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How much money can you make playing Video Games on YouTube?
A complete break down
Johnathon Eva
June 09, 2025
So you want to make some cash
And you want to do it playing video games. What can you expect? Well… it depends
 via SocialBlade This is SharkyGames - a pretty popular voice in the “cozy game” niche. You can catch him doing reviews, doing let’s plays, and the occasional collaboration. |  via SocialBlade It’s worth noting that these figures are usually underestimated, and look at how varied they are. This is because it only covers AdSense revenue which is EXTREMELY VOLATILE. That said 10k a year is about average for someone that’s Established in the gaming community |
 via SocialBlade Vintendo - a popular gamer in the “nintendo games” niche. He streams, he does challenges, he makes videos, y’know YouTube. |  via SocialBlade Once again, the figures vary wildly, but 100-150k a year in AdSense is what the top 1% and above can make in VideoGames. |
But you’re not a well established or top 1% of creator yet.
So how can you make money?
1) Streaming
 Google Image Fun fact: Vintendo did a streamathon where people had to pay 5.00 for every minute. He was live for 3 months. I’ll let you do the math. | Streaming is when you play ‘live’ in front of your audience. While this takes some time to build up, don’t sleep on smaller numbers. It can also be a creative way to gauge what your audience actually wants to see more of. |
2) Sponsorships
Paid sponsorships offer YouTubers the ability to monetize before they monetize. As long as you're consistently uploading you can probably get a company to sponsor you. |  Fun Fact: Most YouTubers admit that paid sponsorships are their #1 source of income |
3) Affiliate Links
 Google Images Vintendo also has affiliate links with the product - Cheeky - I think it’s soap | Have a product you love? There’s probably an affiliate link for it. |
4) Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is what it’s called - but another way to look at it is free money |  |
If you have questions - email me. I don’t bite… hard.
Creator’s Killing it.
You’re a skeptic. You want more proof that people are succeeding NOW in gaming on YouTube. Alright, twist my arm. Here ya go.
Started September 18, 2024. That’s under a year folks
 47k views 24x outlier |  108k views 54x outlier |  141k views 70x outlier |
Key Takeaways
Thumbnails: Look at how well I’m able to read all of those words. If you have words on your thumbnail, make sure that they are large enough to read on ALL screens. On mobile it’s gonna be a really small screen.
Not every one: These are the outliers but there are plenty of videos on JoeK’s channel that don’t break 10k views. The secret to ‘overnight success’ is to put in the reps so that you can figure out what does and will work
Popularity: Look, I don’t want to be that guy, but the fact is these are all really popular franchises. There’s a reason they all are doing better than if they were a niche gaming franchise. It has to do with total addressable market. Pokemon is the biggest IP in the world. Read that again.
Creator Opportunity
Neverway from ColdBlood Inc
“Stardew valley, but Indie Horror”
I’m not going to pretend that all of your are “cozy” gamers, but no one could have predicted just HOW huge Stardew Valley would become. Stardew valley creators now are a dime a dozen, and I’m telling you this is the next one.
If you’re in the cozy game niche, get your thinking cap on, and start thinking of video/thumbnail/title ideas now. You’ll only have the first grab a
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Would you do me a favor? If you know a gamer, or someone who likes to game, and is a bit lost on YouTube would you send them this? Thanks in advance!