Who would have thought that someone could make money from playing video games? It used to be a bum who would spend the entire day in the house in front of the television or computer, but it’s not so anymore. Today, there are many ways for gamers to make money out of their hobby. The most prominent way is through eSports, which have become so popular that even the betting sites are getting in on the action. Today one can choose one of the best eSports betting sites here and start placing bets on the outcomes of the electronic sports tournaments. An obvious advantage when compared to the regular sports betting is that a person might have a much better overview, as the results tend to be much more subjective than objective.
Another way to earn money from gaming, although less known among non-gamers, is to sell in-game items. In-game items are those items you earn from a game as a reward for your achievements. In combat games, these could be special weapons, armor, etc. while in adventure games they could be costumes, extra lives etc.
In-game items are supposed to make video games more exciting, by providing a sense of accomplishment. If you’re a gamer, though, you also know how difficult some of these items can be difficult to come by, especially if you’re not so good. This is why we have always looked for cheat codes and other tricks to get around it like changing the time on your computer to earn daily rewards.
That was in the past, and now the most popular games also provide access to the ‘community’. The purpose of this ‘community’ was to allow gamers from around the world to interact, and with a better internet connection, even play with each other. This ‘community’ feature has become so advanced now that members are able to help out their friends with some in-game items. And that’s when a new business avenue was born.
Why give precious in-game items to your friends for free when strangers are willing to pay for them? And so, the in-game item’s market was born.
How in-game items work
The most popular platform for trading in-game items is Steam Marketplace. Steam was created by Valve, one of the most popular game developers, as a way to push updates to their computer games. Today, Steam has become the largest provider of PC games, accounting for over 50% of game sales. They also offer other games besides their own, those developed by Valve, so there is a very wide variety of games. There are other similar markets for in-game items, but you might not get as large of a community as that in Steam which has over 100 million accounts.
So, through steam, gamers can buy and download games on their computers. After playing, whatever in-game items they earn are added to the gamer’s Steam account inventory, which can be accessed online. The gamer can then opt to put up some of their in-game items for sale right on Steam marketplace. Other gamers interested in the items will come looking for them through the marketplace, and after completing a purchase, the item is added to their inventory.
For the seller, you want to be selling an in-game item for the most popular games like Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Left for Dead, etc. you should also be aware that Steam charges will apply. A standard 5% Steam fee and an additional game specific fee depending on the game. For more popular games like the ones previously mentioned, the game specific fee will be higher, but the in-game items sell much faster.
That’s the first way of trading in-game items, the other is more speculative, and doesn’t even require actual gaming skills. Going through the Steam community market, you will notice that the same item can be sold at different prices since the seller sets their own price. A speculator can thus buy one such in-game item and flip it at a higher price. In-game items being sold at a lower price generally mean the seller is eager to get rid of it quickly. As a speculator, you can buy this in-game item at the low price and post it on the Steam community market at a higher price. You may have to wait while before it’s sold, but that’s all that an investment is.
How does in-game item trading influence the younger generation?
Trading of in-game items exposes the younger generation to financial opportunities early on in life. These are the kinds of skills one might learn in college when a friend is willing to pay extra for a beer at 3 am in the morning. Therefore, in-game items trading can be a gateway to actual financial trading in the future. In fact, if you’re very good at it, you can earn and learn a lot just from these activities. At the same time, the younger generation becomes aware of essential financial rules like taxation and innovative ideas like cryptocurrencies. Balancing all these needs can certainly build a young financial guru in the making.