There are so many affiliate opportunities for gaming niches.
The gaming industry is getting bigger and richer every year. As at 2020, there are 2.7 billion gamers in the world fueling the gaming industry which could be worth $159.3 billion at the end of 2020.
It is estimated that the gaming industry will be worth over $200 billion in 2023.
Whether you are a game blogger, a game Youtuber, or a twitch streamer, there has never been a better time to make money than now with gaming.
Gaming Affiliate Programs -- TOC
There are affiliate programs for gaming hardware products, online games, keys and hacks, guides and more.
Gaming Affiliate Programs
We broke down the opportunities into a few sections for easier review …
- Hardware and Accessories
- Online Games and Keys
- Additional Programs
Go to our best affiliate programs page for more program reviews.
Gaming Hardware and Accessories
This category deals with affiliate programs for gaming equipment and gear like gaming laptops, PCs, headset, chair, keyboards, and audio. You will need quite a bit of traffic to generate meaningful income. The commission rates tend to be low with electronic products.
Razer
Commission Rate: 10%
Cookie Length: 30 days
Affiliate Info: Razer Affiliate Program
Razer produces high quality gaming gear and equipment just the way gamers love them. From gaming laptops and systems to gaming peripherals (mice, mats, keyboards, audio) to mobile gaming accessories to mention a few, just know that it is all gaming.
They even have a gaming chair!
Although the prices for their products are quite expensive, it is worth the experience. Most gamers can testify.
According to Razer, “…they are committed to working with motivated partners who would put the best gaming products in the hands of gamers everywhere”.
This is where you may come in.
Alienware (Dell)
Commission Rate: 3%
Cookie Length: 90 days
Affiliate Info: Alienware (Dell) Affiliate Program
You only need to see the alien head on a PC to know it belongs to Alienware.
This is not only what makes Alienware popular though.
Alienware is Dell’s gaming brand that produces high performing gaming laptops and PCs. They also produce gaming headsets, monitor, mouse and keyboard. All-in-one gaming shop.
They are credited to being one of the foremost manufacturers of gaming hardware, and they made gaming portable with their gaming laptops.
Affiliate commission is at a flat rate of 3% which is low, but these products don’t come cheap. With their laptops beginning at $1449, you can earn big here depending on how much sales you close.
Commission rate at 3%
Cookie duration is 90 days
Nvidia Gaming
Commission Rate: 2%
Cookie Length: 30 days
Affiliate Info: Nvidia Gaming Affiliate Program
Nvidia is one of the biggest graphics card manufacturers. They are popularly known for their high-quality GPUs (Graphics Processing Unit) specifically designed for gaming PCs. Let’s be honest here. You can’t think of gaming PCs without high quality graphics.
The commission payout per sale for Nvidia products is 2% which is very low but typical for the computer hardware niche. It should be an easy conversion in the gaming community but again, competitive.
Moddedzone
Commission Rate: 10%
Cookie Length: 90 days
Affiliate Info: Moddedzone Affiliate Program
Want to pimp up your game controller? Modded Zone is your sure bet. They offer a wide range of customizable game controllers for your game consoles.
They believe your game controller should reflect who you are as a gamer and an individual.
They offer hundreds of different designs for Xbox One, Playstation 4, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
Their affiliate commission rate is 10% which is very encouraging, and their website average order value is $150
Free shipping for domestic orders as well as world-wide shipping is a nice bonus to offer your visitors.
Amazon
Commission Rate: 1% – 4%
Cookie Length: 1 day
Affiliate Info: Amazon Affiliate Program
This is the 800 pound gorilla in the room. Amazon is listed here because it is the leading e-commerce store in the world, and so covers gaming laptops, PCs, gaming consoles, other gaming gear and equipment, and even digital games.
Amazon has an affiliate program already which covers everything in its store, that is, gaming hardware and digital games inclusive.
Amazon pays 1% commission on physical games and games consoles, and 4% on digital games.
Another thing to note is that amazon tracks qualifying purchases. If you advertise a certain game console for instance, and your referral buys something else, you still get paid within a 24 hour cookie duration period.
You also get paid if your referral adds an item to their cart, and pay within 89 days of adding it to their cart.
Online Games and Keys
Online games and keys are some of the better offers for lower volume sites. They pay a bit better, are less competitive and some are even recurring programs.
CD Keys
Commission Rate: 5%
Cookie Length: 30 days
Affiliate Info: CD Keys Affiliate Program
CD Keys is one of the most popular websites for buying game keys or digital codes for games. They also sell games on slightly discounted prices.
They provide a wide range of Xbox Live points and subscriptions, PlayStation Network cards, PC games, expansion packs, Wii U, 3DS digital games, and top-up cards for Steam, Origin, Google Play, iTunes and Facebook.
As an affiliate you earn 5% commission for every qualified sale. There is also a low payment threshold of €10.
Wargaming
Commission Rate: 15%
Cookie Length: 30 days
Affiliate Info: Wargaming Affiliate Program
Wargaming offers games that are played online by millions of people like World of Warplanes, Pagan Online, Gods & Glory and Masters of Orion.
While these games are free to play, you can also choose to upgrade to a premium account and enjoy all the benefits the free mode lacks. Wargaming does this through in-app purchases.
As an affiliate with wargaming you earn when you referral sign up for any of their games. Commissions vary within countries though.
Another good thing about wargaming is that there is a referral program for affiliates. As an affiliate, you can refer another affiliate to the program and earn 3% from that person’s payout permanently.
Payouts are made via WebMoney, PayPal, eCheck, ACH, and wire transfer.
Refer new players and earn
Refer new affiliates and 3% of their payout permanently
Epic/Fortnite
Commission Rate: 15%
Cookie Length: 30 days
Affiliate Info: Epic/Fortnite Affiliate Program
If you know the Fortnite game that every gamer was talking about, then you know Epic Games. They are the creators of Fortnite.
They have also created other games, and sell games by other publishers.
As an affiliate in Epic games, you are called a Creator. You are paid 5% of every game sold. You are also paid $5 of every 10,000 bucks spent by players in Fortnite who decide to support you.
Earn by promoting games in the Epic store for 5% each
Earn by promoting Fortnite
SCD Keys
Commission Rate: 8% – 20%
Cookie Length: 30 days
Affiliate Info: SCD Keys Affiliate Program
SCD Keys is an online digital platform like CD keys. They provide game keys and codes for Steam, Origin, Uplay and PC games, PSN, and prepaid cards for online games.
As an affiliate, you get paid when you make a sale, and can earn commission from 8% to 20%.
SCD Keys also has a bonus point and award system. Immediately you sign up as an affiliate, you get a bonus point of 50. When you finish orders, you get extra bonus points and your commission rate increases by 1%.
You can also be awarded money in some instances, if you meet a certain criteria.
Leprestore
Commission Rate: 15%
Cookie Length: 90 days
Affiliate Info: Leprestore Affiliate Program
Leprestore is for gamers who want to boost their character stats without putting in the hundred hours of hard work for games like Apex World, WoW Classic and Destiny 2.
As an affiliate you earn 15% as commission for every player you refer.
You may be wondering if this niche is profitable. It actually is as players would love to keep paying to increase their stat if they are really satisfied with the service.
Additional Gaming Related Affiliate Programs
The gaming world is a huge and varied market. Here are some additional types of gaming affiliate programs to give you some ideas.
Zygor Guides
Commission Rate: 50%
Cookie Length: 60 days
Affiliate Info: Zygor Guides Affiliate Program
Zygor provides in-game guides for World of Warcraft, which is one of the most popular games.
The in-game guides makes it easy for a player to gain experience and level up quickly and efficiently with less hours spent. They do this without violating the game’s terms of service.
As an affiliate, you get an incredible 50% commission for every player you refer. They also have a subscription program for players, and this allows you to earn recurring income monthly.
Gamefly
Commission Rate: 15%
Cookie Length: 30 days
Affiliate Info: Gamefly Affiliate Program
Gamefly lets gamers buy, play and rent games for less. They put games right in the hands of gamers without them having to worry about getting the games themselves.
Gamers can order a wide variety of games from their website or mobile app for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3, PS Vita, Wii U, Wii, and 3DS, as well as older systems.
As an affiliate, when you refer a customer that signs up for their free trial or prepaid subscriptions, you receive at least $15 or more.
You also earn 5% on the sale of new console games, and 10% on the sale of used console games.
Here’s the best part. If you bring in 500+ monthly rental membership, you can contact their affiliate manager to discuss rates as high as 20%.
Commission: 5% – 20%
Cookie duration:
Earn $15 and more when a new member signs up
Twitch
Commission Rate: 15%
Cookie Length: 30 days
Affiliate Info: Twitch Affiliate Program
Twitch is the most successful and biggest streaming platform. It also offers opportunities for gamers to earn big on the platform.
For you to make money on twitch, you have to become an affiliate.
- There are two types of twitch partnerships: twitch affiliate and twitch partner. Becoming a twitch affiliate is simple. You just have to meet some requirements. To become an affiliate, you must have:
- At least 500 total minutes broadcast in the last 30 days
- At least 7 unique broadcast days in the last 30 days
- An average of 3 concurrent viewers or more over the last 30 days
- At least 50 Followers
There are a number of ways to earn with Twitch:
- Earn with subscriptions — As an affiliate, you can earn by accepting subscriptions from your viewers.
- Earn with bits — Bits are virtual goods that viewers can buy to cheer in chats. As an affiliate, you can enable bits to cheer on your channels so viewers can offer support without leaving twitch
- Earn with game sales — You can earn 5% from the sales of games or in-game items on twitch. Purchases made from your channel are credited to you.
See our complete Twitch Affiliate Program review article.
How to Promote Gaming Affiliate Programs
Now you know the best game affiliate programs that you can make money from, how do promote these programs?
Clearly the most important part is to have an interested audience. You won’t have much luck promoting Twitch to a Senior’s blog. But you also may be surprised to see that gaming is no longer just teens and 20 – year olds. The demographics of online gaming, for instance 26% of gamers are 34 – 54.
First I would likely avoid the hardware type offers like Nvidia. Unless you are already in that niche it will be hard to break in and electronics are lower margin and therefor lower commission affiliate offers. Some accessories like gaming chairs will pay better and have less competition. For most it will be better to focus on games themselves or services. A company like SCDKeys pays 8% – 20%.
For more info type searches that have higher volume and may be good ad-based revenue pages there are some interesting opportunities. Here are some top level keyword metrics for “Best online gaming” and related keywords from Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest tool. There is lots of search volume to look into though I am not sure why Ubersuggest labels it easy when the top 10 has 1000+ backlinks and a domain score of 85.
Wrapping Up
It is always best to be involved with a niche that you have a passion for. Affiliate marketers who are gamers themselves are going to do best with this market. If you write about gaming or want to start a new niche site, it is a very attractive niche.
FAQ
Are gaming affiliate programs just for teenagers?
Only about 20% of gamers are 18 or younger so there are lots of adults to market to.
Is video game hardware a good niche?
It is very competitive and generally has low commission rates. Better for many to focus on online games, keys etc.
What about ad-based sites?
There is a lot of search volume in this niche. Info keywords driving visitor views and ad revenue is an attractive opportunity.