For many people who love playing games, the idea that they can make some money while doing so may sound strange.
But the fact is that there are many different ways in which gamers are making decent amounts of money every month without having to do much work.
If you play games on PC, then you likely have an account on Steam. It is one of the most popular gaming launchers and has a vast variety of titles.
But why does that matter?
Because you can actually make money on Steam!
There are some interesting ways in which gamers can earn some cash on Steam, so if you’re interested in gaming and already use Steam, why not give them a try?
What is Steam?
Steam is the most popular and widely-used platform for the digital distribution of games.
It is approximated that 18% of all computer games are sold via this platform. It has nearly 150 million users which is a testament to its popularity and size.
Steam came around back in 2003 when it was launched in its beta form. It started strong, with a number of developers using the platform to launch their games.
However, when Half-Life 2 was released on the platform, Steam just wasn’t ready to handle the massive influx of users.
Users starters reporting crashes and problems logging into their accounts, and Steam started to see users turn away from the platform.
The company behind Steam, Valve, decided to sign external publishers in 2005 in an attempt to get some momentum back.
They were able to partner with big names like Capcom, Activision, and Eidos in the next couple of years.
This move helped them grow bigger and better. And to this day, Steam has been almost the default gaming platform for PC users.
How To Make Money on Steam?
Get Items and Sell Them Later
The best way to make money on Steam is to get your hands on some items that are really hot at the moment.
There are many games that give you certain items for free as you keep playing. Many of these items are not rare, but from time to time you might get a rare item in your inventory.
When this happens, make sure you keep that item safe until there is a serious demand for it and you can sell it.
You can also keep an eye out for drops in prices for popular items. When this happens, purchase some of these items and you can sell them later for their original price.
Trading items in this way is a great way to earn some cash through Steam.
Keep engaging with the community to be aware of what is in demand and what you can offer.
When someone approaches you for an item you have, be sure to check the market rate before striking the best possible deal.
Always remember that an item’s value will be high when it is released and after it is discontinued.
So, keeping an eye out for item drops and also keeping rare items safe can bring you good money later on.
Keep Trading Cards Safe
There is a large number of games that give users Steam trading cards for free.
These cards vary in value, with many being only worth a few pennies. However, you can sometimes get a card that is is worth a few dollars.
The more you play, the more cards you will get in your inventory.
This is one of the easiest ways to get some money just by playing your favorite games. You don’t have to do anything to get these cards other than just play.
After you’ve put in a good number of hours into your games, you can check how many cards you have collected. These can then be turned into items that you can trade on Steam or used to get game badges, etc.
Get Your Hands on Pre-Release Items
If you ever pre-purchase a game on Steam, it may just come with some extras in the form of items or crates.
If the items you get are sellable on Steam, you should hold on to them. Most of the time, when the game is released, the value of such items goes up into hundreds of dollars.
One example of such an event is the special cosmetic set that was given for free to those players who pre-ordered PUBG.
Once the game was released, this cosmetic set quickly went up to $1400 in value on Steam! Considering that the pre-order cost players just $30, that is a huge return on their investment.
Create an Original Game and Sell It
If you like making games yourself, you can sell them on Steam Direct. This is a great way to make some real cash via Steam that you can actually withdraw instead of using it within Steam.
However, this does require a lot of time and attention as well as a real interest in creating games. The good news is that you don’t necessarily have to create the game yourself.
If you have some cool ideas, you can hire a game developer to bring your idea to life and then offer the game on Steam Direct.
Granted, this method does require you to invest money before you can get a payoff but the potential payoff you can get is much more significant than other ways.
Steam will pay you based on how many sales your game gets and this can lead to some serious earnings per month.
One thing to note is that Steam does take 30% of the revenue your game generates. That may seem like a lot but when you consider that Steam is allowing you to sell your title on the largest gaming launcher on PC, it is understandable.
If you can develop a good enough game and market it well, you can potentially earn thousands of dollars easily.
Think about it, if your game costs just $1, then a thousand downloads will mean you generate $1000.
And a thousand downloads for a decent game is nothing.
To get more sales on Steam Direct, you can do two things. You can either create more and more games or you can market your handful of games really well to generate a buzz around the titles.
You should also make sure that your games are fun to play as more positive reviews left by players will create more interest in your titles.
Earn Free Codes for Steam Wallet
There are different websites and services that offer users free Steam Wallet codes for doing simple tasks. These codes can be used within Steam to purchase games or items. It is like a form of gift cards that can be turned into money.
While this is not a way to make money on Steam, it’s still worth a shot if you want to finance some of your gaming interests.
Here are some of the best websites you can visit to earn your Steam Wallet codes:
GrabPoints:
If you have some extra time on your hands every day, then you should sign up for this service.
GrabPoints will reward you in the form of Steam codes for watching advertisements, taking surveys, and downloading and using certain apps.
PrizeRebel:
Like GrabPoints, PrizeRebel also pays users for taking online surveys.
This is one of the best-known websites for this purpose and it has paid millions of dollars to its users thus far.
Earning Steam codes through PrizeRebel is a great way to expand your game library.
eBonus.gg:
If you like watching live streams and short videos, and don’t mind providing your feedback, then you can look into signing up for eBonus.gg.
The website pays users through coins when they complete their tasks. These can then be converted into Steam codes, skins, or even games.
As you can see, there are many different services that will reward you for completing very simple tasks.
You should know that each task you complete will give you a very small amount of money but if you keep doing different ones consistently, you will generate a decent amount of Steam codes to use.
Livestream Online
One of the most popular and lucrative ways to make money via Steam these days is to live-stream your games. The two best platforms for doing so are Twitch and Youtube.
There are many gamers who have made a complete career out of live-streaming their games on these websites, and you can do so as well.
If you don’t want to use websites like Twitch and Youtube to live-stream, you can do so from within Stream too. Follow these simple steps and set up your very own live stream:
- Go to the Steam settings and located the “Broadcasting” tab.
- Once there, you will see that your broadcasting will be disabled by default. You can change the settings to let anyone watch your games or just your friends.
- After deciding who can watch your games, you will need to set up the video resolution that you wish to stream. The best way is to go with 1920×1080 if your computer can easily handle it, as a higher resolution stream is always appreciated by the viewers.
- Using the “Configure Microphone” settings, you can adjust your mic to make sure that your viewers will hear you.
And just like that, you will be able to stream your games directly via Steam. If you don’t want to do a live stream, don’t worry.
You can also simply record your games when you play and later post them on Youtube.
If you have some experience with editing, you can make your videos look much better overall as compared to a live stream.
Be consistent with posting your content and over time you will start making some decent money each month.
Join Competitions
There are a number of online competitions that take place within Steam.
You may be able to take part in some of them alone but for a lot of them, you should have your own team.
Whatever the case, taking part in these competitions can win you good amounts of money if you’re good at the game. Some of the popular games that are often seen in such competitions include DOTA 2, PUBG, Overwatch, and Counter-Strike.
If you and your friends can develop your skillset to a level where you can easily win games, competitions and tournaments is the way to go.
Sell Your Account
If you are patient and you plan the growth of your Steam account over the years, then your account might become very valuable at some point.
At such a point, you can sell your whole account for very high amounts of money.
The value of your account will rely on what your rank is, how many unlocked champions you have, and how many rare skins and items you have.
The more rare stuff you have unlocked in your account, the more money it can get you when you sell it.
So, Is It Worth Using Steam to Make Money?
The first thing you need to understand is that you will not be able to make thousands of dollars overnight on Steam.
This is a gaming platform first and foremost, and you shouldn’t join it just to make money unless you are selling your own games of course.
There are other apps and sites that you can use for this. We have covered these in the post where we covered best apps for odd jobs.
However, if you are a gamer and you love playing games, then there are legitimate ways in which you can turn your passion into some money each month.
Making money on Steam takes some planning and inventory management but you can definitely do it.
Just be sure to have some fun gaming too while you do so!