Making money from a gaming website

A gaming website can earn from ads, affiliate links, sponsorships, memberships, merchandise and donations. Each one works only once you have a regular audience, each brings a duty to disclose who is paying you, and what you may do with game footage, logos and names is set by copyright, trademark and each publisher’s own policy.

This page is general information with a United States focus, not legal advice. It links the primary sources so that you can read them yourself.

The short version

• Build the audience first. Monetising an empty site earns nothing and slows it down.
• Disclose every paid relationship, next to the content it applies to.
• Earn from your own work: your writing, your brand, your community.
• Read the publisher’s content policy for each game before putting its assets near anything commercial.

The realistic options

Method	How it pays	What it needs	Main rule to check
Display ads	Per view or click	Steady traffic, original content	The ad network’s programme policies
Affiliate links	Commission on sales you refer	Buying-intent content: reviews, gear guides	Programme terms and FTC disclosure
Sponsorships	Fee or free product from a brand	An audience a brand wants	FTC disclosure, on every post
Memberships	Recurring payment from fans	Something of your own worth paying for	Publisher limits on paywalled content
Merchandise	Margin on goods sold	Your own name and artwork	Trademark and copyright
Donations	Voluntary tips	Goodwill	Platform and publisher terms

Ads

Ad networks set entry conditions. Google’s AdSense eligibility page, for example, asks for your own original content that meets its programme policies and requires applicants to be at least 18.

Ads have a cost beyond the application. They add scripts, and they cause layout shift if you do not reserve space for them. Keep them out of the first screen and follow the advice in make a gaming website fast. On a small site, expect ads to offset hosting costs before they do anything more.

Affiliate links

You link to a game, a headset or a chair, and earn a commission if a visitor buys. This suits sites that publish reviews and buying guides.

Two layers of rules apply:

• The programme’s terms. Amazon’s Associates Operating Agreement, for instance, requires you to state clearly and prominently on your site: “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.”
• The FTC’s disclosure expectations, which apply whatever the programme says. They are covered below.

Recommend only what you have used or can assess. Readers have no reason to trust a list of products you have never touched.

Sponsorships

A sponsor pays a fee or supplies products, and in return appears on your site, your jerseys or your streams.

Put the terms in writing: what you will publish, for how long, and that you will label it as sponsored. Do not agree to hide the relationship. You are responsible for your own disclosures.

Memberships and donations

Memberships work when members pay for something that is yours: ad-free reading, coaching sessions, early access to your guides, a supporters’ role in your Discord.

Be careful about putting a game’s content behind a paywall. Riot Games’ fan-content policy, for example, treats a project gated by a paywall as commercial use that needs a written licence. Donations are sometimes treated differently. Microsoft’s rules, for instance, allow optional donation requests on a page that shows content made with its games. Check the policy for your game.

Merchandise

Sell shirts, mousepads and stickers that carry your team name, logo and original art. Do not print a game’s logo, characters or screenshots on products without a licence. That is where fan-content policies stop and trademark law starts.

Disclosure: what the FTC expects

In the United States, the FTC’s Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255) cover endorsements where there is a connection between the endorser and a brand that the audience would not expect. The FTC’s staff FAQ, What People Are Asking, applies them to bloggers, reviewers and streamers. Its main points for a gaming site:

• Affiliate links need a plain explanation. The FAQ says readers may not understand what the words “affiliate link” mean. Say that you earn a commission on purchases made through the links.
• Free games and hardware count. If a publisher gave you a key or a product in the hope of coverage, say so in the review.
• Sponsored content should say so simply, naming the sponsor.
• Placement matters. The disclosure should be hard to miss and close to the claim. The FAQ warns that readers may miss one placed at the bottom of a page, and that a link to a separate disclosure page is not enough.
• One site-wide notice is not enough. The FAQ says a single disclosure on your home page will not do, because visitors land on individual articles.
• On video and streams, disclose in the video itself, and repeat it during a long live stream.

The FAQ describes itself as staff guidance and not a safe harbour. If your audience is outside the United States, look up the advertising regulator where they live.

Copyright and fair use

Game art, footage, music and text are copyrighted. There are two ways your use of them can be lawful: permission from the owner, or an exception such as fair use.

Fair use is not a checklist you can pass in advance. The US Copyright Office explains that section 107 of the Copyright Act sets out four factors that courts weigh case by case:

1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether it is commercial and whether it is transformative.
2. The nature of the copyrighted work.
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used.
4. The effect on the market for the original.

The Office states that there is no formula, and no set number of seconds, words or images, that guarantees a use is fair. Criticism, comment and news reporting are among the examples the statute names. A review that uses a few screenshots to make its points resembles those examples more than a gallery of extracted assets does, but neither outcome is guaranteed, and whether the use is commercial is one of the things a court weighs.

Publisher policies are the practical route. Many publishers publish terms under which fans may use their content. They differ, and they change. As we read them in November 2026:

Publisher	Policy	What it says about money
Microsoft	Game Content Usage Rules	Lets you make content with its games and post it on your own site. Generally bars earning from that content, with exceptions for ad programmes on YouTube and Twitch and for optional donations. Requires a notice. Using game content to promote a commercial website needs permission.
Riot Games	“Legal Jibber Jabber”	Supports free community projects. Lets individuals earn passively from appropriate advertising. Bars paywalled projects and other commercial use without a licence. Requires a notice.
Nintendo	Game Content Guidelines	Addresses videos and images on sharing platforms. Permits monetisation only through the methods Nintendo specifies and says other commercial monetisation is not permitted. Do not assume it extends to ads on your own site.

These are summaries. Read the full policy for each game you cover, follow its notice requirements exactly, and remember that the publisher can change or withdraw it.

Trademarks, names and logos

A trademark, in the USPTO’s definition, is a word, phrase, symbol or design that identifies the source of goods or services. Game titles, logos and character names are commonly protected as trademarks.

Writing the name of a game in order to talk about it is ordinary. Problems start when your site looks official or trades on the mark:

• Do not use a game’s logo as, or inside, your own logo. Microsoft’s rules say this directly, and Riot’s policy bars using its logos or trademarks in a project without a written licence.
• Do not put a game’s name in your domain name or brand. Riot’s policy forbids registering domain names that use its trademarks.
• State that you are not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher. Microsoft’s and Riot’s policies each require specific wording for that notice.

Before you switch anything on

1. Do you have regular visitors? If not, keep publishing and return to this later.
2. Have you read the content policy for every game whose assets appear on the site?
3. Is every affiliate link, sponsored post and free product disclosed on the page where it appears?
4. Does your merchandise use only your own name and art?
5. Does the site still load quickly with the ads on?

To plan which features support these income routes, see the features checklist. If you are still choosing what kind of site to run, start with types of gaming websites.

Frequently asked questions

How do gaming websites make money?

The common methods are display advertising, affiliate links to games and hardware, sponsorships, paid memberships, merchandise and donations. All of them depend on having a regular audience first, so expect income to follow sustained publishing, not launch day.

Do I have to disclose affiliate links and sponsored posts?

In the United States, yes. The FTC's Endorsement Guides expect a clear disclosure whenever you have a financial or other material connection to a brand you mention, placed where readers will see it. FTC staff guidance says a single disclosure on your home page is not sufficient. Other countries have their own rules.

Do I need to disclose a free review copy of a game?

FTC staff guidance says yes. A free product given in the hope of a review should be disclosed, even if nobody required you to review it, because readers may weigh your opinion differently if they know. If you were also paid, say that too.

Can I run ads on a site that uses game screenshots or footage?

It depends on each publisher's content policy, and they differ. Some allow advertising around fan content under conditions, and some limit monetisation to particular video platforms. Read the policy for every game you cover and keep to it. Fair use may also apply, but it is decided case by case.

Can I sell merchandise with a game's logo or characters?

Not without a licence from the owner. Game names, logos and characters are protected by trademark and copyright, and publisher fan-content policies generally exclude selling products. Sell merchandise built on your own team name, logo and artwork instead.

Is this legal advice?

No. This page summarises public guidance from the FTC, the US Copyright Office and game publishers as read in November 2026, with a United States focus. For a decision that carries real money or risk, ask a lawyer who works with media or games.