How to Monetize a Gaming Blog in 2026: What the Sites That Rank Actually Run
Every threshold, commission and cookie window below was read from the programme’s own page on 29 October 2026. The ads.txt files were read the same day.
Short answer: a small gaming blog makes money the same way most small blogs do, through Google AdSense and affiliate links, and then through the general blogger ad networks once traffic grows. The gaming-specialist ad networks are built for much bigger sites. We read the ads.txt files of every independent gaming site we found on page one for ten gaming queries, and none of the 14 named Venatus, Playwire, Snigel, Nitro or Freestar. The ones that had moved past AdSense were with Journey by Mediavine, Mediavine or Raptive. On the affiliate side, game sales pay little per order (Amazon UK pays 1.0% on video games), so hardware is where the commission per click is meaningful.
What the gaming sites that rank actually run
Advice on monetising a gaming blog usually starts with the gaming ad networks. We wanted to know what working gaming sites use, so we went and looked.
On 29 October 2026 we searched google.co.uk for ten everyday gaming queries (game guides, “best games” lists and two hardware queries) and recorded every organic result on page one: 78 results across 50 sites. Then we opened each editorial site’s ads.txt file, the public list a site publishes of the companies allowed to sell its ad space. A managed ad network usually hosts that file or names itself in it as the manager.
| Who held page one | Sites | Results |
|---|---|---|
| Media groups (IGN, PC Gamer, TheGamer, Polygon and others) | 16 | 24 |
| Reddit, YouTube, Steam Community, forums and wikis | 7 | 22 |
| Brands, shops and stores (or sites we could not load) | 13 | 17 |
| Independent sites (9 blogs, 5 tool or database sites) | 14 | 15 |
Here is what the 14 independent sites’ ads.txt files named.
| What the file showed | Sites | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Mediavine named as manager | 2 | Her Cozy Gaming, Steam Deck HQ |
| Journey by Mediavine named as manager | 2 | Emily Underworld, BuildIt |
| Raptive named as manager | 1 | GrabCraft |
| WordAds (Automattic’s programme for WordPress sites) | 1 | A Geek Girl’s Guide |
| Google AdSense only | 3 | Punished Backlog, Steam 250, Autosaved (AdSense code on the page, no ads.txt) |
| Google plus ad exchanges, no manager named | 1 | WBuilds |
| No ads.txt found, or hosted on Substack | 4 | Timesaver, Lords of Gaming, Gorillo Build, Good Game Lobby |
| Venatus, Playwire, Snigel, Nitro or Freestar named | 0 |
The gaming specialists appeared only in media groups’ files, and only as single seller lines. Freestar appears as a reseller line in five Ziff Davis files (IGN, Nintendo Life, Eurogamer, Rock Paper Shotgun and Push Square), and Nitro as one seller line in GameSpot’s, inside another partner’s block. Neither is named as any file’s manager. Two media sites use the same managed networks as the independents: TheGamer’s file is hosted by Mediavine and TouchArcade’s by Raptive.
We call this the gaming network mismatch. The networks built for gaming sites are the ones a gaming blog is least likely to qualify for. The networks small gaming blogs actually use are general blogger networks with no gaming label at all. The entry requirements in the next section explain why.
The monetisation ladder, by traffic
Each rung below is a published entry rule, read from the programme’s own page. Where a network publishes no minimum, we say so.
| Where you are | What opens up | The published rule |
|---|---|---|
| Any traffic, including none | Google AdSense; most game-store and hardware affiliate programmes; Ko-fi, Buy Me a Coffee, Patreon | AdSense: applicants must be 18 or over (a parent or guardian can apply for under-18s) and its eligibility page does not mention a traffic minimum. Affiliate programmes below are free to join on application. |
| Your first three sales | Keeping an Amazon Associates account | Amazon reviews the account once you have made “at least three” qualifying sales “within the first 180 days”. Your own orders do not count. |
| 1,000 sessions a month from the US, UK, Canada or Australia | Journey by Mediavine | “A minimum of 1,000 sessions from Tier 1 countries” within 30 days. The UK counts. |
| 10,000 to 80,000 pageviews a month | Monumetric Propel | $99 one-time setup fee; at least half the traffic from the US, UK, Canada or Australia. |
| 25,000 pageviews a month | Raptive | “Our minimum pageview requirement is 25,000 pageviews a month.” Below 100,000, half the traffic must come from the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand or Australia. |
| $5,000 a year in ad revenue | Mediavine | “Generate a minimum of $5,000 in annual ad revenue.” There is no sessions figure any more, so you need to be earning from another network first. |
| 100,000 pageviews a month and up | Playwire | Its qualification page suggests applying “once they’ve reached 100,000 page views or more”. Its FAQ lists “a minimum of 500,000 monthly page views”. The two pages disagree. |
| 250,000 monthly users | Ezoic | 250,000 monthly active users for new sites. Smaller sites can apply to its Incubator, which selects 20 sites a month. |
| Around a million pageviews a month | Freestar | No hard minimum, but “the average pageviews for our publishers are typically at least a million per month”. Half the traffic must be organic and half from the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand or Australia. |
| No published minimum | Venatus, Nitro, Publisher Collective (Snigel) | Venatus and Nitro publish no traffic rule. Publisher Collective (Snigel and Publisher Collective “became one in 2025”) gives roughly €300 a day in ad revenue as its guide for sites in its genres, video gaming included. |
For the full terms of the general networks (revenue share, contract length, exclusivity) see our ad network comparison, which was checked against the same pages on 22 October 2026.
Gaming ad networks: what they publish
All five gaming-friendly networks say they work with gaming sites. What separates them is how much they tell you before you apply.
| Network | What it says about gaming | Entry rule | Terms published |
|---|---|---|---|
| Venatus | Gaming is its core pitch: its homepage sells advertisers access to “hyper-engaged gaming communities” | None published | No revenue share. Its knowledge base explains why it asks for exclusivity over your ad inventory. |
| Playwire | Has a dedicated gaming vertical | 100,000 suggested; 500,000 in the FAQ | Revenue share (percentage not stated); paid Net 60 |
| Publisher Collective (Snigel) | Works “extensively with” video gaming | About €300 a day in ad revenue for in-genre sites; 3 million pageviews for others | Signed agreement; share not stated |
| Freestar | Gaming is among its largest content categories | Publishers average a million pageviews or more | Turns away real-money gambling sites and sites that reward users for viewing ads |
| Nitro | A network of “gaming and gaming-adjacent websites, including popular pop culture sites, wikis, fan sites” | None published | No revenue share or contract terms on its publisher page |
Two of the five publish no entry rule at all, so the only way to find out is to apply. That costs nothing, but it is a reason not to plan your first year around them.
Affiliate programmes for gaming blogs
Affiliate links are where a small gaming blog can earn from day one, because most programmes have no traffic rule. The rates vary far more than the ad thresholds do.
| Programme | Commission (as published) | Cookie or attribution window | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Associates UK | Video games and consoles 1.0%; all other categories 3.0% | 24 hours (items added to the basket in that time) | Amazon |
| Amazon Associates US | Physical video games and consoles 1.00%; digital video games 2.00%; PC and PC components 2.50%; all other categories 4.00% | 24 hours | Amazon |
| GOG | 6% of net sales (price minus VAT) | 7 days, last click | Adtraction |
| Green Man Gaming | “Starting at up to 5%”; 10% on its own bundles | Not stated | Sign-up goes through Impact |
| Eneba (key marketplace) | 2 to 5% revenue share | 30 days | Eneba’s own panel |
| Kinguin (key marketplace) | Up to 10% | 30 days | Kinguin’s own panel |
| Razer | Up to 15% on its global affiliate page; its UK programmes page says up to 10%. Capped at 1% for coupon and discount sites | 14 days | Impact |
| Logitech (including Logitech G) | 4 to 10%, varies by brand | 30 days | Impact |
| Secretlab (chairs) | Up to 12% | 7 days (UK page) | Own programme, paid by PayPal |
| PlayStation Direct (US page; the UK programme page now redirects to the store) | Not published | Not published | Partnerize |
We found no affiliate programme run by Valve (Steam) or Nintendo. Epic Games runs Support-A-Creator, a creator-code scheme with a follower minimum. Its terms say the payout calculation is shown inside its Creator Portal, so we could not confirm a rate from a public page.
What a sale is worth
Percentages are easier to judge as money. Four worked examples, using only the rates above:
- A £50 game through Amazon UK at 1.0% earns 50p at most. Amazon pays on “Qualifying Revenue” as its operating agreement defines it; if the 20% VAT is taken out first, it is about 42p. Either way, a hundred sales a month earns £42 to £50.
- A $60 boxed game through Amazon US at 1.00% earns 60 cents.
- A £20 game on GOG. GOG pays on the price minus VAT. At 20% UK VAT that is £16.67, and 6% of it is £1.00.
- An average Logitech order. Logitech’s affiliate page quotes a $125 average order value. At its 4 to 10% range, that is $5.00 to $12.50 per order.
In dollars, one average Logitech order earns what roughly 8 to 21 boxed game sales earn through Amazon US. That is why the working gaming bloggers we found in our gaming blog starter guide lean on hardware and setup content for affiliate income.
A note on key marketplaces
Eneba and Kinguin resell game keys from third-party sellers, and both pay more than the official stores. Valve’s guidance to developers warns about people acquiring keys fraudulently and reselling them, and tells developers to “treat keys like cash”. It does not name either marketplace. If you link to one, tell readers it is a marketplace and not the publisher’s own store. Some of your audience will care, and they will notice.
Content rules that matter for gaming blogs
Most gaming content is fine for advertising. Three policy areas are worth knowing before you write.
Hacking and cracking. Google’s publisher policies do not allow ads on content that “promotes any form of hacking or cracking”, or on content that helps people get round copy protection. Google’s policy text does not name cheats, mods or emulators. A cheat-code list and a guide to cracking a game’s copy protection are very different things, and only the second is named.
Gambling. Google treats real-money gambling as a restricted category: ads can still run, from fewer advertisers, and in some countries gambling content cannot carry Google ads at all. Freestar turns away sites that allow gambling for real money. If you cover loot boxes or skin trading, keep it editorial.
Disclosure. In the UK, the CMA says it is “not enough just to tag a brand in your post, use discount codes or affiliate links”. It also lists “#aff”, “#affiliate” and “#sponsored” among the labels to avoid. In the US, the FTC says “paid link” next to an affiliate link should be adequate. For a UK blog, the cautious pattern is an upfront “Ad” label on any post with affiliate links, plus a plain note beside the links themselves.
Reader support and your own products
A small, loyal gaming audience can pay you directly, and this route does not depend on traffic thresholds. Ko-fi takes 0% on one-off tips and 5% on memberships, shop sales and commissions on its free plan, plus payment processor fees. Buy Me a Coffee charges a 5% platform fee per transaction, plus Stripe’s processing fees. Patreon takes 10% from creators who publish their page after 4 August 2025, plus processing and payout fees.
Her Cozy Gaming, one of the independent sites on page one, also sells a PDF guide to starting a gaming blog. A paid product only works once the audience exists, so treat it as a year-two plan.
What to do at each stage
- From the first post, join two or three affiliate programmes that match your beat, such as a game store and a hardware brand. Write your disclosure line once so every post uses it.
- Once traffic is steady, apply to AdSense. Place few ads; at low traffic a slow page costs you more readers than it earns.
- At 1,000 Tier 1 sessions a month, apply to Journey by Mediavine. Check the count in Google Analytics first, and count only US, UK, Canadian and Australian sessions.
- At 25,000 pageviews, compare Raptive with Mediavine. Read the exclusivity terms before you sign: Raptive’s service agreement makes it your only display and video ad source, and Mediavine asks for full control of programmatic ads.
- Before applying to a gaming specialist, check whether you are anywhere near its published bar. If it publishes none, apply anyway, but keep the general networks in play while you wait.
Our free gaming blog monetisation checker runs this ladder against your own numbers.
Free download: the gaming blog monetisation checker
A spreadsheet with every programme on this page. Type in your monthly pageviews, Tier 1 sessions, traffic mix and ad revenue, and it marks which ones you can apply to today, with the source link and the date we read each rule.
How we checked, and the limits
Programme terms. Every figure in the tables was read on the programme’s own page on 29 October 2026. Third-party lists were not used. Where a page states nothing, the table says “not stated”.
The ads.txt read. We searched google.co.uk on 29 October 2026 for ten queries. They were stardew valley beginner guide, best cozy games on switch, best budget gaming headset, elden ring best starting class, best indie games to play, minecraft building ideas, animal crossing tips for beginners, best gaming mouse for small hands, best steam deck games, and baldurs gate 3 tips. We counted every organic result on page one and classed each site by who runs it. For each editorial site we opened /ads.txt and searched it for Google publisher lines and for named managers. The names we searched for were Mediavine, Journey, Raptive (and its former name AdThrive), Venatus, Playwire, Snigel, Nitro, Freestar, Ezoic and Monumetric, plus any manager or owner domain declared in the file.
Limits. Ten queries on one day is a sample, not a census, and results were viewed from the UK while signed in, so your page one may differ. An ads.txt file lists who may sell a site’s ads; it does not show revenue, and a network can sell through ad exchanges without its own name appearing. “Not named” means not named, not proof of absence. We could not open official affiliate pages for Humble Bundle, Instant Gaming, Corsair, Elgato or the Microsoft Store, and could not read the commission on Minecraft’s affiliate page, so they are left out. Terms change, and the Raptive, Mediavine and Ezoic rules on this page all changed within the past thirteen months, so check each programme’s page before you apply.
Our stake. Blogging Titan sells audits and services aimed at established blogs. Nothing on this page is an affiliate link, and we have no relationship with any programme, network or site named above.
Frequently asked questions
The questions gaming bloggers ask most about making money.
Can a new gaming blog use AdSense?
Yes. Google asks that applicants are 18 or over and that the content is original; its eligibility page does not mention a traffic minimum.
What is the best ad network for a small gaming blog?
For most small gaming blogs it is a general one. Journey by Mediavine opens at 1,000 sessions a month from the US, UK, Canada or Australia, which is the lowest published managed-network bar we found. The gaming specialists publish no minimum, a revenue bar, or 100,000 pageviews and more.
Do gaming affiliate programmes pay well?
Game sales pay little per order: Amazon UK pays 1.0% on video games, GOG 6% of the price minus VAT. Hardware pays more per order: Logitech pays 4 to 10%, and Razer up to 15% (up to 10% on its UK page).
Does Steam have an affiliate programme?
We found no affiliate programme run by Valve. GOG, Green Man Gaming and the key marketplaces do run programmes.
Related: every ad network’s entry rules and contract terms, the six ways to monetise any blog, monetising without ads, affiliate marketing for bloggers and which kinds of blogs make money.
Sources
All read 29 October 2026.
- Ad networks: AdSense eligibility; Mediavine and Journey requirements; Raptive requirements; Monumetric Propel; Ezoic requirements and Incubator; Playwire qualification criteria and FAQ; Freestar publisher requirements; Venatus; Playwire gaming; Raptive service agreement; Mediavine on exclusivity; Nitro; Publisher Collective FAQ.
- Affiliate programmes: Amazon Associates UK and US commission tables, and the UK help pages on qualifying sales and the 24-hour window; GOG; Green Man Gaming; Eneba; Kinguin; Razer and its UK programmes page; Logitech; Secretlab (UK); PlayStation Direct (US); Epic Support-A-Creator terms; Valve on Steam keys.
- Policies and disclosure: Google Publisher Policies and Publisher Restrictions; CMA guidance for content creators (updated 3 September 2025); FTC Endorsement Guides FAQ.
- Reader support: Ko-fi fees; Buy Me a Coffee fees; Patreon pricing and its pricing change for new creators.
Written by
Blogging Titan Team
Blogging Titan is an independent team of bloggers documenting what actually grows a blog in the AI search era. We have been building, ranking, and monetizing WordPress sites since 2017, and every guide on this site is based on strategies and tools we have tested ourselves. Want a second pair of eyes on your blog? Request a free blog audit or start with the 2026 playbook.