Streaming on Twitch has become one of the most popular ways to share your gaming experiences with others. It’s also great for aspiring gamers to build up an audience and earn money from their passion.
According to data from Gamepur, Ninja, one of the most popular Twitch handles, made over $1.35 million in bits, subscriptions, and advertisements on his streams between August 2019 and October 2021. In fact, game streaming was the top category on Twitch, generating billions of view hours.
However, if you’re new to streaming or looking to take your career in this direction, it can be overwhelming to figure out where to start. This guide will cover everything from setting up your streaming computer and camera setup to getting viewers and making money as a professional gamer.
Learn From Other Streamers
One of the most valuable things you can do is learn from other streamers. The lessons they have to teach you will help you avoid some of the pitfalls that could trip up your career. You might want to make a list or notebook of mistakes others have made so that you can avoid them yourself.
If any common issues regularly arise, such as not having enough lighting or a wrong camera angle, make sure you take note and prioritize fixing them in your setup before going live again. Suppose a particular part of recording gameplay footage makes it difficult for viewers to see what’s happening on their screens.
For example, if too many graphics are on top of each other, look online for guides explaining how best to fix this issue so that newbies don’t get overwhelmed by all those static images at once. Other helpful advice might include, “Don’t forget about audio quality,” “Don’t speak over music,” and “Make sure viewers can hear instructions.”
Buy Smurf Accounts for Quick Followers
As a streamer, you want to ensure that your channel is as attractive as possible. One easy way to do this is by buying smurf accounts. A smurf account is a secondary account with high-level stats that will allow you to play games on your main channel while still being able to complete them.
Since these accounts have high levels, you can stream high-level campaigns on your channel. This way, you won’t have to wait months to level up your account before streaming exciting content. For instance, Lague of Legends (LOL) is a vast video game. There are over 140 champions, each requiring experience and months of gaming to level up.
Instead of spending the time to level up the champions in your account, you can buy a smurf account. Many third parties can sell you smurf accounts at affordable rates. For instance, you can purchase such accounts from Unranked Smurfs. You can easily buy the best smurf accounts from such online websites. They offer a lifetime warranty to ensure your gaming experience is never ruined.
Grow an Audience and Have a Unique Streaming Niche
You need to build a loyal audience. To do this, you will want to stream regularly and be yourself. If you can do that, people will want to watch you play games because they want to see more of your personality.
You should also have a unique streaming niche that excites people when they see it on the streamer’s page. This could include playing games with live commentary or doing challenges in the game, such as speedrunning or completing difficult levels without dying once. Make sure that whatever you choose has something special about it.
Consistency is critical to growing the audience base. When viewers know they can expect new content from their favorite streamers, they are much more likely to watch those streams if they cannot attend every single one of them, even if nothing is exciting happening at first glance.
Have the Right Gaming Setup
To stream, you’ll need more than just a good connection. The following are essential:
- Gaming headset. A good gaming headset will make your viewers feel like they’re with you and even add extra immersion when playing games online.
- Gaming chair. A comfortable place to sit is crucial if you want to avoid back problems down the line, but it’s also essential for your overall comfort and how well your voice sounds on stream.
- Gaming mouse/keyboard/mousepad. Suppose everything feels awkward or uncomfortable while streaming. In that case, chances are pretty good that viewers will notice, and they won’t want their time spent watching someone else play video games interrupted by those distractions.
There are many more such items for the perfect gaming setup. For instance, you will need a gaming monitor, video capture card, external hard drive, etc.
Interact With Your Viewers
It’s important to interact with your viewers. If you don’t, they’ll feel like they’re just watching a recording, and it’s not as fun. Plus, this is how you can establish a relationship with your fans that will keep them returning for more.
A study was conducted and published in the Taylor and Francis Online Journal to determine the importance of interaction while streaming games on Twitch. It concluded that interactions could promote viewer engagement and drive returning audiences to the channel.
But you don’t want to be too pushy about it. Just let the conversation flow naturally and interject when appropriate. And remember, even though streaming is interactive by nature, there are still boundaries.
For example, if someone asks where you live or if they can see your house when they visit their local city one day, don’t share personal information like this right away. Instead, ask them questions first so they get comfortable enough to speak with strangers online before divulging such details themselves.
Understand the Power of Twitch Extensions
Twitch Extensions are little widgets that you can add to your Twitch channel. They can give your viewers information about your stream or allow them a way to interact with the stream. For example, one of my favorite extensions is the Donations+ extension, which will enable people to donate on-demand while they watch my stream.
Another awesome example is the Bits Chat Extension which lets people send bits from their viewers directly into their channel’s chatroom. There are many such extensions available with different features. You can research and choose extensions to help you with streaming and make the most of them.
Conclusion
Streaming games is an excellent career choice. According to an eSports and games streaming report, the video game streaming market, currently at $2.1 billion, is expected to reach $3.5 billion in 2025.
Streaming can be a fun and rewarding experience, but it takes a lot of work to get started. If you’re looking to start your channel and build it into something bigger, we hope these tips will help guide you along the way.