I used to play Counter-Strike for hours after school. Proper hours — the kind where you’d look up and it was dark outside and your tea had gone cold. My mum had one line she’d repeat like clockwork: “Switch that thing off and go study, you’re wasting your life.” Every parent said it. Every kid ignored it. And honestly? She wasn’t wrong at the time. There was no money in gaming back then unless you were one of about twelve people in South Korea.
Twenty years later, everything has changed. Gaming is a multi-billion pound business, and people are making real money just by turning on a camera and playing the same games we used to get in trouble over. The difference is that they’re being paid for it, and some of them are making more money than their parents ever did.
But here’s what most “how to make money gaming” articles get wrong: they all say the same thing. Open a channel on YouTube. Get people to listen. Make money. Thanks for that; it was very useful. They don’t tell you that YouTube isn’t even the greatest choice for a lot of creators nowadays, especially if you’re new and no one knows who you are. The streaming market has changed a lot in the previous few years, and right now there are sites that provide much better offers than the big brands. You might not have heard of some of them.
Instead of giving you the same old watered-down advice, I’m going to tell you about the platforms where gamers are genuinely making money right now. I’ll tell you how they work, what they pay, and which ones make sense for you based on where you are.
Kick — The One Everyone’s Talking About
Kick launched in 2022 and immediately caused a stir because of one number: 95/5. That’s their revenue split on subscriptions. You keep 95%, the platform takes 5%. Compare that to Twitch’s standard 50/50 and the maths speaks for itself.
That revenue split is what pulled some absolutely massive names over. xQc reportedly signed a two-year deal with Kick worth up to $100 million. Adin Ross moved across too. And it’s not just the big fish benefitting — Kick recently dropped their Partner requirements, making it way easier for newcomers to get in.
Partner Requirements Comparison:
- Kick: 250 followers, 5 hours streamed total, no minimum viewer average
- Twitch: 50 followers, 8 hours across 7 different days, 3-viewer average (just for Affiliate)
How You Earn on Kick:
- Subscriptions and tips
- Kick Partner Programme (pays based on organic concurrent viewership)
- Weekly payouts instead of monthly
- Zero ads during streams
It’s important to realise that the same people who run the crypto casino Stake also own Kick. Kick is also less strict about content monitoring than Twitch. That has caused problems for creators and others. StreamCharts said that by the third quarter of 2025, Kick was the fourth most-watched livestreaming platform in the world, after YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch. It’s not a little new business anymore.
The problem is the size of the audience. Kick’s community is growing quickly, although it’s still smaller than Twitch’s. You might make more money per member, but it takes more work to attract those subscribers because there aren’t as many people looking at the site. It’s hard to argue with the money side of things for someone who is beginning from zero and is prepared to put in the work to establish a community.
Twitch — Still the Biggest, But the Splits Sting
It’s still the platform most people think of when they hear “game streaming,” and for good reason — the audience is massive, the tools are mature, and the community features are genuinely excellent. If you want the most interactive live experience with proper chat culture, Twitch is where it’s at.
But the money side has always been its weak point for smaller creators. That 50/50 subscription split means Amazon (who own Twitch) pocket half of everything before you see a penny. If you manage to build up over 350 recurring subscribers and maintain that for three consecutive months, you can qualify for the Plus Programme which bumps you to a 70/30 split. Most streamers never get there.
How Twitch Pays You:
- Subscriptions ($4.99, $9.99, $24.99 tiers) at 50/50 split (70/30 if you hit Plus Programme)
- Bits (1 cent per Bit cheered, but viewers pay 20-30% markup)
- Ad revenue
- Sponsorships (brands trust Twitch’s audience data)
The Reality: Monthly payouts with minimum thresholds. Slower than Kick in every financial sense. But the trade-off is discoverability — categories, raids, hosting, and recommendation systems that can put you in front of people who’ve never heard of you. Whether that’s worth the revenue hit depends entirely on your priorities. Do you want a bigger audience or a bigger paycheque per viewer?
TikTok Live — Low Barrier, Quick Cash, Brutal Cut
TikTok Live is a completely different beast. You’re not building a traditional streaming channel here. You’re going live on a social media platform where people are already scrolling, and if your content catches someone mid-swipe, they might stick around and send you virtual gifts.
The barrier to entry is genuinely low. You need 1,000 followers and you have to be 18 or older. That’s it. No watch hour requirements, no lengthy application process. Once you’re live, viewers can send gifts that convert into “diamonds,” which then convert into actual money.
Sounds brilliant until you look at the platform’s cut. TikTok takes 50% of gift earnings straight off the top. Some creators have reported the actual figure is even worse once you factor in the markup on coins — viewers pay more for coins than the monetary value creators receive, which means TikTok’s effective take can creep closer to 65-80% depending on the gift. You also need a minimum of $100 in your account before you can withdraw anything.
What Creators Actually Make:
- Average creators: $50-$200 per one to two hour stream
- Mid-level (20,000 followers, streaming 3x weekly): roughly $700/month
- Over 60,000 US creators earned more than median part-time monthly income from gifts alone in 2025 (Ipsos study)
- Payouts drop every Wednesday
The real advantage of TikTok Live for gamers is the algorithm. TikTok’s recommendation engine is still one of the most powerful in the world for putting new creators in front of new audiences. You don’t need an existing following to get seen — one good live session can blow up and land you thousands of new viewers overnight. That doesn’t happen on Twitch or Kick without serious grinding.
Gaming content on TikTok Live tends to work best when it’s personality-driven. NPC streams, reaction content, interactive challenges — that sort of thing does better than someone quietly playing through a campaign. If you’re naturally entertaining and don’t mind the platform taking a hefty slice, it’s one of the fastest ways to start earning something from gaming.
YouTube Shorts — The Add-On, Not the Main Event
YouTube Shorts operates on a fundamentally different model to the other platforms on this list. You’re not streaming live (though YouTube does have live streaming). You’re uploading short-form clips — under 3 minutes since October 2024 — and earning through a shared ad revenue pool.
YouTube is behind by 45% to 55%. All of the advertising revenue that airs between Shorts is collected monthly and put into a common pool. The costs associated with music licensing are deducted first. Half of the earnings will be distributed to the song’s owners if your Short uses even one song. The number of tracks is two-thirds. Everything else goes into a pool for creators, and your cut is proportional to the amount of views your content received as a percentage of all Shorts views.
The reality is that earnings are low on the per-view scale. You may expect to spend between $0.01 and $0.03 for every 1,000 views, if you’re being practical. Making $30 to $100 from a short video with one million views is possible. That sum won’t buy you much of a lifestyle upgrade. But if you consistently release video, it adds up, and it complements other income streams nicely.
When it comes to funnels, YouTube Shorts is the way to go for gamers. You may create Shorts from the best sections of your Twitch or Kick streams and use them to entice viewers to return to your live broadcasts. Thanks to the Shorts algorithm, your video can reach millions of people who otherwise wouldn’t have seen it. When they joined YouTube’s Partner Program using the Shorts criterion, over 80% of creators have since expanded their revenue streams to include long-form ads, memberships, and Super Thanks. It’s essentially a gateway drug.
Partner Programme Requirements:
- 1,000 subscribers
- Either 10 million Shorts views in 90 days OR 4,000 watch hours from long-form videos
- Early access tier at 500 subscribers unlocks fan-funding tools like Super Thanks (but not ad revenue)
Don’t build your entire income around Shorts alone. But as part of a wider strategy where you’re streaming on another platform and using Shorts to grow your reach, it makes a lot of sense.
Rumble — The Underdog Worth Watching
Rumble isn’t a gaming platform in the way Twitch or Kick are. It started as (and largely remains) a home for news, politics, and commentary content. But it’s been actively trying to attract gaming creators lately, and the financial offer is decent enough to warrant a look if you’re spreading your content across multiple platforms.
The standard ad revenue split is 60/40 in the creator’s favour — better than YouTube’s 55/45. And through their Creator Partnership Programme launched in early 2025, top creators can get up to a 90% share plus coaching and marketing support. What really stands out for smaller creators is that there are no subscriber or watch hour requirements to start monetising. Upload one licensed video and you can start earning from ads immediately. No grinding to hit thresholds.
What You’ll Actually Earn: Average earnings sit around $1.40 per 1,000 views, with CPMs ranging anywhere from $0.25 to $5.00 depending on your content, audience location, and engagement. The minimum payout threshold is $50, which is lower than YouTube’s $100.
Rumble also has a video licensing program that lets them share your videos with other media partners. If one of your videos gets popular, you can make extra money on top of the usual ad revenue. It’s like getting paid twice for the same video.
Still, the gaming community on Rumble remains modest. The network has 78 million active users per month, and most of them are there to watch political videos. Its recommendation systems aren’t as good as YouTube’s or TikTok’s. If you already make gaming content for other sites, uploading it on Rumble costs you nothing and could make you more money. But I wouldn’t make it your main home unless the number of people that watch gaming material there starts to rise a lot.
What About Facebook Gaming?
I’m including this mostly as a warning. Facebook’s Gaming Creator Programme is shutting down in 2026. Dedicated partner support ended on 31 October 2025, and while creators can still use monetisation tools until the programme fully closes, there’s no future here for new gaming creators.
Meta has shifted everything to Reels format — every new video upload on Facebook now becomes a Reel. You can still use their general creator monetisation tools (Content Monetisation, Facebook Subscriptions), but the gaming-specific support and community that existed is being wound down. If you’re currently earning on Facebook Gaming, it’s time to diversify elsewhere. If you’re thinking of starting there, don’t.
Tournament Play and Competitive Gaming — The Side Hustle People Forget
Since this exists in a universe apart from streaming, it merits special attention. Neither a camera nor an audience nor any following are necessary. All it takes is a passable performance in a competitive setting.
Tournaments for a wide variety of games are held regularly on platforms such as Battlefy, FACEIT, and GameChampions. These titles include Tekken, Street Fighter, FIFA, Rocket League, 8 Ball Pool, and many more. Prize pools are small yet substantial, and entry costs range from £5 to £20. No prior experience as a professional esports player is required. Competing against other amateurs who have also paid to enter the event requires a certain level of skill.
The popularity of mobile gaming contests is also on the rise. For instance, 8 Ball Pool has a thriving competitive scene where players risk real money for the chance to win big. The skill ceiling is also high enough that those who are very skilled at the game may expect to win consistently.
Competitive gaming for stakes sits alongside other forms of gaming entertainment, whether that’s esports tournaments or platforms like Boyle Casino where strategic thinking and a bit of nerve can turn into potential returns. It’s all part of the same shift — gaming isn’t just about playing for fun anymore, it’s an ecosystem where money moves through competition, entertainment, and skill.
The beauty of tournament play as a side hustle is that it’s pure skill-based income. No algorithm, no followers, no camera. Just you and the game.
The Comparison: Which Platform Suits Which Gamer?
Alright, let’s put the numbers side by side because this is what actually matters when you’re deciding where to spend your time.
Revenue Splits on Subscriptions/Memberships:
- Kick: 95/5 (creator keeps 95%)
- YouTube (long-form): 70/30 (creator keeps 70%)
- Rumble: 60/40 standard, up to 90/10 for top creators
- Twitch: 50/50 standard, 70/30 for Plus Programme qualifiers
- TikTok Live: roughly 50/50 on gifts (though effective creator take can be lower)
- YouTube Shorts: 45/55 from ad pool
Barrier to Entry (How Quickly Can You Start Earning?):
- Rumble: Immediately — one licensed video, no follower requirements
- Kick: Very low — 5 hours streamed, no minimum viewer average, 250 followers for Partner
- TikTok Live: Low — 1,000 followers and you’re in
- Twitch: Moderate — 8 hours across 7 days, 3 average viewers, 50 followers for Affiliate
- YouTube Shorts: High — 1,000 subscribers plus either 10 million Shorts views or 4,000 watch hours
Audience Size and Discoverability:
- YouTube: Largest overall reach, powerful algorithm for new creators
- TikTok: Exceptional algorithm for viral discovery, massive user base
- Twitch: Biggest dedicated streaming audience, strong community tools
- Kick: Growing quickly but still fourth in viewership rankings
- Rumble: 78 million MAUs but skews heavily toward non-gaming content
Payout Frequency:
- TikTok Live: Weekly (Wednesdays)
- Kick: Weekly
- Rumble: Monthly (low $50 threshold)
- YouTube: Monthly ($100 threshold)
- Twitch: Monthly
Best For:
- Brand new, no audience, want money fastest: Kick or TikTok Live. Kick if you want the best revenue split and are willing to build slowly. TikTok if you want the algorithm to do the heavy lifting but can stomach the platform’s cut.
- Already decent at a competitive game and just want to earn: Tournament platforms (Battlefy, FACEIT, GameChampions). No camera needed.
- Want long-term sustainable growth: YouTube (combining Shorts with long-form). The audience is the biggest, the platform is the most stable, and you own your content library.
- Serious about streaming full-time: Kick for income, YouTube Shorts for growth, Twitch if you want community depth. Most successful streamers in 2026 are on at least two platforms.
- Just want another revenue stream with minimal effort: Rumble. Cross-post existing content and let the ads run. Won’t make you rich but costs nothing to try.
The Honest Summary
There isn’t one best platform. People who say differently are either trying to sell you something or haven’t done the numbers. In 2026, you have real choices, and some of those choices are better than what was available even two years earlier.
My mum would definitely still advise me to study if she saw me writing an article on how playing Counter-Strike may have led to a job. But the facts don’t lie: gaming pays now, and every year the platforms that compete for creators make it pay better. The best thing to do is to choose two or three that work for you, put your material on them, and let the money pile up.
Just don’t forget to eat. And maybe call your mum.
Prompt for SVG infographic creation:
Create a clean, modern SVG infographic titled “Which Streaming Platform Fits Your Gaming Style?” using a dark theme (dark navy/charcoal background with bright accent colours). Include the following sections:
1. A top banner with the title and subtitle “A 2026 Platform Comparison for Gamers”
2. Five platform cards arranged horizontally or in a grid, each with the platform name (Kick, Twitch, TikTok Live, YouTube Shorts, Rumble), their revenue split percentage shown as a visual bar or pie chart, monthly audience size as an icon-based metric, and payout frequency.
3. A “Best For” section below the cards using simple icons: Kick = pound sign/money icon (best revenue split), Twitch = community/people icon (biggest streaming community), TikTok Live = rocket/lightning icon (fastest discovery), YouTube Shorts = funnel icon (best growth tool), Rumble = plus/add icon (easiest to start, no requirements).
4. A comparison bar chart showing revenue per 100 subscribers: Kick $475, Twitch $250, with YouTube and others shown proportionally.
5. A footer that reads “Data current as of early 2026. Revenue figures are estimates and vary by region, content type, and audience engagement.”
Use gaming-inspired colours (electric blue, neon green, purple accents) against the dark background. Keep typography clean and readable. No gradients that reduce clarity — flat design with slight shadows for depth. Make it 1200x1600px for blog use.
