There are many ways to make money on the internet and game streaming is one good way.
Figuring out how to get going can be the toughest part of the process.
Twitch is the dominant presence in the market while another decent alternative is YouTube Gaming.
Below is a guide about how to get started on YouTube Gaming.
Get Your YouTube Gaming Channel Set-Up
The current iteration of YouTube Gaming is in an alternate tab in YouTube’s interface.
This means there is no need to download any new apps or anything of that nature to be able to stream content.
Simply having a YouTube account linked to a Google account will be all that is needed to get started.
One thing that you will need to do is verify your account. You will be given the option of entering the right code either with a text message or a phone call.
Once you have entered the code and your account is verified, you will then be able to upload videos that are longer than 15 minutes.
You also will be able to add thumbnails to these videos and make appeals to any Content ID claims if that comes up.
Get Your Broadcast Setup Properly
The next step that needs to be taken is to get the right software for a broadcast figured out.
The best option to do this is to use Streamlabs OBS since it is a seamless and very versatile tool when it comes to streaming games.
There is both a free and premium version, but the free version can handle most of the basics necessary to begin.
After installing Streamlabs OBS, you are then able to start making scenes.
In Streamlabs, a scene is an arrangement of sources which are broadcasted to your network.
You will want to create multiple scenes so there is no problem of having to rebuild a specific collection of sources each time you want to stream.
There is the ability to have one scene for the game you are playing, one for you hanging out and another if you have a link or fundraiser or something else to promote. This is similar to the way Discord also works.
One scene may include the game and a webcam while having frequent subscription alerts and other numbers and stats displayed on the screen at once.
The layer system Streamlabs uses allows you to place different things on top of on another while each can be moved and resized as needed. The way everything looks is certainly up to each person streaming.
There is also a Mixer section that will organize your audio in the videos. You will have the ability to access audio from the computer or any microphones you have.
These various audio outputs can also be tweaked according to the volume for each one. You don’t want to have over intrusive noise from all of the different audio outputs.
Streamlabs also has notifications for you while you are streaming and it includes widgets with notifications about new subscriptions, monetary donations or follows.
These also can include a noise that can be turned down so there are no constant interruptions.
Start Streaming Your Videos
After you have set up how you would like the scene to look, then it is the right time to start streaming live.
Streamlabs is able to broadcast your streams to YouTube Gaming, Facebook Gaming and last but not least Twitch.
Subscribing to Streamlabs Prime will toggle the ability to broadcast all of them at one time.
To get the stream started, simply click on the Go Live button at the bottom of the screen that is green.
There will be a few things you’ll be asked before the stream starts, including some general information about the stream.
YouTube Gaming will ask you to put the title of the stream and a description of it before you can get started. There is also the ability to add the stream to an event that already exists if there is one present.
There is also the ability to link a Twitter account to tweet to followers about the live stream if you’d like. This can be useful to notify those who don’t already get alerts via another platform.
After you fill out the basic info and officially are live, there will be a chat window on the right-hand portion of Streamlabs that pops out.
This window allows you to watch the chat as you stream and serve as a moderator for messages you don’t want in there.
It might be useful to set up a second monitor if you are really worried about this and that should minimize any problems in the chat.
How to earn money while streaming
YouTube Gaming works very similarly to how regular YouTube works when it comes to monetizing your content.
Your channel has to be signed up for the YouTube Partner Program which entails you have more than 1,000 subscribers along with a total of at least 4,000 watch hours in the previous year.
You will also need to pass a review from YouTube itself to be eligible for this program.
After you have been admitted to the Partner Program, you will be able to enable ads on your videos.
This includes ads that run before the stream starts, ads in the middle that interrupt the stream, and then ads that appear on those who view the stream’s screens as banners.
Gaming channels are also able to allow memberships to the channel, which gives you the ability to charge a monthly fee in exchange for specific perks you dish out.
Those who are non-gaming streamers need to hit 30,000 total subscribers to do this.
However, gaming videos do have a few restrictions when it comes to monetizing content.
There are specific game publishers who do not allow streamers to monetize from their games, particularly if the stream is really just gameplay.
There are a few things to do to make sure the content you are streaming is able to be monetized in order to avoid future headaches.
The first thing to do is make sure to add something to make the stream unique like a webcam or at least adding some form of audio commentary.
Ideally, the commentary is about what you are streaming but if you stray too far from gaming for too long you could possibly get demonetized.
It is also important that you don’t just play a game in silence, hence setting up some sort of audio commentary as you are going is useful.
The games you will want to play will have a valid broadcast license.
Simply performing a quick search is something that can help save you time and headache in case the publisher does not allow that content to be rebroadcasted.
All of these things are important to get started on YouTube Gaming and with these few pointers in mind, you’ll be ready to go in no time.
YouTube Gaming is an excellent and flexible alternative to Twitch and implements well with YouTube itself, so be sure to consider these things as you decide where you want your content to be located.
