Do you want the long answer to this question or the short one?

For those of you with limited time on your hands, the answer is a resounding yes. A lot of money can be made by playing online video games, in a multitude of ways. If you want the longer answer to this, then carry on reading!

Essentially, you can make money playing video games by any of these routes:

Becoming a content creator/streamer
Going pro
Testing games
Selling accounts
Using apps

Source (CC0 License)

Becoming a content creator/streamer

A popular way of becoming very rich from gaming. People like PewDiePie have had success doing this, and you basically choose games to play, make videos about them - or stream them live. The key to doing this is choosing popular games to play and ensuring your content is enjoyable to watch. Success doesn’t happen overnight and isn’t guaranteed, but platforms like YouTube and Twitch will pay you to partner with them - plus you might get sponsorships. Playing games and then creating your own blog to post reviews or tips is also a form of content creation that can help you make money.

Going pro

Professional gaming is getting bigger every single year. Obviously, you need to be really good at a specific game to go pro. The trick is picking games that have a big eSports scene. PUBG is a fantastic example, and you can find a PUBG download for PC easily in just a few minutes. League of Legends also does really well in the competitive scene, with Valorant being one of the newest games to make it big in eSports. If you’re good enough, you can get signed and paid by a team - as well as open the door to many sponsors.

Testing games

Some developers will pay people to test early versions of games. Again, it can be hard to find work like this, but the key is to do your research and see if any jobs are going. Here, you will literally be paid to play video games!

Selling accounts

Sometimes, you can sell your accounts on certain games. Why would you do this? Well, on a game like Overwatch, there’s a ranked mode where people try to climb the leaderboard. Some gamers will actually pay for accounts to get a higher rank. It sounds pretty sad on their behalf, but it means you have a chance to make money if you’re good at a game. Always check the terms of service before doing this, just to be sure you’re not doing anything illegal.

Using apps

Finally, you can make money playing online video games by downloading certain apps. Many apps exist that will give you points or rewards for playing certain games. From here, the points can be redeemed as actual money. You’re probably going to need to play for a very long time to earn decent cash, so this is more of a thing to do on the side to earn a bit of pocket money.

You see, playing online video games can open the door to many money-making opportunities. These ideas can either be used as side hustles to get a bit of extra cash, or they can become full-time jobs that pay very well. The bottom line is that playing video games isn’t necessarily as bad as it’s been made out!