How To Make Money On Steam in 2024?

Do you know that you could make thousands of dollars playing games? Any gamer dreams of making money doing the thing they love the most. Isn’t it?

Well, you can do so by playing games on Steam. I assume you are acquainted with the term. If yes, Good. If not, don’t fret; we will discover it soon.

Steam allows all game enthusiasts, gamers, developers, coders, and designers to make a fair share of the money. And everything has to do with the games on Steam.

So how to make money on Steam?

We will get to the money-making part in the later stages.  Let us start from the basics.

What Is Steam?

Steam is the world’s top video game distribution service application and storefront by Valve. Valve corporation launched Steam as a client software in 2003. They aimed to supply automated updates to their games via Steam.

In 2005, they expanded their reach to third-party game publishing and distribution. Steam is well-known among the gaming community for its features. Anti-cheat measures, game server matchmaking, social networking, digital rights management (DRM), and game streaming services are at the top of the bunch.

Steam is the most popular gaming platform, with over 132 million monthly active users. It houses more than 34,000 games, representing at least 19% of the global game (PC) sales. It is worth a whopping 6.6 billion US dollars.

In simple words, Steam is a platform that allows users to play, stream, publish, and sell games. It is a holy grail for all game enthusiasts, whether players or developers.

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How to create a Steam account?

Creating a Steam account involves a few simple steps. Follow the steps given below:

Creating Steam Account Via the Steam app:

1. Download and install the Steam application.
2. Open the app and click “Create a new account.”
3. Enter your email and verify it using the link in your inbox.
4. Return to Steam, enter your Steam Name and password, and click “Complete Sign Up.”

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Creating Steam Account Via the Web browser:

1. Go to the following website: https://store.steampowered.com/login/
2. Scroll and click on “Join Steam.”
3. Enter your email, checkmark the agreement, and click “Continue.”
4. Go to your mail and verify using the link.
5. Set up your Steam Name and password, and click “Done.”

The above steps were to create a normal Steam account for gamers. However, creating a developer account (partner account) takes a few additional steps.

Once you have completed the above steps, add the following:

1. Go to the following website: https://partner.steamgames.com/
2. Sign in with your Steam credentials (from earlier).
3. Click “Sign Up” beside Game Developer or Publisher.
4. Enter your Name and Address.
5. Sign NDA and SDA and proceed to payment.
6. Pay $100 via any given, desirable payment method.

After completing these steps, you will also have created a partner account/Developer Steam account.

Note: I recommend you use Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator and add your virtual phone number to add an extra layer of protection. In unfortunate situations, it will help you recover your Steam account access with OTPs from Steam.

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Can you make money on Steam?

Of course. You can make money on Steam. However, it is difficult. It requires dedication, patience, and extremely hard work. Making small amounts on Steam is easy but making a living out of it isn’t.

What is the point of making money if you cannot sustain your daily life? Let alone the luxuries and lavish life you desire playing your favorite games.

Earning a few hundred dollars a month won’t cut it. You should be able to make more than a few thousand dollars to survive. More than a few million dollars to live the life of your dreams.

There are a few ways to do that, which we will uncover in the sections below.

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How To Make Money On Steam in 2024: Best & Effective Ways

There are various blogs, video content, and whatnot on the internet teaching you to make money on Steam. Well, most of them are rip-offs trying to bait you and make money themselves from the clicks they get.

They use flipping skins, steam items, booster packs, and some other Steam terminologies to impress you. Well, you have to work your behind off to make 100 dollars with these ways. Do you want to do that?

Let us cut the bullshit and talk about facts. How much is the actual money you earn from flipping skins? Not more than a few bucks. Can you live with something that doesn’t guarantee a fixed income rate?

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And you might have come across a CS: GO knife skin that sold for about 750,000 dollars. Well, how many times did that happen? It was once in a lifetime situation. These things rarely happen, and not everyone can be a part of them.

Here, we will discuss the best ways to make money on Steam that actually allow you to make money.

1. Live Stream Steam Gameplay On Streaming platforms.

We gamers like playing games for the most part of our day. Why not monetize the thing we love to do the most? I am talking about live-streaming Steam games on streaming platforms like Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, Mixer, etc.

As a gamer, you like to try out new and popular games. And the good part is viewers also tune in for the same content. You don’t have to be perfect at these games. However, the entertainment aspect should be at its best from your end.

It takes time to grow as a streamer. But once you catch the momentum, there is no stopping it. You will have to work for it and be smart enough to figure out what viewers want at a particular time.

For instance, Grand Theft Auto V has 345,647 searches, whereas Portals 2 has 34,785 searches. You should definitely go with the GTAV. There will certainly be tough competition, but you will rise and shine if you have what it takes.

Streaming up-and-coming games can also be a good strategy. Be the early bird to get the worms. Enough about the strategies. Let us see how you can make money from streaming.

Streaming comes with a number of opportunities to make actual money. For instance, sponsored live streams. You will get a certain amount of money to advertise the sponsor’s products or services on your live streams.

These payments vary depending on the number of subscribers, viewers, audience engagement, etc. On average, a streamer can earn from $10 to $50 for every 1000 views. Some popular streamers earn way more than this.

The streaming platforms also pay similar rates for streaming your Steam videos on their platform. You do the math here. If you have 1 million views on your stream, with the least $10, you earn $10,000.

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2. Patreon Pledges and Affiliate Marketing

Steam is the source of your content. But you cannot make a living out of Steam games alone. You need to use it and combine it with other platforms. For instance, YouTube.

Create video content on Steam and host them on YouTube, DTube, Vimeo, etc. Millions of viewers could enjoy your Steam content. In this way, you could monetize your content.

If you have loyal followers, you can ask them to help you through Patreon pledges. They will willingly contribute some amount by becoming members whilst enjoying the content you create. It is a win-win situation.

The other aspect is you can be involved in affiliate programs with certain businesses that complement your Steam content. For example, gaming companies, PC hardware, accessories, etc., offer a 10%-30% commission to affiliate marketers on each sale.

You also can promote their products among your viewers and subscribers and encourage them to buy from them. Clearly state that each of their buys will help you with some portion of the sale. They will happily become a part of this to help you out. Loyalty is an incredible thing.

Steam live streams and recorded content can help you stay connected with your viewers and create a platform where you ask something from them in return for your time, effort, and content.

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3. Producing a Complimentary Blog

Once you have an in-depth understanding of Steam and the games you play, you can start your blog to complement your Steam content. Many researchers and game enthusiasts are looking for quality content every day.

You can create and produce blogs on numerous aspects of the games or the whole game. Answer everything there is to answer about the game. It will rank on the top of SERP, where everyone will find it.

As long as your readers are involved with your blog, you have a massive opportunity to earn money from the blog. Blogs can easily incorporate affiliate programs with complementary products and services. As mentioned earlier, a 10%-30% commission from each product is a noteworthy source of income.

But the better source of earning money is through Ads (Advertisements). Advertisers will pay you an appreciable amount for exposure to your audiences. Like any popular newspaper chargers advertisers huge sums, your blogs will make you more money with an increase in popularity online.

You can easily make $100 per ad from a single blog post. And you can incorporate 2-3 ads per blog. You might not make a lot from these blogs, but at least one blog a day can make you $3000 to $9000 a month on the side.

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4. Design and Sell Your Own Game

Let us start this section by saying that it is not for everyone. It focuses on the minority of people that love to create games. It is an opportunity for game developers to test, host, and present their games to 132 million active players on the Steam market.

So, if you are one of the developers, this section is for you. If you are not, there is nothing bad about learning something new. Is there?

Your game should be unique and have an interesting concept that gamers can enjoy playing. It should also have awesome graphics, a fantastic storyline, co-op features, in-game trades, and if possible monetizing opportunities.

You can sign up as a Steam partner to sell your game for just $100. Steam allows game designers and creators to upload, simulate, and integrate Steam API into their games. It helps them enable extra features in their games to make them more userfriendly.

Let us just say that Steam provides a solid platform to build, host, and market your games. It doesn’t mean that you get rich overnight. It takes time and acknowledgment of your hard work from the gamers.

If you have a kickass game, you will make millions. Before that, you should also consider alluring gamers first. How do you do that? Interesting graphics, Breathtaking trailers, and well-planned marketing.

Let your game trend on Steam, social media, and everywhere else. You will surely make a fortune out of your game. The good part is the $100 you invested initially; you get it back if only your game sales cross the $1000 mark.

Steam being the best gaming platform, there is nowhere better to launch your game. You can actually target millions of gamers on Steam and get the best out of them.

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5. Offer Video Game Coaching Services

Are you exceptionally good at Steam games? If so, why not put that to use and actually earn money? It is better than forging booster packages and selling cosmetic crates for a few cents. Earn real money than steam money.

You can put your gaming skills to use and make money playing your favorite games. You only need to set up your account on sites like Fiverr and Upwork. From there, you can advertise your service and land video game coaching jobs.

In the US, a CS: GO coach makes at least $4000-$5000 monthly. It sums up to $48,000 to $60,000 annually. This isn’t bad since you love playing games and spend most of your day doing so.

Many novice gamers want to learn to become better at the games they love. It opens up the opportunity for you to teach them while earning on the side. If you are good at a particular genre of games, you can dominate almost every game (within that genre). So the good part is you don’t require much time to master games.

You can combine your coaching with creating Steam content and live streams. It enables you to market your service as well as publish regular content on content-sharing sites to make money on the side.

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How To Keep Making Money On Steam: Tips for success

Steam offers you a massive opportunity to keep making money whilst doing what you love. Some popular ways to make steam money are the following:

• Selling Steam Trading Cards.
• Getting Free Steam Codes.
• Obtaining and Selling Prerelease Content.
• Collecting and Selling Cosmetic Crates.
• Crafting and Selling Steam Mods.
• Creating and Selling Steam-Related Artwork.
• Trading and Selling in-game Items on Steam Marketplace.
• Selling Old Steam Games To Other Players.

Let me emphasize making steam money. You can make in-game money that you can use to buy games on Steam from the methods listed. That said, it doesn’t necessarily mean you cannot make real money.

Of course, you can. But the problem is you cannot make enough.

Let’s talk about trading cards. You get 2-3 trading cards per game that are worth no more than a few pennies. If you are lucky, you get something rare that goes for a few dollars. “Only if you are lucky!”

What about free steam codes? These codes are only good for in-game purchases. You cannot transfer them to your bank account.

Prerelease items? Well, you can make some real money from these items. You can hold and sell prerelease in-game items for hard cash. Still, not all of them guarantee regular money. These are seasonal, and not every game offers prerelease items.

Likewise, every other pointer above allows you to make a small amount of real money. Most don’t even let you earn $100 a month. What is the point of making money if you cannot make a living out of it?

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We have already discussed the top 5 ways to keep making money on Steam. Go for the ways actually to make money than Steam money.

Let us briefly go through some useful tips that will help you make money on steam for a long time.

1. Patience & Hard Work Are The Keys.

Don’t expect things to turn around fast. It takes time and passionate, hard work. You start with 0 subscribers or followers, so don’t get frustrated when reaching the first 100.

Keep doing what you do best, creating content and entertaining viewers. You will rise to fame gradually, and it will be worthwhile. Smart marketing strategies can boost your online presence to impact the greater masses.

Have patience, work hard & smart. If you have what it takes, you will rise and shine; it is just a matter of time.

2. Keep Grinding & Seek More.

Keep working hard to achieve more. You reach a certain level of success after a long period of hard work. Do not stop when you start gaining rewards. Don’t let the hunger for more die in you.

Seek more and work smart to achieve it. Keep racking up the rewards and utilize them as your inspiration. Work with dedication and passion every day as if it is your first day.

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3. Quality Content & Viewer Relationship

It should have gone without saying, but you should produce quality content and make it available to your viewers on a timely basis. Why? Because they expect you to. Audiences or viewers are the biggest assets you have in this business.

You should be able to relate to them, talk to them, and give them quality content since they bring you the money. Without viewers, you have nothing.

As a Steam partner, you have separate things to focus on, which include;

4.  Picking the right genre.

It is important for you to pick the right genre to impact the gaming industry. It wastes your coding skills, time, and money if you create games that don’t even hit the gaming radar. Let alone make money.

Staying on top of the trends can help you create and sell your games. Be smart to target what gamers want than what you want.

5. Specializing in your genre.

It should be your goal to master the gaming genre you love. It allows you to stand out while competing for the same niche and gamers. Gamers want to be a part of the best games. Only the specialist can deliver the best games.

It helps you build an image for yourself, make connections, increase fan followers, and polish your game development skills. On top of that, you accumulate a lot of artwork with time, easing up future projects.

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6. Marketing and Sales.

Sales and marketing should be at their best if you want to make money. Whether you hire a team or do it yourself, you should reach target audiences and allure them. Your game trailers and graphics determine whether gamers want to be a part of it or not.

It might take time to rack up sales, but with well-executed marketing and sales, you will definitely make profits. By the way, your game should be fun and entertaining to play.

Top-earning Steam users & Their Net Worth

In this section, we will look at the top steam users/accounts valued as the most expensive steam accounts. The table below presents you with the listing of the top 10 most expensive accounts rather than top-earning steam users.

Source: SteamID.pro

Top-grossing Steam Games of 2022

The real top-earning Steam users are the game developers that own and sell games on steam. These are the top-grossing Steam games of 2022.

By now, you must have figured out the top-earning steam users. These earners aren’t single individuals. They are big game development companies.

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Conclusion

Steam is an exceptional platform for gamers and game developers to earn money and make a living out of it. Players can use Steam to create and stream content on several streaming platforms. In contrast, the developers can host their games on Steam and make money selling them.

Steam isn’t a make-rich-quick scheme. It takes passionate dedication, hard & smart work, research, marketing, sales, and, most important of all, patience. It takes time to reach the top, with highs and lows on the way.

Stay put and follow any or all of the above mentioned ways to make money on Steam. Do not limit yourself to in-game money. Earn real money to sustain your life with Steam.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to have a certain level of experience to make money on Steam?

Yes, you need to have a certain level of experience to make money on Steam. You need to be good at what you do. Viewers don’t want to spend their time without entertainment. With experience, you learn to make in-game money and slowly move to earn real money using Steam as your content platform.

How do I set up a developer account on Steam?

Setting up a developer account on Steam requires the following steps:

1. Go to the following website: https://store.steampowered.com/login/
2. Scroll and click on “Join Steam.”
3. Enter your email, checkmark the agreement, and click “Continue.”
4. Go to your mail and verify using the link.
5. Set up your Steam Name and password, and click “Done.”

After completing the steps above, do the following:

1. Go to the following website: https://partner.steamgames.com/
2. Sign in with your Steam credentials (from earlier).
3. Click “Sign Up” beside Game Developer or Publisher.
4. Enter your Name and Address.
5. Sign NDA and SDA and proceed to payment.
6. Pay $100 via any given, desirable payment method.

After completing these steps, you will also have created a partner account/Developer Steam account.

How do I find a profitable niche on Steam?

Research is the base of finding a profitable niche on Steam. For content creators, the ones with more searches can be profitable. For developers, the niche that addresses the gaming trend in the present or near future can be more profitable. For inside-game traders, research allows them to find the current demand and supply in the Steam marketplace.

What are some tips for game development on Steam?

Some tips for game development on Steam are as follows:

• Research the trends and upcoming games well.
• Select the right niche based on your research.
• Specialize in the niche.
• Focus on proper marketing and sales campaigns.
• Upgrades and bug fix regularly.

How can I promote my games on Steam?

Promoting games on Steam is easy. Utilize Steam live broadcast to show the highlights and gameplay of your game. Steam Sales and Steam Labs will help you improve your game visibility while you promote it from your socials and websites.

How do I earn money on Steam?

You can earn money on Steam by flipping skins, selling booster packages, Steam Trading Cards, Prerelease Content, Cosmetic Crates, Steam Mods, and Steam-Related Artwork. But you make a small portion.

The best way to make money on Steam is by playing games and streaming them on numerous sites, coaching new players, running a complementary blog, and designing and selling your own game.