How many people make a living gaming?

Gaming as a full-time career is on the rise. With the explosive growth of esports, streaming platforms and gaming entertainment, thousands of people now play video games as their main livelihood across the globe. But how many actually make a living wage?

As a passionate gamer and content creator, I wanted to provide detailed insight into the major gaming career paths and break down realistic estimates of how many people earn enough to do it professionally. The opportunities span far beyond just elite esports stardom.

Esports – The Tip of the Iceberg

Esports has cemented itself as a legitimate career, with professional leagues, team salaries, tournaments and millions of dollars in prizes. Top esports like League of Legends, Dota 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive are now organized similar to traditional sports.

It‘s estimated there are around 5,000-10,000 professional esports players worldwide signed to actual salaries and competing regularly. This includes major titles like:

• League of Legends (LoL) – 2,500+
• Dota 2 – 1,500+
• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) – 1,200+
• Overwatch League – 150+
• Call of Duty League – 120+

The very top esports athletes easily clear 7 figures from multi-million dollar tournament prize pools, team salaries and sponsorships. In games like Dota 2, some elite players break $4 million per year.

But much like traditional sports, there‘s a long tail where most pros earn much less. Many amateurs also compete part-time around education or work, aspiring to go pro. All in all, esports is a relatively small niche of perhaps only ~10,000 full-time pros globally.

Streaming – From Side Hustle to Livelihood

Live streaming on platforms like Twitch has turned into a full-on media business. What started out as gamers showing off skills has evolved into complex broadcasting operations with subscriptions, sponsors and real revenue.

The age of internet personalities being able to earn a living from fans online is here. There‘s now over 8 million streamers on Twitch, and 720,000 on YouTube Gaming creating live content. But how many actually bring in a sustainable income?

Based on leaked documents, analytics and estimates, only around 27,000 Twitch streamers make more than the U.S. federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour from streaming. About 2,000-3,000 earn over $100,000 per year.

The very top 0.5% of elite streamers break into 7 figures, especially those synergizing gaming content across YouTube, merch stores and sponsorship deals. But overall, less than 1% of gamers trying to make it in streaming meet that living wage threshold.

A few exceptions have even earned 8 figure careers. Tyler "Ninja" Blevins famously built a following of over 16 million, combinining subscriptions, donations and major brand sponsorships for around ~$10 million per year.

YouTube & Content Creation – Ad Revenue and Sponsors

YouTube has become the ultimate platform for all varieties of gaming entertainment video. This includes walkthroughs, tutorials, reviews, esports highlights and general comedy around games.

Over 1 million channels now focus primarily around video game content, an increasing portion making meaningful revenue from YouTube ads, affiliate deals and merchandising.

By analyzing sites like SocialBlade that estimate YouTubers‘ earnings, we can classify channels into broad income tiers:

• 1 Million+ Subscribers: 5,000+ estimated earnings per month
• 500K Subscribers: $2,500+ estimated earnings per month
• 100K Subscribers: $400+ estimated earnings per month
• 10K Subscribers: $40+ estimated earnings per month

Sponsorships and brand deals often double or triple earnings for mid-tier and top creators respectively. But overall, fewer than 5,000 gaming creators likely cross the threshold into full-time income strictly from YouTube and online content.

Merchandise sales are growing too – providing revenue outside of ad payouts. As platforms permit more ways to monetize popularity, content creation careers expand.

Writing, Testing & Other Gaming Jobs

There are some more niche gaming jobs outside pro play, streaming and videos. These include specialists in areas like:

• Game Writing – Quests, narratives, dialogue
• Esports Coaching – Analysts & strategists
• Tournament Organizing – Events, leagues, ops
• Game Testing – Quality assurance & feedback
• Software Engineering – Game design, UI, audio

Most of these roles work full-time for game developers or companies in traditional salaried positions.

Overall total employment specifically tied to the video game software industry is over 220,000 just in the United States, spanning development, publishing, equipment and more.

As gaming continues bleeding into mainstream media, more opportunities arise to leverage expertise into specialized live streaming, content and side hustles too.

Gaming Careers Growing

When tallying up all the main careers actually paying livable incomes from gaming – esports pros, popular streamers and YouTubers, specialized gaming jobs – we land between 10,000 to 30,000 people globally earning enough to do it full-time.

The industry is still early, projected to steadily expand in audience and therefore professional opportunities. Video games have permeated pop culture and media unlike any time before.

While the odds are low, the ceiling of gaming as a career keeps rising in tandem with innovation in streaming video distribution, mobile games, virtual reality and beyond.

The phenomenons of esports, Twitch and Let‘s Play content have just begun to tap into entertainment and competition around gaming. As media and creativity blended with interactive technology, more people will be able to truly make a good living playing games.