Ruhani Rabin
5 min readJun 25, 2020
11 Business Ideas for Gamers Featured Image

Many people dream of being able to earn a living doing something that they love. If you love gaming, then you have probably wondered about ways you can make money with your hobby. Consider these 11 business ideas for gamers.

1. Start an eSports Betting Site

eSports betting works similarly to betting on other sports, such as football or basketball. Except with gaming, you do not have to stick to allowing fans to bet on professional sports. The betters can also be competitors. You can bet on yourself playing games on popular gaming sites or bet on the outcome of matches between other players. You can boost the fun factor of your site and draw in bigger crowds by hosting tournaments and other events.

2. Sell Video Games

Video game sales are becoming increasingly digital, but there is still a market for the buying and selling of physical games. You can expand your options by offering classic and collectible titles that may not be available digitally. This is another option that you can open up without securing a physical location. You can sell products through your website or utilize selling services such as eBay and Amazon.

3. Open a Video Game Cafe

Not everyone has a fast enough internet connection or a powerful enough gaming machine to play all the latest games from home. Gaming cafes are becoming popular places for gamers to gather and play the latest games. In addition to providing access to the latest technology, gaming cafes add a social component to gaming that may be missing from solo or online gaming experiences. Opening a gaming cafe provides you with the opportunity to grow a local gaming community and arrange fun events such as eSports tournaments.

4. Create Gaming Apps

Mobile gaming has become a huge industry, with the top-grossing apps pulling in millions of dollars. If you have coding experience, you can produce a gaming app in as little as six weeks. If you lack the skillset, many colleges offer video game programming courses and some even offer two or four-year degrees in game development. You will need some marketing savvy to get your game noticed, but if you have the right idea, your game could be the next Candy Crush or Pokemon Go.

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5. Create a Video Game Reality Show

Competitive reality shows are all the rage because they are relatively cheap to produce. The popularity of eSports has created many opportunities to televise a gaming themed reality competition show. Your show could be a straight-up eSports competition or something more creative.

6. Teach the Noobs

If you are very good at one or more games, chances are you can find newer players who would like to learn your secrets. With eSports becoming increasingly popular, more gamers are looking for opportunities to boost their skills. Offering training for aspiring pro-gamers could be a great way to capitalize on the rising interest in professional gaming. Because most games can be played or streamed online, your business model could be entirely online, saving you the starting expense of opening a brick and mortar location.

7. Rent Video Games

Not everyone wants to pay $60 or more to play a new game that might take less than a day to beat. Video game rental services allow players to play new games without paying the high purchase price or to try out games they are not sure they will like well enough to purchase. This business model can work as a brick and mortar store or online service or a combination of the two. You can choose to rent individual games out by the day, week, or month or offer a subscription service that allows customers to rent a certain number of games per month in exchange for a monthly fee.

8. Create a Virtual and Augmented Reality Space

Virtual and augmented reality games offer exciting new experiences to gamers. Unfortunately, technology can come with high price tags and require more powerful gaming machines than many gamers own. Additionally, a lot of people do not have enough space in their gaming room to accommodate virtual reality or live in rural areas where many augmented reality experiences are lacking. You can offer gamers the latest technology and space custom-designed to enhance their virtual reality experience, without having to move the couch or risk punching a wall. You can also give players who can not take advantage of augmented reality experiences where they live, a home base to connect with other players, and enjoy the games they have been missing out on.

9. Rent Gaming Hardware

The latest gaming console can cost upwards of $300 and that does not even include extra controllers, virtual reality headsets, gaming headsets, and other gear. A decent PC setup can cost even more than that. You can make a profit, while also making gaming accessible to more gamers by offering rentals of gaming systems and accessories.

10. Start a Video Game Blog or Podcast

You can tap into gamers’ desire to keep up to date with the latest gaming news and debate the merits of various games and gaming systems by creating a gaming blog or podcast. If you attract enough fans, you can make money by getting sponsors, hosting advertising space, and promoting products. If there is enough premium content on your site, you may even be able to sell subscriptions.

11. Open a One-Stop-Shop

If more than one of these ideas appeals to you, you might consider offering a one-stop-shop where gamers can get all of their gaming needs met. Perhaps you want to open a gaming cafe with a dedicated space for virtual reality gaming and a retail shop where gamers can buy or rent games. Or maybe you would like to open a training center that also hosts eSports tournaments with live betting. The possibilities are endless.

Gaming is a popular hobby, but with the right idea, it can also be a moneymaker. There are more ways than ever before to turn your gaming passion into a profitable business.

Originally posted at RuhaniRabin.com
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Ruhani Rabin

Ruhani Rabin being a tech and product evangelist for two decades. He was VP, GM, CPO for various digital companies. Obsessed with Generative AI now.