How to Make a Gaming Website With WordPress (Step by Step)

When we first discovered WordPress, we were amazed at how versatile it was! So, we’re not surprised that tons of awesome gaming websites use this powerhouse of a platform behind the scenes.

If you’re eager to join them and share your passion with the world, then listen up: building a gaming website with WordPress is easier than you might think, and there’s never been a better time to jump in. 

Gaming has exploded in popularity, with over 2.6 billion gamers worldwide looking for online communities. Whether you want to share game reviews, create a professional gaming brand, connect with other players, or anything in between, we’re going to show you how to make it happen.

In this ultimate guide, we’re breaking down exactly how to build your gaming website the right way, step by step. We’ve simplified the process so you can focus on what matters most: building your gaming community and sharing your passion with the world.

What Do You Need to Build a Gaming Website Site Using WordPress?

So, you’re ready to create your own corner of the internet for all things gaming? Awesome! Whether you’re aiming to build a thriving community for your favorite MMO, a hub for your esports team, a review site for the latest AAA titles, or a place to share your epic Twitch moments, WordPress can be your ultimate platform.

Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

• A domain name. This will be the name of your website that people type to find your site online, for example, wpbeginner.com. We recommend choosing something memorable and relevant to your gaming niche.
• A web hosting account. This is where your website’s files will be stored, such as your gaming reviews, forum posts, screenshots, videos, and any other content you publish.
• A WordPress theme. This will control how your site looks and functions. You’ll want something that screams “gamer,” whether it’s sleek and modern for esports news, or bold and vibrant for showcasing indie games.
• The right WordPress plugins. These are like special abilities you can add to your website. Think forums for discussions, review systems for sharing your verdicts on new releases, embed options for your Twitch streams, and much more.
• SSL certificate. If you’re planning on selling merchandise or embedding live streams from platforms like Twitch where user logins are involved, you’ll definitely need an SSL certificate. This keeps your audience’s data safe and builds trust.
• Your undivided attention for 1 hour

Depending on the type of gaming website you’re building, it’s entirely possible to build it in under an hour. Put on your headphones, block out the distractions, and let’s get started!

In this tutorial, we’ll cover the following steps:

But first, let’s briefly talk about the possible types of WordPress gaming sites you can make.

Step 0: What Kind of WordPress Gaming Site Will You Make?

If you live and breathe video games, you know there’s nothing quite like being part of the vibrant gaming universe. Whether you’re chasing that next platinum trophy, strategizing for your next ranked match, or just diving into a captivating story, the gaming community is huge and always hungry for more content.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Want to build a thriving community around your go-to MMO, your favorite competitive shooter, or that indie gem everyone’s talking about? WordPress can easily become the forum where players strategize, share tips, organize raids, and just hang out.
• Are you always on top of the latest game releases, hardware announcements, and eSports drama? WordPress is perfect for creating a slick review site where you can share your expert opinions on new titles, break down patch notes, and deliver the hottest gaming news. Think of becoming the next IGN, Kotaku, or GamesRadar for a specific niche or platform.
• Want to create a retro gaming haven, a place for casual browser games, or a platform for showcasing indie developers’ smaller projects? WordPress can be adapted to host and organize playable games right on your site.
• Got a knack for designing awesome gaming merchandise, want to sell your custom PC builds, or even create a platform for indie game developers to sell their creations? With the right plugins, WordPress can become a fully functional eCommerce store for the gaming world. Think custom controller skins, fan art prints, or even digital game keys.

Whatever kind of gaming website you want to make, this tutorial will help you build it using WordPress.

Step 1. Choosing the Right Website Platform

To start, you need to choose the right website builder, and since you’re reading this, you’re on the right track.

You’re going to want to use WordPress. But, there are two types of WordPress software that share the same name, so it’s easy to get confused.

First, you have WordPress.com, which is a blog hosting platform. The second is WordPress.org, which is the self-hosted version of WordPress.

We recommend using the self-hosted WordPress.org version because it gives you more freedom, control, and access to all WordPress features.

For a comparison, you can see the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.

Next, you’ll need a domain name and web hosting. But you don’t want just any web hosting company. You need a high-quality hosting provider that will support your WordPress website as it grows.

A domain name typically costs $14.99 / year, and web hosting starts at around $7.99 per month. If you’re just getting started, this can be a big investment.

Fortunately, Bluehost, a hosting provider recommended by WordPress, has agreed to offer our readers a free domain, SSL certificate, and discount on their web hosting.

Basically, you can get started for $1.99 / month.

After you purchase hosting through Bluehost, they will automatically install the WordPress content management system (CMS) for you.

If you prefer, you can install WordPress yourself. For more details, follow our complete WordPress installation tutorial.

Once you have WordPress installed, it’s time to set up the rest of your WordPress gaming website. You can follow our step-by-step tutorial on how to make a website for complete setup instructions.

Step 2. Choosing the Perfect WordPress Gaming Theme

Now that your site is up and running, it’s time to ditch the default settings and make it look like the ultimate gaming destination. This is where WordPress themes come into play.

Think of WordPress themes as professionally designed skins or templates for your website, controlling how it looks and acts. By default, each WordPress site comes with a basic theme. If you visit your new site, then you’ll see something like this:

This is a generic WordPress theme with limited features, so you’ll need to replace it. 

When searching for the best WordPress gaming theme, you’ll come across several choices with gaming-related features baked right in. Even though it may seem like a good idea, you’ll actually want to avoid using these themes.

You simply don’t need a WordPress theme that’s built for gaming. They might look flashy, but often come packed with unnecessary bloatware and can lock you into their specific ecosystem. You could even run into compatibility issues when adding new features to your site.

Instead of going for a theme that tries to do everything gaming-related out of the box, the better strategy is to choose a flexible, high-quality WordPress theme that’s known for its performance and customization options. Think of it as a reliable, high-end PC chassis that you can then outfit with the best components.

Then, you can add all the specific gaming features you need using WordPress plugins. There’s a plugin for almost everything, from creating forums with plugins such as bbPress or BuddyPress, right through to embedding Twitch streams seamlessly, or adding review systems and esports tournament brackets.

To help you with this, we have an in-depth article on how to select the perfect WordPress theme.

If you’re looking to fast-track the design process and get your gaming site looking professional ASAP, you might want to check out our hand-picked list of the best WordPress magazine themes.

Think of sites like IGN, Gamespot, or PC Gamer – they often use a magazine-style layout to showcase tons of news, reviews, and features in an organized and visually appealing way. This kind of template can be absolutely perfect for a gaming website, giving you a head start by mirroring what the big players in the gaming space are already doing successfully.

Once you’ve found a theme you like, you can install and activate the theme. If you need help installing the theme, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress theme.

Another option is using a website and landing page builder plugin like SeedProd.

SeedProd is a popular drag-and-drop WordPress page builder that we’ve used to design many of our partner websites. For more information, check out our detailed SeedProd review.

SeedProd helps you design beautiful landing pages, home pages, and even entire websites. It also comes with a built-in template that was specifically designed for gaming websites.

It also has an AI builder that creates an entire custom theme for you in less than 60 seconds. For details, see our guide on how to make a WordPress website with AI.

Step 3. Installing the Right WordPress Gaming Plugins

It’s time to add more functionality to your website with WordPress gaming plugins.

Plugins are like apps for your WordPress site. They allow you to add all sorts of features to your website. There are over 59,000+ free plugins for WordPress.

What kind of gaming features can you add to WordPress?

• Detailed video game reviews
• A community gaming forum
• Twitch video streaming
• Real-time games visitors can play
• Selling game-related products

Adding Game Reviews to WordPress

If you’re a gaming blogger who writes about games, hardware, and consoles, you’ll want to add advanced review functionality to your site.

That way, when you’re writing product reviews, you can add starred ratings and improve the appearance of your reviews.

Look how your reviews will stand out in the search engines:

The best way to do this is by using the WP Review plugin. It lets you manage and display gaming reviews on your site.

The plugin gives you customization options to add pros and cons, product images, star ratings, and more to your reviews.

There are even features to include user reviews, display comparison tables, and implement schema markup for rich snippets.

For more details, you can see our guide on how to create a review site with WordPress.

You may also want to use plugins like Pretty Links or ThirstyAffiliates to better monetize your website with affiliate marketing.

Creating a Game-Related Forum in WordPress

Want to create a real online hub where your fellow gamers can connect and strategize? Adding a forum to your gaming website is a fantastic way to do just that!

A forum makes your website feel like a true community. When visitors can jump into discussions, share their knowledge, and connect with others who share their passion, they’re way more likely to become regulars on your site, coming back for the latest insights and to hang out with like-minded players.

The best way to add forum functionality is with a WordPress plugin like bbPress or BuddyPress.

Want more information? We put BuddyBoss through its paces and wrote a full BuddyBoss review based on our own playtesting.

After reading through the review, we recommend our post on how to add a forum in WordPress. This tutorial covers both the bbPress and BuddyBoss methods, so consider it your ultimate strategy guide no matter what forum plugin you choose.

Adding Streaming Functionality to WordPress

If you’re a streamer or want to embed popular Twitch and Esports video streams into your gaming site, you can do that easily.

The best way to add this feature is with a WordPress plugin.

We recommend using the StreamWeasels Twitch Integration plugin. It lets you embed Twitch.tv streams into WordPress and customize the appearance. To install the plugin, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

After installing and activating the plugin, you can follow the Setup Guide in the Twitch Integration section.

To add Twitch streams to WordPress, you can use the shortcode [sw-twitch]. Simply copy the shortcode and paste it into any page or post, or even in your sidebar widget.

Just make sure you click the ‘Publish’ or ‘Update’ button to save your page and make your Twitch stream live.

Adding Simple Fun Games to WordPress

You might be wondering how you add games to a WordPress website.

Adding games to your site can give your visitors something fun to do and, hopefully, leave them with a positive impression.

The best way to add games to your website is with a WordPress gaming plugin.

Plugins like Dinosaur Game let you add simple games to your site.

To install the plugin, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

If you want to turn your WordPress website into an online gaming platform, we recommend using MyArcadePlugin. It’s a premium plugin that’s used by over 100,000 WordPress sites.

Selling Game-Related Products in WordPress

Maybe your goal when creating a gaming website is to sell your own gaming guides and gear. This could be a custom gaming eyewear you’ve created to help reduce eyestrain. Or, you’re the master at a specific game and want to sell courses and walkthrough guides.

Luckily, WordPress makes it easy to create your very own eCommerce store, selling digital or physical products.

To start selling products with WordPress, you’ll need to use the WooCommerce plugin. For more details, you can see our step-by-step guide on how to start an online store.

For selling courses and exclusive membership content, you can check out our guide on how to create a membership site in WordPress.

Step 4. Taking Your WordPress Gaming Site to the Next Level

WordPress is a powerful and flexible platform that allows you to access thousands of different plugins to grow your gaming website.

The following plugins can help you grow your gaming website today.

• WPForms Lite – It’s the best contact form plugin for WordPress and lets you quickly create contact forms using its drag-and-drop builder.
• AIOSEO – It’s the best WordPress SEO plugin and will help you rank higher in the search engines. It can also help you add schema to your reviews and products.
• MonsterInsights – It allows you to easily install Google Analytics in WordPress, so you can understand where your visitors are coming from and what content on your site is the most valuable.
• Smash Balloon – It’s the best social media feeds plugin for WordPress and lets you add your social network feeds directly into WordPress.
• RafflePress – It allows you to easily run giveaways and contests in WordPress to grow your following on Twitch, TikTok, and more.
• Easy Digital Downloads – It lets you sell any gaming-related digital goods you create, such as guides, ebooks, or even collections of streams and VODs.
• For more plugin recommendations, you might want to check out our list of must-have WordPress plugins for business websites.

Step 5. Mastering WordPress to Grow Your Website

WordPress is easy to use yet extremely powerful. From time to time, you may find yourself looking for some quick answers.

Here are some useful resources that will help you learn WordPress:

• WPBeginner Blog – This is where we publish our WordPress tutorials, how-tos, and step-by-step guides.
• WPBeginner Videos – These step-by-step videos will help you learn WordPress FAST.
• WPBeginner on YouTube – Need more video instructions? Subscribe to our YouTube channel with more than 296,000+ subscribers and 54 Million+ views.
• WPBeginner Glossary – The best place for beginners to start and familiarize themselves with the WordPress lingo.
• WPBeginner Blueprint – Check out the plugins, tools, and services we use on WPBeginner.
• WPBeginner Deals – Exclusive discounts on WordPress products and services for WPBeginner users.

And here are a few of our guides that you should bookmark right away. It will save you lots of time and money in the future:

• Most common WordPress errors and how to fix them
• Beginner’s guide to troubleshooting WordPress errors
• The ultimate WordPress security guide (step by step)
• How to increase your blog traffic (proven tips)

Many of our users use Google to find answers on WPBeginner. Simply type keywords for what you are looking for and add wpbeginner.com at the end.

Can’t find an answer? Then, you might want to send your question directly using our contact form, and we will try our best to answer.

We hope this article helped you make a gaming website with WordPress. You may also want to see our guide on important reasons why you should use WordPress for your website and our expert picks of the best blog name generators to help you find good blog name ideas.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.