Have you ever played a video game so long that a full day had passed by? I know that has happened to me several times. Have you ever asked, can I make money playing video games? If you are an avid or casual player the answer is yes. I will explain how in this post.

For those interested in choosing Video Games as the niche for your website business or if you know someone who is considering this as a niche, the information I share in this blog post will help. Anyone can earn money in this niche. Please share this information.

GAME TESTERS DO NOT PLAY GAMES

Before I tell how you can earn money by "Playing" video games let me state a fact. This has absolutely nothing to do with video game testing because real testers do not play video games as a job. Playing only takes up 5% of the job a video game tester performs.

Back when I worked in the video game industry and especially when I was the manager of the QA (Quality Assurance) department, I used to get a ton of offers from job seekers. Most were young adults and even from parents about their kids being good at games.

Being able to play and beat video games is not a good enough requirement for being a video game tester. This was something that those seeking the job as a tester could not understand, same goes for those parents. Most people do not realize what a tester actually does.

Yet they still think it would be a really fun job. How would you like it if you hated playing puzzle games, but were forced to test such a game for several weeks straight? And by testing I mean focusing all your testing efforts on only the submit score aspect of the game.

Or perhaps you being a male, had to spend a few months testing all the makeup and costume options in a Barbie Doll dress-up video game. Does this characterization of what a video game tester must do, still make you think that being a tester is a fun job?

My #1 ability required before anyone became a tester was if that person was detail oriented and could clearly explain what he or she had seen. Once that tester finds a bug they must be able to repeat it a few times and then write a step-by-step process on how it happened.

This is very important for when the bug is supposedly fixed by the programmer. The tester must take the newly fixed code and go back and try several times to recreate the bug they had previously found. If they cannot, the bug is fixed. Does that still sound like a fun job?

CAN YOU MAKE MONEY PLAYING GAMES?

In order to play the games you want and make money from your actions, you need to approach this opportunity with a wide view on categories. These are the things that people are looking to spend money on like software, hardware, accessories and virtual.

The money making process regardless of the category you choose, will require you to have a website and blog. This process can be in the form of either affiliate marketing or e-commerce drop shipping. I would recommend it is affiliate marketing for more income potential.

In the drop shipping model you are tied to one particular supplier in most cases. However, with affiliate marketing you can be affiliates with a couple of different video game and accessories retailers, giving you more of a variety of related products to make money from.

Plus the affiliate marketing model is a much easier way to earn. You do not have to deal directly with the person making the purchase. All you are doing is writing up informative content on your website, then recommending where your readers can make a purchase.

Obviously for the majority of you who are reading this, you already know where and how this can be accomplished. For those of you reading this blog who are not members of Wealthy Affiliate, WA for short, becoming a FREE Member can get you started in the right direction.

With many things that will have a positive financial impact on your future, getting the right education and the supportive tools is essential. Being a member of WA will give you everything you need, except your own determination, to experience success in your niche.

CHOOSE YOUR NICHE WISELY

When starting a video games niche website many people tend to focus solely on the games or consoles for what they are going to promote. However, there are so many other websites that already do that and unless you have a new way to attract traffic it may be a lost cause.

Below is a list of niche categories that should be considered instead of games and consoles. These are more specific and less saturated, giving you a better chance to capture traffic (need to find those good keywords first) and more customers.

• Accessories
• Clothing
• Computers
• Cosplay Apparel
• Consoles (Saturated)
• Design Software
• Electronics
• Gambling
• Games (Saturated)
• Guides for Game Play and/or Strategy
• Handhelds
• Online Services
• RMT (Real Money Trade)
• Toys
• Video Game Rental Membership (like GameFly)
• VR (Virtual Reality)

MAKE YOUR NICHE MORE NARROW

Though Games and Consoles are listed above those two niches are both broad saturated niche categories, but I will provide some examples in just a bit. Even the niche category of Accessories should be narrowed down into mini niches like the following.

• Flight Sticks (for any type of flying game)
• Foot Peddles & Steering Wheel Combo (for any type of driving game)
• Gaming Headsets (for either PC, PS4 or Xbox & either Wired or Wireless)

Did you see how I took the broad niche of Video Game Accessories and narrowed it down into specific mini niches? I started thinking of all the different types of accessories that people use when playing video games beyond just the standard controllers that come with the game.

Even though there are many more types of accessories (Chairs, Cameras, Monitors, Mice, Track Balls,...), I just used the three most popular to give you an idea of how someone could choose one of those video game accessory niches and what to promote.

Let me give you another two video game sub niches that are similar and a couple of their more narrowed down mini niches. Clothing and Cosplay Apparel. Even though both are clothing, Cosplay Apparel is separate and could be narrow enough. Here's some examples...

CLOTHING

• Game and game company specific t-shirts for Men and/or Women (Call of Duty, Mario Kart, Pac Man, Atari, Nintendo, EA Sports...)
• Game company specific hats (Origin, Microsoft, Activision,...)
• General gaming hoodies and shirts

COSPLAY

• Cosplay costumes for Men (Mortal Combat Scorpion, Halo Master Chief, Assassin Altair,...)
• Cosplay costumes for Women (Tomb Raider - Lara Croft, Dynasty Warriors - Zhen Ji, Team Rocket - Jessie,...)
• Cosplay costume accessories (Masks, Swords, Guns, Ammo Belts, Helmets, Power Gloves,...)
• Cosplay convention and event news
• Cosplay guides for DIY (Do It Yourself) costume ideas

Personally I think the sub video game niche of Cosplay is a very up and coming popular niche. Cosplay is not just popular with TV, movie and comic book characters. Being that the video game market is absolutely massive, Cosplay is a big rage here as well.

WHAT ABOUT CONSOLES & GAMES?

As I mentioned early on in this post, both Consoles and Games are the two most common sub niches in the broader video games niche that people tend to focus on. However, these two are quite saturated. Unless you have a unique angle in how to promote them it maybe difficult.

If I were to choose Consoles for my niche I would focus in on one particular model like the PlayStation 4 (PS4) and only provide in depth information and reviews of the console itself. I would also include any and all relevant industry news and promote accessories.

CONSOLES: For example my topics or categories would include:

• PS4 Console Variations (Different Colors, Different Sized Memory)
• PS4 Extra Long Wired Controllers
• PS4 Wireless Controllers
• PS4 Accessories (Flight Sticks, Steering Wheels, Accelerate & Brake Peddles,...)
• PS4 General Care Maintenance Guides
• PS4 Repair Services
• PS4 Carrying Case
• PS4 Clothing (Hats, Hoodies, t-shirts,...)

Even though the above are all mini niches, because my niche is focused on one particular type of console, it would be best for me to include them all under the broader PlayStation 4 niche. This gives me a better way to stand out above just a site catering to the console alone.

As for choosing the games themselves as the niche I would focus in on a specific Genre of game. Like I would choose to review and give late breaking news on upcoming games in the Shooter niche, Fighting niche, Driving niche, Anime niche, Sports niche, Retro Game niche,...

GAMES: For example my topics & categories for the Sports niche would first focus in on a particular type of sport, seeing how there are so many. Let us say I choose Football as my sub niche. Well there is both Soccer and American (College & NFL) football. I would do both:

• FIFA Soccer
• Pro Evolution Soccer
• Madden NFL Football
• Blood Bowl
• ESPN NFL
• College Football USA
• NFL Blitz
• Mutant League Football

I would then split them into three Categories: Handhelds, PlayStation and Xbox. Under each Category I would have four Sub Categories: Soccer, College Football, NFL Football & Alternative Football. Then place the appropriate content under each sub category.

By just focusing in on one type of sport, in this case football, I can promote games in this specific niche for play on a PlayStation, Xbox and Handhelds like the PlayStation Vita, Nintendo 2DS/3DS, Nintendo Switch, and even Smartphone Apps.

GET MONEY PLAYING VIDEO GAMES

With the information I have shared with you above, anyone looking for ways that they could be making money playing video games can now have an idea of how to start. An affiliate marketing website in the video games niche can be quite fun to operate and profitable too.

Unlike testing video games you will get to choose which kind of games you will play and which ones to promote. You do not have to play every single game that you recommend and make money on, unless you want to. If you do renting through GameFly is a good option.

Obviously you will want to play the games you are reviewing to give your personal in depth review and opinion. But there will be times that you may be able to get enough information from credible sources. Personally I would play the majority of the games I review.

If the video games niche is how you would like to earn money from the comfort of your home, use the information in this post to help you get started. If you are not a member of Wealthy Affiliate, click the Green Join Now button above and I will be more than happy to help you.

If you have any questions or comments on what you have just read, please leave them below in the comments section. Remember as with all broad niches like Video Games, don't just choose the obvious common sub niches. Spend some time to break it down like I did above.