More and more people play video and mobile games — analysts predict that the total value of the gaming industry will exceed $200 billion in 2023. However, video games have turned into full-time work for many people today — the present generation of gamers earns millions on their favorite hobby. Some methods have been existing for years but the latest trends emerged only a few months ago.

Play-2-Earn games and NFT guilds

One of the most exotic ways to earn money on games is probably Play-2-Earn («Make money by playing») projects, which have emerged massively due to the rise of blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies. These games provide users an opportunity to make real money by doing in-game objectives. There are lots of such projects — Axie Infinity, The Sandbox, League of Kingdoms, etc.

The idea is almost similar — users have to buy in-game characters, resources, and various visual items to start playing. The price of these virtual items varies from a few cents to hundreds of dollars, however, they should be bought in the in-game currency. Then, users who have bought the required characters and resources start competing with each other and doing challenges in the game, for which they will receive a reward in the form of the gaming currency, which can be converted into real money. It means that the in-game money becomes a cryptocurrency

Amid the rise of Play-2-Earn games, special organizations emerged — NFT guilds. In this case, NFT is a pack of in-game characters and resources. Guilds purchase characters in various games and then employ «recruits» (players) who play with these characters — all income is divided proportionally between recruits and a guild.

If you think that all of this is very complicated and confusing — don’t worry, you are not alone. The majority of people have not heard about these Play-2-Earn projects.

Esports — the elite gaming

The most mainstream career for gamers is esports. Esports is a video game competition. Actually, it is like traditional sports, for example, football. Professional players play for esports teams, they have coaches, management, training bases, and other attributes of a professional sports team.

Salaries of professional players reach a hundred thousand dollars a year but they earn the most on the winnings from tournaments — for example, the winner of The International 10, Team Spirit won $18 million, and the major part of the sum was received by five players of the main roster. And it is not an exception - the most performing players regularly win millions of dollars at world tournaments.

Streaming — television of the present generation

Naturally, as it is in traditional sports, only a few become professional players. Many other gamers have to find alternative ways to earn money on games.

One of such alternatives is a career as a streamer. Streaming is an online broadcast of video game gameplay, which is hosted on special platforms, such as Twitch.

Many readers may wonder why someone prefers to watch the other person playing instead of personally playing. But this is the fact — streaming has become a mass phenomenon. Every day, millions of people join live broadcasts of favorite gamers who communicate with viewers in a chat. Viewers reward streamers with donations, which reach tens of thousands of dollars sometimes. The most famous steamers gather a large audience on their broadcasts and even collaborate with celebrities. One of the most famous examples is the Ninja’s stream together with the hip-hop artist Drake. More than 600 thousand people were watching this broadcast at the same time.

How will people play in the future?

Predictions on some spheres of the gaming industry are pretty hazy but there is a trend, which brings a positive effect both to the national and world gaming industry. We are talking about the metaverse. Many experts predict that the development of metaverses will help to build on the video game industry.

The founder of the Epic Games company — the developers of Fortnite — states that metaverses will become a multi-trillion industry. These technologies allow game developers to create incredible virtual worlds. And gamers and entrepreneurs from all over the world can continue looking for ways to turn their hobbies into earnings.