entertaining. 

Another exciting content you can explore is teaching people how to play certain games and introducing trending video games. You can also opt for affiliate marketing on your platform, whereby adverts are placed on videos, especially if you have a lot of streams. Twitch content creators also earn from the subscription since the platform takes 50% of the subscription fee while the creator remains with the other 50%. 

Become a Tutor 

You will only have to share your video game knowledge with others as a video game tutor. Tutoring offers a flexible schedule, meaning you will not have to compromise your studies. With the introduction of gamification in schools, you can use your video gaming skills to develop gaming ideas that students can use to study. Several video games are used in education; therefore, you can take time to perfect your skills to help students learn how to go about them. 

Students currently use various technologies to learn, including virtual and augmented reality. Therefore, you can use such innovations to become a tutor in such areas. You can look for video game tutor jobs on freelance websites such as Upwork and Fiverr. While at it, you can check how other tutors place their charges and the services they offer so you can know how to maximize your potential. 

Participate in Tournaments 

You can try your luck in various gaming competitions if you are a pro gamer. The cash prize in some of these tournaments is usually juicy. For example, the Dota 2 is ranked among the tournaments with the highest cash prize. In 2022, the pool prize for Dota 2 was $17.3 million. However, it is essential to understand that competitions with a high cash prize are usually competitive; thus, you must sharpen your gaming skills. 

Also, some competitions may require registration or initial costs, but if you get a scholarship from esports, you will not need to make such payments. With tech evolution, various video game tournaments are being played that you can enroll in. These competitions will also help you hone your gaming skills for bigger tournaments.

Esports Scholarship Application 

Esports scholarships are rare; however, you can still get them with the proper application strategy. The scholarships are given to students who are passionate about competitive gaming. These scholarships allow students to pursue their Esports dream and become part of a team. Some skills you will learn as a member of Esports include teamwork, communication, and leadership skills, which will help you become a better esports professional. The scholarship also allows you to get known in the gaming community, which opens up more opportunities. Esports scholarship also makes it easy to join various gaming competitions that may earn you more money. 

Apply for Game Tester Jobs 

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If you enjoy trying out new video games, you can apply for a job as a video game tester for game development companies. Before introducing a new game to the market, companies often hire people to test it for quality assurance. The job usually involves evaluating a game’s functionality, entertainment, and usability. 

Depending on the company, you might be required to assess the game on a console, phone, tablet, or computer. After evaluating the game, you are required to submit a comprehensive report with findings and recommendations from your experience. You can take up a short course on game programming to land more lucrative video testing jobs. 

Become a Gaming Influencer on Social Media 

If you enjoy playing video games and scrolling on your social media accounts, you can combine the two and earn from both passions. Social media has offered a platform where young people can make a difference by doing things they love. Becoming a gaming influencer means you must be in touch with all the gaming trends, from cloud gaming to virtual reality, blockchain games, and much more. 

The money-making principle on various social media platforms is the same as Twitch, except that the algorithms vary for different platforms. You can post your content on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube. The content you post should be entertaining, engaging, and informative to capture your audience’s attention. 

When you decide to specialize in the gaming niche as an influencer, you should be ready to spend time creating and finding exciting content about gaming to post. Consider this option if you have a flexible schedule that allows you to create quality content frequently. Otherwise, you might find yourself postponing schoolwork and get thoughts like, “Who can I pay to write my assignment for me?”

Shutdown

The video game industry is multi-dollar, with several opportunities for students to explore and make money. The upside of gaming jobs is that you will more likely work remotely, making it easy to maintain your study schedule due to the flexibility of these jobs. You can thrive on various social platforms as a gaming content creator or land a career as a video game tester. Therefore, if you are looking forward to earning some money for your upkeep in college, you can use the various monetization techniques discussed above to earn from gaming.