Most games earn money by being bought in a “brick & mortar” store (such as GameStop) or downloaded from a virtual store, like App Store, and the developer receives a percentage of the sales.

Do games actually give you money?

Video games rarely pay you directly. However, you can win real money by playing in video game tournaments, farming out characters you've leveled up, or becoming a Twitch streamer. ... Many gamers also earn money by becoming a video game tester.

Do free games make money?

Free-to-play (F2P) games make a lot of money. More than say, if you were to release a proper paid game. While the global PC F2P market is worth US$22.7 billion , Statista reports that the mobile market is worth three times that at US$67.1 billion instead. Asia generates the lion's share at US$41.8 billion.