How To Earn Money Playing Counter-Strike 2

Playing games such as Counter-Strike can be a very fun hobby for players. However, gaming can take up a lot of hours from your day, and you might end up feeling depressed that you are spending so much time on games instead of doing anything productive. 

If you’re just looking to make some extra income on the side while playing Counter-Strike, the game’s weekly drop system is always available for you. Valve loves rewarding active Counter-Strike players for keeping the game alive, which is why they have implemented the weekly drop system that gives players free items for just playing the game. 

A few years ago, Valve changed how in-game drops worked and came up with the “Weekly Care Package” system. As the name suggests, players can earn themselves a package every week which contains in-game items that can be claimed for free.

A Weekly Care Package consists of four items, but unfortunately, Valve isn’t as generous as that. Out of the four items in the package, players can only claim two of them, and the remaining skins will disappear. 

The four items in the package always come in the same format. There will always be:

• 1 random weapon skin
• 1 random weapon case
• 2 random graffiti sprays

The most profitable option would be to select the random weapon skin and weapon case. Generally, cases can fetch you 50 cents up to 2 dollars, which is very decent. If you get lucky and receive one of the original cases such as the Operation Bravo Case or the CS:GO Weapon Case, that’s over $70 straight into your pocket for playing the game.

The weapon skins aren’t usually worth that much, as you will probably receive Consumer Grade skins that are worth cents. Sure, sometimes you might get lucky and get better drops, but you would consider yourself fortunate to get a drop valued at $2 to $3. Still, weapon skins are always more expensive than graffiti sprays, as sprays are worth 1 or 2 cents. 

However, you must make an upfront investment to be able to farm Weekly Care Packages, as your account must have the Prime Status to be eligible to receive them. The Prime Status can be purchased directly from the in-game shop for $14.99. However, the Prime Status comes with several other benefits other than Weekly Care Packages. We highly recommend purchasing it even if you aren’t looking for free items. 

Though spending $14.99 on the Prime Status is the opposite of making money, it is a one-time purchase that will stay on your account throughout your lifetime. By playing the game and collecting items from Weekly Care Packages, you can pay back your investment and start making a clean profit from there on.

In Counter-Strike, there are several play-to-earn platforms that reward players for playing the game. It is pretty hard to believe, but yes, there are companies which aren’t Valve that are paying players to play Counter-Strike for them.

First, let’s talk about actual play-to-earn platforms such as Buff.Game. Players can download the Buff software, and it will begin tracking your in-game activity and achievements. By simply playing Counter-Strike, you can accumulate Buff points which can be converted into rewards such as skins or real-life gift cards. 

You might be wondering, what’s in it for them? We asked ourselves the same question too. After looking at their website, we found the answers. Buff collects data and analyzes your gaming habits, preferences, and trends. 

This sort of insight is valuable information for companies looking to get into gaming, so they are probably selling our data to other companies or using it for themselves. This isn’t personal data, so the potential of transacting data is totally fine and won’t harm us. They also collect more revenue from in-app purchases, advertising, and sponsorships as well.

It is worth noting that Buff.Game is primarily used for newer players. If you’re looking to seriously earn money from playing, you can do so on more reputable platforms such as FACEIT and ESEA.

FACEIT and ESEA provide players with several ways to earn money. First of all, they have competitive tournaments and matches with cash prizes. Sure, it would help if you were a really good player so you can dominate the competition, but you don’t necessarily have to finish first place to receive cash rewards.

Additionally, these two platforms have leaderboard systems, such as the FACEIT Pro League. Players can grind their way up the ranks by playing the game, and at the end of every season, prize money will be distributed among the top players in the leaderboard. We’re talking hundreds to thousands of dollars. 

However, let’s take a step back to reality and address that you shouldn’t expect to make too much money from these platforms, and you can’t blame them. You are not a professional player, and all you’re doing is playing the game, so you shouldn’t expect big cheques. Still, these play-to-earn platforms give you small incentives to keep playing the game.

One of the most effective ways of how to make money from CSGO is to become a content creator. Being a content creator means you can either become a streamer on platforms such as Twitch, or post videos on YouTube. 

Counter-Strike fans consume different types of content. You can be a really good player, such as a Global Elite or a FACEIT Level 10, and stream yourself playing the game or upload your highlights on YouTube. Fans appreciate high-level play since Counter-Strike is a competitive game, so you can rake in a decent amount of view.

If you’re not very skilled at the game, but have an entertaining personality, another opportunity to become a content creator arises. You can upload YouTube videos recording your own gameplay, but the most important part is that you are funny. Many Counter-Strike players want to cool down after stressful games, and watching a video compilation of funny moments can certainly lighten up their mood. 

Alternatively, you don’t even have to be the center of attention in your videos. If you have editing skills, you can post videos of professional highlights or live stream compilations. These days, Counter-Strike players have short attention spans, so they can’t sit through a whole video watching the same person play. 

However, if you compile clips of various streamers or highlights into one video, there’s a good chance your viewers will make it to the end. Additionally, you don’t even have to show your skills or personality to get views. 

YouTube channels such as VLADOPARD just collects the most-viewed clips on Twitch every day and puts them all into one video. Professional movie makers such as Virre would collect the coolest highlights from a Counter-Strike tournament and compile them together, putting cool music and edits for a fragmovie. 

You can also make simple guides for beginners, making videos explaining easy concepts that would help new players. You can make a video on all the callouts on a specific map, or talk about how the AK-47 works. These topics are very easy to discuss. As long as you aim your channel at the correct audience, you should be somewhat successful if you put effort in. 

Now, here is where we start talking about money. YouTube will pay you through ad revenue depending on how many views you get, but most of the time, they will pay you pennies. However, a lot of gambling and trading sites will often sponsor content creators and pay you thousands of dollars per video. 

All you have to do is spend 30 seconds to 1 minute promoting and talking about their website, and that’s pretty much it. YouTuber TDM_Heyzeus revealed on his channel that he was offered around $50,000 per month to promote a gambling site, which is just absurd.

When anyone first downloads Counter-Strike, they definitely had dreams of becoming a professional player, lifting the Major trophy, and getting their name chanted in front of a crowd. 

If all you’re doing is playing Counter-Strike daily, there is a high chance you should be pretty good at the game by now. As long as you have the dedication, commitment, and time to keep grinding Counter-Strike, you can always strive to become a professional player in the game. 

First, let’s talk about how much money Tier 1 professional players make. It is confirmed that players on the largest esports organizations such as G2 Esports, FaZe Clan, and Natus Vincere are making five figures a month. The best players in the world receive monthly salaries of at least $50,000, but we all know players like s1mple, NiKo, and ZywOo get paid more than that. 

Though their monthly salaries would already let them live luxurious lives – there’s more. Professional players compete in tournaments that distribute prize pools. The top-tier events distribute millions of dollars in prize pools, so players are getting additional income from these distributions alone. 

The player with the highest tournament winnings in Counter-Strike is dupreeh, who played for Astralis. Throughout his career, he has already accumulated more than $2 million from prize money alone. He is a Tier 1 player, meaning he is already on the trajectory of making $1 million per year from salaries. 

Sure, becoming the best in the world in anything is difficult, but we’re not asking you to become the s1mple’s and ZywOo’s of the world. Just becoming a Tier 3 professional player should already be enough to live a comfortable life in most countries. 

According to insider information, players in the Top 100 teams are making around $1,000 to $2,000 in monthly salaries, which is not bad at all considering you are only playing video games. This amount of money should be more than enough for a young adult living in 80% of the world. 

Similar to YouTubers, the salary money comes from sponsorships from various organizations. Gambling sites, trading sites, gaming shops, and other companies closely related to the esports scene pay organizations to promote their brand on their jerseys and players. 

Even in a Tier 3 team, businesses can pay around $500 per player each month. Most teams have three to five sponsors, so you can multiply $500 and realistically expect $1,500 to $2,500.

However, it is considered that professional players have a “shelf life,” which means they cannot perform at the highest level for their entire lives. Age, motivation, and burnout comes into play, and most professional players will retire eventually. They must make enough money to live comfortably in the future, as most Tier 1 pros sacrificed their education to pursue their careers in Counter-Strike.

The last method is a pretty underrated, yet effective approach. It is to be involved in the community, specifically in the Steam Community Workshop. 

The Steam Community Workshop is a feature on Steam that allows community members to create various game-related content and release it to the public. Other members can visit the workshop to upvote creations, or even download and play on them if they are workshop maps. Everything in the workshop is accessible for free, however, creators can find ways to earn money in different ways. 

The first way to contribute to the community is by releasing weapon skins. CS2 Skins have become an integral aspect to Counter-Strike’s popularity, and millions of dollars worth of them are being bought, sold, and traded daily. If you are an artist, you can try designing your own weapon skin on your favorite weapon and release it to the workshop.

If you did a fantastic job with your design, there is a chance that Valve will reach out to you and have your skin released in the game. That’s right, a lot of the most popular Counter-Strike skins were created by community members, such as the Hyper Breast and Printstream family. Of course, the designers of the skin will receive a handsome cut.

In 2017, a creator revealed that they were easily making over $40,000 per skin released in the game. However, others have come out and said they were making over $400,000 per skin. It probably depends on the popularity of the skin, and which rarity category it will fall under. 

However, what we do know is Valve loves working with talented artists over and over again. If you successfully got your skin in the game, there is a good chance the following skins you create could end up in the game as well. 

Other than weapon skins, you can also create maps. Great examples are Mr. uLLeticaL and crashz, who were responsible for creating the Aim Botz and Crosshair Generator Map, respectively. 

Yes, players can download these maps for free, which doesn’t generate any money for the creators. However, gambling and trading sites have been sponsoring these creators and having their logos placed around the map. We’re unsure of how much money they are getting paid for it, but we’ll bet that five figures is a safe assumption.