Gaming affiliate programs are a great way to start making money from home, on your own, without paying anything. Affiliate marketing means that you don’t have to make your own products. Instead, you can just earn a commission from an established and trusted retailer.
Affiliate marketing operates in a range of different industries, but one of the most lucrative is through gaming affiliate programs. Digital game sales made up 74 percent of all game sales in the US in 2017.
Platforms like Steam and the App Store make it very easy for people to buy games, and they lower costs because having no physical overhead leads to high volume sales and impulse buys. To illustrate this point, 37 percent of all games on Steam have been registered and yet are never played.
All of these things point to the fact that there is money to be made through affiliate game sales. However, there are several different gaming affiliate programs that you can choose from. You need to know what each platform offers, so that you can find the best one to start selling for.
Table of Contents
10 Gaming Affiliate Programs
While the below list gives you a ton of different options to choose from, you should already have a plan on how you’re going to sell your products. Starting and using a blog to drive traffic and leads to affiliate links is effective, but can take a while to set up. Using social media, such as Instagram, is also an effective method to get potential customers.
Bonus: Check out our list with 9 Affiliate Marketing Programs for Beginners (Make Money Online!)
Green Man Gaming
Green Man Gaming (GMG) is a digital retailer that sells Steam keys at huge discounts. They have a small but strong community, including special deals and perks for VIPs. The commission you earn on each sale is rather low – 2 percent for most sales, but 5 percent for any first-time buyers – however, the low price point is likely to attract more sales.
Still, GMG affiliates will have to focus on volume instead of large sales. Payments are also sent every three months, which can be a long turnaround. You also need to be a member of Commission Junction to join.
G2A.com
G2A is a large online retailer that lets gamers sell their unused keys for credits. Their gaming affiliate program, Goldmine, is unique in that referrals are added to your “team.” As your team grows, you will be paid for every purchase they make on the site.
If the people you refer join Goldmine, you’ll earn a portion of their earnings as well. This means that over time you could have a network of people automatically making you money. Leaderboards show that the top Goldmine affiliate has made over 2.5 million Euros since the program launched.
Referral fees are not standard with Goldmine: each product will give you a different amount. Direct referrals will give the full amount listed on each product page. A second level referral will give you 60 percent of the listed amount, while a third level sale will give you 40 percent of the listed amount.
Kinguin
Another key reseller like G2A, Kinguin’s affiliate program is more straightforward. It has three levels of referrals, like G2A, which means that you can build up a large network of potential earners very fast.
However, instead of giving you a different amount for each product, there is a flat fee structure that you benefit from. First level referrals will give you a 5 percent fee, second-level referrals a 0.75 percent fee, and third-level sales a 0.25 percent fee. The amounts for second and third level sales are lower than G2A, but the flat 5 percent initial fee is quite competitive.
Cookies installed on referrals’ browsers do not expire, which means your earning potential is not time-limited.
The real draw of choosing Kinguin is the possibility of qualifying for the influencer program. This is an exclusive program that requires you to have a large following on social media – that is, more than ten thousand followers. If you qualify and are accepted, you will earn a flat 10 percent fee on everything your affiliate link sells.
Fanatical
Fanatical is an indie game store that specializes in selling bundles. Daily deals and inexpensive bundles make it a platform that requires a significant amount of volume to make money on, just like Green Man Gaming.
There are two ways to join: either as a website, or as a gaming channel on YouTube or Twitch. Website and blog owners have to sign up through Commission Junction, whereas streamers and YouTubers can do so through the Fanatical site.
Both types of affiliates will earn a 5 percent fee for all sales that they drive through Fanatical. Websites will be paid through Commission Junction, whereas streamers and YouTubers get PayPal payments instead.
Amazon
Though not solely a digital game retailer, it would be a mistake to not mention or consider Amazon. Amazon is one of the largest online marketplaces ever and has all the newest games either available to buy digitally or physically.
Amazon’s Affiliate Program applies to everything on their site though, which means that you can sell whatever you’d like as well as games. Physical games and game consoles will give you a one percent commission, while digital games will give you a four percent commission.
The main advantage of choosing Amazon is how simple, widely adopted, and trusted it is. Sending leads to an Amazon page will help increase your conversion rate since they likely won’t have to make a new account or enter in their payment details from scratch.
The last thing to note about Amazon is that it tracks all qualifying purchases. This means that even if you advertise a specific game, but your referral buys something else unrelated, like patio furniture, you’ll still get paid. However, that cookie is only for a 24-hour period.
Beyond that, your referral has to add a product to their cart when they click their link. If this happens, you will get credited if they checkout within 89 days (so 90 days from them first clicking the link).
MacGameStore/WinGameStore
MacGameStore, as its name suggests, is an online store that only sells games for Apple computers. This is a targeted market segment that could be receptive to referral links – and would be easier to do general SEO for as a website or blog.
However, a serious draw of doing affiliate marketing for MacGameStore is the fact that your link will work for its sister site WinGameStore. A cookie is put into your referral’s browsers, meaning you’ll earn a fee on any sale within 30 days of them clicking your link.
You’ll earn a flat 5 percent rate on all sales that you get, with sales at an average of $20. There is a seven-day return window.
MMOGA
MMOGA offers a gaming affiliate program that is a little different from the above options. They sell both digital games and virtual goods, like gold in RPGs or coins in FIFA games.
Digital games, game subscriptions, and any software that your referrals buy through MMOGA will get you a ten percent commission. Virtual goods (like weapons, gold, coins, and so on) will earn you a 15 percent commission. Like MacGameStore, cookies are stored on the browser of any referrals for 30 days.
These large fees make MMOGA worth considering, despite its relatively small stature compared to other affiliate programs like Amazon or G2A.
It’s also specifically tailored for certain types of games that have a digital, internal market. RPGs, sports games, and other games that make use of limited and rare in-game items have dedicated fanbases, and creating content designed around those audiences could drive your conversion rates way up.
Bonus: Twitch Affiliate Program
This is for those of you who want something different, or to add something a bit more “engaging” to their gaming affiliate roster. If you belong to this category, then why not try the twitch affiliate program?
We all know and love twitch.tv. He’ve spent countless hours watching our favorite streamers, and some of us have even aspired to broadcasting on the platform but never really pursued it.
If you are serious about making money gaming, this could be a great step up, before pursuing a twitch partner program. Having said that however, achieving twich affiliate status does take some hard work. Luckily however, the platform recognizes the amount of work you put in, and definitely rewards you for doing so. If you want to find out more about the twitch affiliate program then click on this link.
Don’t Limit Yourself to a Single Gaming Affiliate Program
While gaming affiliate programs can earn you a ton of money, you shouldn’t limit yourself to a single program – or even a single industry. Creating content and selling games and other goods through several of the platforms mentioned in this article is a good way to diversify and expand your earnings.
Furthermore, affiliate marketing is largely the same no matter what you are selling.
If you’re doing very well selling digital games and virtual items, why not try selling something related – like physical games? Better yet, why not move on to other products, especially those that require repeat purchases?
For more information about how you can start making money online check out our recommended reading section below, and of course feel free to ask any questions in the comments below! We would be glad to start a conversation with each and every one of you. Until then, go and turn your passion into a profit!
Recommended Reading:
