How to make money on Steam in 2024: [11 LEGIT WAYS]

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If you think playing video games can’t make you money, I’m here to open your mind.

My goal in life is to show people how to save money and MAKE money doing what they love.

So, today I want to give a shout-out to all the massively multiplayer, RPG, simulation, and strategy game addicts out there who are looking for ways to make money from their habits!

Steam is one of the most active online gaming communities, which means there are legit ways to make money on this platform.

Throughout this post, I will show you 11 ways you can make money on Steam and turn your gaming hobby into a source of income.

What is Steam?

So, if you’re new to Steam, let’s start by talking about what it is and how it works.

First of all, Steam is a way to get digital video games. It was made by Valve, the company that made the popular PC game Counter-Strike.

Valve first thought of Steam as a way to make it easier for them to update and fix bugs in their PC games.

Since it came out in 2003, though, Steam has changed into a way for third-party game developers to distribute their games and a very active online community.

Today, almost 150 million people use Steam. That just blows my mind.

Steam Overview

Some of the most popular things you can do on Steam are chat with friends online, watch each other play games, talk about games in forums, and make your own content for games.

Also, Steam has an impressive library of nearly 30,000 games, from games made by small companies to games made by big companies like EA, Ubisoft, and Sega.

And it gets better:

Xbox Game Studios (Microsoft) has put 197 Xbox games (and counting) on Steam. These games include Age of Empires, the Halo series games, and the Fable series.

By going to the official Steam website, you can get Steam and start playing games on your Windows, Mac OS X, or Steam OS + Linux computer.

How to make money on Steam? [11 Top Ways]

1. Steam Wallet Codes for FREE

When it comes to money, at the end of the day…

All that matters is how much money you make and how much money you spend.

So, if you find creative ways to make money, you can spend more on Steam, which is called “Steam money.”

Here’s what I’m getting at:

Free Steam gift cards are one of the best ways to add to your Steam money. Yes, you heard that right: gift cards for Steam that are FREE.

Then you can use these to get more money in your Steam Wallet.

Getting FREE Steam codes is as easy as following these steps:

  • Swagbucks — All you have to do to earn points is fill out online surveys or watch videos or movie trailers. Then, you can turn those points into gift cards to places like Amazon and Walmart.
  • Survey Junkie — Survey Junkie works with a number of different survey sites and companies that do market research. It’s easy: you fill out surveys and get paid. So you can start making money while you’re on the subway or between episodes of a TV show.
  • Inbox Dollars — They give you a number of ways to start getting cash back. You can shop online, take surveys, watch videos, play games, and more. There are so many ways to make money that it’s hard to believe.

You can also use cash-back programs like those from Rakuten and Ibotta to get Steam codes.

To shop online using Rakuten or Ibotta, simply download the apps to your phone.

Or, use Rakuten.com or the Ibotta browser extension on your computer to do your shopping.

Then, every purchase you make gets you points and cash back that you can use to buy Steam codes. It’s that simple.

  • Rakuten —Rakuten, which used to be called Ebates, lets you save money and get cash back at some of your favorite online stores. If you buy something through Rakuten, you can get discounts and start making money off of your purchases.
  • Ibotta — Ibotta has you covered whether you shop in a store or on the web. You can pay with the Ibotta app on your phone at more than 50 stores across the country and 150 online stores. You’ll get your money back on your purchase in 24 hours.

Is it possible to buy things with my Steam wallet?

With the money in your Steam Wallet, you can buy games, in-game items, downloadable content, and things from the Steam Community Market.

It’s also important to know that the money in your Steam Wallet NEVER goes away. As long as the Steam service is around, this money can be used.

Which, let’s be honest, 150 million people won’t leave any time soon. So your Steam money will be worth something for a long time.

Can I cash in my Steam Wallet for real money?

The money in your Steam Wallet can only be used in Steam.

You can’t put the money from your Wallet into your bank account because of this. Sorry, folks!

But think about it this way: the more Steam money you make, the less you’ll spend from your real bank account. So, if you buy a game, it won’t really cost you anything.

So, no matter how you look at it, making money on Steam means keeping more of your real money. Win!

2. Sell items and item drops

If you play Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Dota 2, or any other game, you’ll start finding items and/or getting item drops just for playing.

Basically, you can sell these items on the Steam Market like stocks, which means that their value will change over time based on how many people want to buy them.

If a lot of players have it, the Market will be full of it, which will make it worth less. But the item will sell for more money if it is rare.

The key is to keep an eye on how prices change on the Market (just like on the stock market!). When the price is low, buy it, and when it is high, sell it.

The value of these things can be anywhere from $.10 to $50 or even $1000 or more in some cases.

3. Create a complimentary blog

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that starting your own blog is my number one suggestion for making money online.

There are a lot of reasons why I really like this business model. But the main reason is that it’s easy to start and can become a good source of passive income in a short amount of time.

If you know how to use Steam, you can start a blog to help other people learn how to get the most out of their time on the platform.

For example, you could write articles that help other people.

  • Set up a territorial claim;
  • Food scavenging; 
  • Defeat the elements in any game you choose. 

You could even partner with game developers in your niche to offer discounts, demos, and news about upcoming games.

Remember that you can earn credits on Steam, but you can only use the money in your Steam Wallet on Steam. So, if you have a blog where you can sell products or services, you can make a more reliable way to make money.

This is a much better way to make money online, but if you really want to use Steam, you can still make money, and the tips below will show you some of the best ways.

4. Hold and sell pre-release content

You can also make money on Steam by holding on to and selling content before it comes out.

As you might expect, Steam is always getting new games. You can often order these games before they come out on the market. This could give you access to exclusive content from developers before it comes out!

The items you get before the game comes out vary, but they are usually exclusive skins, crates, or items.

And here’s a big surprise:

After the game comes out, you won’t be able to buy a lot of this pre-release content.

So, if you pre-order a game and get special content, you should keep it and sell it on the Market later for a good price.

And by “decent price,” I mean between a few hundred dollars and a few thousand dollars. I kid you not.

Since fewer people have these things, you can sell them for even more money.

5. Offer Video Game Coaching Services

If you are really good at a Steam game and want to make money from it, you can. One creative way to make money on Steam is to offer to coach other people.

Players who want to get better at gaming will gladly pay you for your advice and help.

You can start selling your skills online on places like Fiverr, GameSensei, Reddit, and the Steam community forum.

If you do a simple search for “video game coaching,” you will see that there are a lot of people offering services for $20 to over $100 per hour.

Here’s an example of a person who offers to coach League of Legends players:

Players will take advice from gamers at the highest levels of whatever game they’re playing, so make sure you get there first to prove your expertise.

Paying for coaches is popular in the following games:

  • League of Legends
  • PUBG
  • Dota 2
  • Starcraft 2
  • CS:GO
  • Apex Legends

6. Sell your trading cards

Trading cards are given to you when you play Steam games, just like items. Most games give you two to three trading cards.

You don’t know when you’ll get these trading cards, but usually, you’ll get one after about 15 minutes of playing and another after about 2 hours.

If you’re a serious gamer who plays 20 different games on Steam, you can imagine that your trading card collection will grow a lot over time.

Most of these won’t be worth more than a few cents when you try to sell them. There is a chance, though, that you will get more valuable cards worth a few dollars each.

Like with items, you should keep an eye on how much these cards are worth on the Steam Market. If you keep them for a while, their prices may go up, and you can make money from them.

Some important things to remember when getting into the Steam trading card market are:

  • A new game will have more valuable trading cards. 
  • You will be notified when there are still more card drops to receive, so you can ensure you receive them all. 
  • There is a chance that you will receive ‘foil’ cards if you get a booster pack (usually 3 cards).  Compared to regular trading cards, these can be worth 10x more.

7. Sell cosmetic crates

In a game, cosmetic crates hold items, and sometimes they hold very valuable and rare items.

You can use in-game money to buy cosmetic crates or just play the game to get them.

Counter-Strike: Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds and Global Offensive are two of Steam’s most popular games known for dropping crates.

For CS:GO, crates come out about twice a week, which is pretty often. When a crate first drops, it can be sold right away for a few dollars.

PUBG will drop even more valuable crates, and players will get rewards for playing the game over and over again. You’ll get Battle Points, which you can use to buy crates and then sell for a few dollars each.

8. Stream Steam games on Twitch

Using different third-party platforms, you can make money from the people who follow you on Steam.

For example, you can stream your gameplay on Twitch and then make money from it in a number of ways, such as through ads, affiliate marketing, Twitch Bits, donations, or sponsorships.

Over 30 million people use Twitch every day, which makes it a great place to make money.

If you already have a following on Steam, you can link your Twitch and Steam accounts so that your Steam followers can watch your tournaments on Twitch and still get bonuses through Steam.

9. Create and sell mods in the Steam Workshop

One of the most popular ways to make money on Steam is to make changes to games and sell them in the Steam Workshop.

A lot of game developers let fans make their own changes (mods) and share them with the community. CS:GO is the best example of this. You can find these mods on the Steam page for each game under “Workshop.”

Depending on the game, some of the mods you can make and sell are:

  • maps
  • Items
  • missions
  • characters 
  • stories

Developing mods for Steam is a great way to develop your game development skills. 

You can gain loyal followers who will pay for your mods or donate money to keep your mods coming by allowing them to download your mods!

10. Using Steam Direct, you can make and sell your own games

The best way to make money on Steam is to make your own original game and sell it. Certainly. Then, you can sell games and offer in-game purchases to make money.

Thanks to Steam’s Steamworks and Steam Direct programs, it’s not too hard to do this.

These give you everything you need to make a game, send it to Valve for review, and then share it with people all over the world.

Like I said before, one of the best things about Steam is that you can play thousands of games made by smaller, independent developers.

You can be one of them, too, because Steam’s platform is more open to everyone.

11. Steam Marketplaces

The third way to make money on Steam is through marketplaces like OpenSea and OPSkins.

These sites allow you to list your digital items for sale and connect with buyers around the world who are looking for specific products or services.

How to make money on Steam

Selling your digital products through these marketplaces can be extremely lucrative but also comes with its own set of risks – so research carefully before taking this route!

Quick  Links:

Conclusion: How to make money on Steam?

Steam offers plenty of opportunities for gamers looking to make some extra cash through trading virtual goods with other users or third-party sites.

Whether it’s exchanging cards, selling items through the market, or cashing out through third-party sites – there are plenty of ways for gamers to capitalize on the vibrant world of Steam trading!

All it takes is some savvy shopping skills and knowledge of what’s hot in the gaming community!

By taking advantage of all these great options available on Steam, you can turn your gaming hobby into a profitable endeavor!

 

Aishwar Babber

Aishwar Babber is a passionate blogger and a digital marketer. He loves to talk and blog about the latest tech and gadgets, which motivates him to run GizmoBase. He is currently practicing his digital marketing, SEO, and SMO expertise as a full-time marketer on various projects. He is an active investor in AffiliateBay and a director in ImageStation.

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