How to Make Money with CS2: Real Ways to Profit from Playing

Playing your favorite game is cool, but what if we tell you that you can not only play but also earn money with CS2 (CS:GO)! And it’s even simpler than you think! Today, we will discuss all possible ways to make money with CS2. So, buckle up, think about it, and choose the option that you like the most!

Let’s get down to business.

Is It Worth Trying to Make Money Through CS2?

If you don’t have a job, or perhaps you are looking for better options than your current job because you are tired of the same old grind, then trying to make money in CS2 (CS:GO) could become a rather good idea. However, remember the risks because not everything always happens as you want it to, and fortune won’t always be on your side. But if you work diligently, sooner or later, you will get your result!

When it comes to finances, is it profitable, and how to make money with CS2 (CS:GO)? It all depends on what exactly you will be doing. Will you stream your gameplay or participate in tournaments? Or maybe you will try a risky method and open cases? All of these work differently and bring different profits, so let’s look at each method separately, try to talk about the amount you can earn, and you can conclude whether it’s worth it!

How to Earn Money with CS2?

Now let’s get to the question that’s probably on your mind: how to earn money from CS2 (CS:GO)? You can make money in CS2 (CS:GO) in a bunch of ways. Some are completely legitimate and transparent, others fall into a «grey area» (semi-legal), and of course, there are also «black» methods — the ones that are either against Valve’s rules or outright illegal.

Today, we will talk about the allowed ways of how to earn money in CS2 (CS:GO), and we might briefly touch on a few of the grey ones as well.

Streaming & Creating CS2 Content

The first and most well-known way how to make money with CS2 (CS:GO) is, of course, streaming. If you’ve been in CS2 for a long time, watching streamers and following pro tournaments, then you definitely heard of ohnePixel. This successful young German streamer named Mark.

He became famous for his wild and emotional reactions during case openings and in-game moments and is generally quite a cheerful and successful guy. And you probably think: «Well, I can open cases too! I can scream when I unbox a knife — why not give it a shot?»

In reality, it’s not that easy. Becoming a streamer is probably the hardest way to earn money in CS2 because you need to interest the viewer through various methods. You can be interesting and funny, or you can play professionally and casually chatting with your viewers. However, success won’t come to you immediately after you hit «Go Live» on Twitch.

Many streamers spend years grinding with 5-10 viewers and earn next to nothing because they have neither brand deals nor large donations. Therefore, think very carefully about whether you want to choose this option and whether you have what can hook a viewer.

Also, one way how to make money with CS2 (CS:GO) is by creating your own content. Usually, this refers to content on YouTube. You can create funny videos like NadeKing or educational videos like karrigan. All of this is also work, and quite hard work, because you need to come up with something unique that hasn’t already flooded YouTube. People are constantly looking for something new, so you need to stand out.

You also need to know how to edit videos, add sound, and do many other things. All of this only seems easy. It’s a very demanding process.

The question of how to make money from streaming and CS2 (CS:GO) content creation is tricky. It really depends on your audience size, your engagement, whether you’ve joined any partner programs, and so on. But the truth is, there is no maximum figure in this field. You can earn both $10,000 and $50,000 per month. But when this will happen is a completely different question. It takes time, consistency, and a lot of patience.

Participation in Tournaments

Another option that is very, very difficult and requires considerable skill is to make money through CS2 (CS:GO) tournaments. You can train and play a lot, but you still won’t become a professional because this is a very competitive and difficult niche that is hard to get into.

However, if you are confident in your abilities, you can try to participate in small tournaments, such as tournaments on Faceit or other well-known platforms. You will be able to find your first team and perhaps your first coach, and over time, you will start participating in larger tournaments. Maybe one of the major eSports organizations will notice you.

Earnings in this field also vary greatly. If you have already found a team, then young talents are usually paid from $1000 to $3000 per month. In top-tier teams, the salary naturally increases and can reach up to $10,000 per month.

However, you should not forget about the prize money from tournaments if you win or place in the prizes. For example, if your team places in the top 3 of a $300,000 tournament, each player can earn an additional $4,000–$5,000 just from the prize pool.

CS2 Skins Trading

A simpler method of how to make money with CS2 (CS:GO) compared to previous ones is skin trading in CS2. Your main task will be to buy and sell skins. This requires a good knowledge of skins and market trends. You need to understand when a skin is cheaper to buy and when, on the contrary, its price will rise.

For example, during the start of a new Armory Pass, skins dropped in price by 10-15%, all because players were selling their skins to buy this pass.

Also, Armory Pass brought many new skins into the game, and it is also possible to earn money by buying and reselling these skins. The task is certainly not easy, and you will need to have the strength and patience to master this process, but if you have a little time, then you will succeed!

CS2 Skins Investment

«Investing? That’s for adults» — that’s what many younger CS2 players might think. But those who’ve been in the game for years know the truth: investing in CS2 skins isn’t just a myth or some made-up trick — it’s a real and incredibly effective way how to make serious money with CS2 (CS:GO).

For example, everyone knows the famous AWP Medusa, AWP Dragon Lore, and so on. These are expensive skins that become more expensive over the years because there are very few of them. And usually, when it comes to investments, everyone thinks about exactly these kinds of examples. However, this is far from the case!

We won’t look into the distant past, but we’ll go back only 4 years to the moment when Glove Cases cost only $0.55. imagine you invested $100 back then. According to calculations, this is approximately 180 cases. And after buying, you just waited a little while.

Already after 3 months, these cases cost $1.35, and your profit was already more than 50%, and this was in just 3 months. After waiting a little longer, your profit would become 200% because the price rose to $2.30. Sounds interesting, but still not enough?

And what if you had waited until April 2025? You would have received an amount 23 times higher! For example, your $100 would have turned into $2200 net! Incredible, isn’t it?

This is why investment is a very powerful tool, and it’s worth studying, but it won’t give you quick profits. But you can think about such an option because now you know that investment is cool.

Case Opening: A Gamble

Many also believe that it’s possible to earn money by opening cases in CS2. However, this is absolutely not the case. Now, we will try to explain why.

For example, we can take any popular case in CS2. Let’s say it’s a relatively new «Kilowatt Case.» Its price fluctuates a lot, but just for example, let’s assume it costs $2.

To open one such case, you will need $4.5 because the key to open such a case costs $2.5. By opening this case, you will, with an 80% probability, receive a Mil-Spec quality skin, each of which costs no more than $1.

If you try to simulate case openings using any website that allows it, you will see that in the best-case scenario, you will get back skins worth 60% of your spent funds.

If you spend $1000 on opening, then even considering that you might get a knife, you will still be at a loss, so opening cases to earn money is definitely not an option, but to get enjoyment, then, of course, it’s a wonderful choice.

Creative Work: Maps, Mods and Skins

Ever wondered where CS2 skins come from? Who comes up with the ideas, and who draws and brings all this to life? The answer is simple: players! Yes, not only Valve and their team of designers create skins. Most popular skins were created by authors from the people, simple players who were inspired by the game and drew the skins they would like to see.

Valve appreciated this, added players’ skins to the game, and rewarded the authors with a percentage of the cases sold. The exact figure is unknown, but some say it’s 5-10% of the sales of all cases where your skin is. For example, a case costs $3, and 100,000 such cases were opened in a month, and if you receive 5% of this amount, it’s approximately $15,000 per month, cool, isn’t it?

However, it’s not as simple as one would like. In order for your skin to be added to the game, you need not only to know how to make skins but also to create something incredibly cool that will hook not only the audience but also Valve itself.

Besides CS2 skins, you can create various mods or Workshop maps, but they are not as highly valued and do not bring in such large profits as skins.

Weekly Drops

Weekly drops in CS2 are more of a reward for playing than a real way to make money. Once a week, you can get two random items, and the cost of each is unknown. You might get lucky, and the skin you receive costs $100, or you might be unlucky for years, and every week, you will receive junk worth a few cents.

If you want to earn this way, there is a slightly different and not entirely transparent method, which we will talk about below. It’s a bot farm.

Giveaways and Activity on Third-Party Sites

For a player who doesn’t play at the highest level, being active on various sites and applications like Faceit would be a great option to earn, not very large sums, but if you play the game anyway, why not make it profitable as well?

Many, many players know about FaceIt, but not everyone knows that there are various kinds of tasks there, for completing which you can receive special currency or prizes in the form of skins.

If you received a skin, simply withdraw it to your account and sell it, thus earning. But if you received points, there are more variations here. You can exchange them for cases, skins, knives, gloves, or whatever else catches your eye. It’s up to you. However, Faceit points can often be traded for high-tier skins that cost a couple of hundred dollars.

A simpler option is participation in giveaways and various activities on third-party sites, such as BountyStars. Here, you can earn points, receive cool prizes, participate in giveaways where various knives and interesting skins are often given away, and just have a good time.

Join BountyStars today and get your first profit!

Account Boosting

Another prohibited way to earn money, which can get your account banned, is boosting. You’ve definitely seen how a newbie comes into the game and has a high rank or a high rating in the Premier mode, but based on their gameplay, it’s clear that they definitely couldn’t have achieved such a rating on their own.

Players who play well engage in such services. They take accounts from other players, play well on them, and obtain high ranks, after which they return the account to the owner and receive a certain amount of money from them. This is a very risky option, as many nuances exist. However, some boosters say that they earn up to $1500 a month just for playing on other people’s accounts.

But is such earning relevant now, when there are a lot of cheaters in the game? It’s hard to answer, so it’s up to you to decide.

Bot Farm

You might see videos where an operator films a room in which more than 50 computers are working simultaneously. Valve condemns such actions because it is not a completely honest option. Nevertheless, the question is quite debatable. You can create your own farm of 4-5 accounts on one computer. These accounts will perform weekly activity, receive two free skins per week, and you will receive your profit.

However, it is worth remembering that the rewards will be completely random, and you may not get anything valuable for a long time. Unfortunately, it is difficult to say regarding earnings in this way, as few people share information about such things, but if they still exist, it means it is profitable.

In fact, there are about 20 other ways how to earn money from CS2 (CS:GO), but many of them are either risky or outright dishonest. Such earnings include scamming other players and other options, but there’s no point discussing income that comes at the expense of others. We’re here for fair and honest ways to earn.

Wrapping Up!

You can earn money with CS2 (CS:GO) in various ways, and each of them requires effort. It’s rare for everything to work out for you on the first try, so choose the best option from the ones presented, try to earn, and remember that difficulties only make us stronger. Don’t give up, and you will succeed!

To learn more about the world of CS2, stay with us and read our blog.

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