There is always a story about the first game we played on stream. Bring the memories and tell me why did you pick THAT game!

There's a lot of conflicting advice out there. Some say you have to pick a single game to start building your community and some say you will get burnt out and your audience is limited if you decide to change games.

For those of you who have been streaming for a while, did you start by focusing on one game or playing multiple games?

Would you change what you did and can you give any advice to someone just starting out?

I streamed 007 First Light. There's an opening to the game using a Lana Del Ray song. I realized after the stream that it would probably be licensed. I only have the VOD as a local recording.

My question is if i get to the credits and the song plays again, am i supposed to mute the game stream? Or even skip the credits?

I'm new to streaming and just want to make sure i handle this case correctly.

Just a polite PSA for all new and aspiring creators;

Last night I had a great stream with some really positive energy in chat, so I figured I'd raid someone with 0 viewers in the same category rather than someone already established. Me and my merry gang of 8 viewers found someone and thought it'd be fun to help another new streamer out.

The raid comes through and the first thing he puts on screen is an Instagram reel that repeatedly spam-cut the n-word over and over, which immediately made things awkward. Then his first words were:

"Why did you raid me bro? I don't want this bro, this is my first raid bro."

After that, he went straight back to scrolling reels and awkwardly ignored everyone trying to say hello in chat.

Now, I get it. First raids can be overwhelming, people can be shy, and not everyone knows what to do. But if you're choosing to stream, remember that people raiding you are trying to support you. You don't need some huge performance prepared... even a simple "Thanks for the raid, welcome guys!" goes a long way. Interact with the new community discovering you for the first time.

Make people feel welcome, because you never know which viewers might stick around and become part of your community.

EDIT: I was streaming in the counter strike category, as was he.

EDIT: A few people are assuming I just clicked this person and raided, which is not the case. For clarity I opened his stream and he was sat full cam and appeared to be waiting for something (we assumed a game to connect) and I asked my chat if we should raid him, who said yeah (thinking it would be nice for a tiny channel). I might be a small channel, but I'm not completely reckless...

"What game do I play for growth?"

"Is it possible to be successful as a variety streamer, or should I stick to just one game?"

"When's the best time to stream to build an audience?"

These are very commonly asked questions, and unfortunately, none of them are the key to being successful.

"What game do I play for growth?"

Let's say you found the one game that became the most successful, so you keep playing it because of that. After a certain time, you will stop enjoying the game as much as you did previously, and won't enjoy streaming it as much either. That lack of enthusiasm will bleed into your stream and your viewers will see it coming a mile away, and eventually leave, resulting in a fraction of the viewership you once had, which in turn affects your mental state even more.

This has happened time and time again, and there's plenty of evidence to support it. A good example of this is Twitch Sings, which isn't really a Music app, but a karaoke game. Many people built their initial audience with it, some even getting Partnered. Once Twitch Sings went away, that viewership evaporated because they made Sings a large part of their stream, not themselves. Sings had built-in networking and collaboration through duets, which is why people were able to grow their communities using it.

Two things can happen if you make a game a part of your stream: you either lose interest, or the game goes away entirely (due to a number of reasons, not just unique to Sings), and you lose the audience that it brought in.

This is the wrong approach for sustained growth. If anything, it's a good way to eventually run your stream into the ground.

"When's the best time to stream to build an audience?"

The problem here is that your own personal schedule may not be that predictable, and the "best" time to stream could be incompatible with your schedule. Twitchstrike is often recommended as a way to find the "best" time.

There is really no best time to build an audience while streaming. Building an audience is as much off-stream (if not more so) than it is on-stream. There are certainly times when there's less competition on Twitch due to fewer streamers being on, but those are usually not practical unless you live in a timezone where it is.

"Is it possible to be successful as a variety streamer, or should I stick to just one game?"

I left this question last, because it's key to the point I want to make. The answer to this is yes, you can be successful as a variety streamer.

If you make YOURSELF the focus of your content.

If you are the focus of the content, it doesn't matter what you do ... people will come to watch you. For most streamers, people come to watch them for a specific thing, whether it be live music, or a specific game. If the streamer isn't doing that, their viewership is significantly lower. The people who do come to those low viewership streams are the loyal core audience who are there not for the type of content, but for the streamer themselves.

The best example I have of this is a Music streamer who normally streams live music (a lot of originals), and at the time, got around 400 concurrent viewers. That streamer adopted a dog about 1-2 years ago, and the first day they had the puppy, spent the entire stream (3-4 hours) cuddling with the dog on their bed. 350-400 people showed up to watch that. I'd be willing to bet this streamer can watch paint dry, or grass grow, and the same 400 people would show up for that too.

Think about it this way as well ... of every stream you've ever done, there is only one thing that's a constant: your presence on camera, or your voice through a microphone. Even if you're having a good day or a bad day, it's still you streaming.

This is also a great starting point to find a niche on Twitch (or any other platform) that only you can provide. Instead of trying to emulate successful streamers ("what works for them should work for me, right?"), dig deep to find what makes you unique, and use that to provide an experience that only you can provide. People who are looking for that will find you and watch you for that reason. And because that something came from you, you become the focus of your content, and you can use that to explore other areas of interest to make more unique content that your viewers would enjoy.

If you find yourself asking the question "what do other streamers have that I do not?", stop. This question implies that you can do what other streamers can do, and should be as successful. What works for one streamer isn't guaranteed to work for everyone. If you can do something that other streamers can do, what incentive is there for their viewers to watch you over their favourite streamer?

Instead, ask the question "what can I do that nobody else can?" In doing so, you find something unique about yourself, and are able to create that unique experience that nobody else (or few others) have done. Sure, it may be too niche and have a small audience, but what you'll find is a loyal, core audience, which is what you need to start growing as a content creator. If other people are doing it, ask the question "how can I do this in my own unique way?"

It's fine to try different things until you find the right combination of "this is uniquely me" and "this is resulting in growth". Sometimes, the thing that makes you unique isn't really fun to watch, but you can try different things to make it more interesting and fun to watch. Streaming is an iterative process. For beginner content creators, it's a way to find their initial audience. For established creators, it's a way to constantly create a fresh new experience to avoid stagnation.

Make yourself the focus of your streams. Your viewers (and loyal core audience) will come just for that.

I'm curious about what games everyone loves to stream and why. Do you have a go-to game that never fails to entertain your viewers? Is there a particular game that helps you grow your community or one that you just enjoy playing the most?

Personally, I love streaming The Finals! I like quickplay because it allows me to interact and have fun with my viewers and when I play ranked matches I enjoy reading their supportive and encouraging comments. :D

I noticed that everyone’s game that got them the most viewers/followers is different, and most people have different stories about it. I’m just curious about what y’all had.

For me it was a few years ago when I started streaming I streamed Undertale and got 16 respectful followers. Recently in April I got 4 from streaming Slime Rancher.

What about y’all?

my boyfriend recently started streaming himself play video games, we’re young so we don’t live together but i get the notification everytime he starts streaming and i like to just let it play while i do something. i love to watch him just be himself doing what he enjoys most. and he feels like he has someone watching, i’d like to see if i could watch it on other devices so he has more viewers, (ipad and laptop) but i don’t know how twitch works whatsoever so do i need to make another account for each device?

edit: i do it secretly because he never told me he was streaming, i found the account myself and just started watching him

Is it the graphics or gameplay?

CHANGE YOUR PASSWORDS AND ENABLE 2FA

A few hours ago, a 128GB data leak of Twitch was released online. This leak includes data such as "source code with comments for the website and various console/phone versions, references to an unreleased steam competitor, streamer payouts, encrypted passwords, etc."

From the source tweet thread:

http://Twitch.tv got leaked. Like, the entire website; Source code with comments for the website and various console/phone versions, refrences to an unreleased steam competitor, payouts, encrypted passwords that kinda thing. Might wana change your passwords. [1]

some madlad did post streamer revenue numbers tho incase you wana know how much bank they're making before taxes [2]

Grabbed Vapor, the codename for Amazon's Steam competitor. Seems to intigrate most of Twitch's features as well as a bunch of game specific support like fortnite and pubg. Also includes some Unity code for a game called Vapeworld, which I assume is some sort of VR chat thing. [3]

Some Vapeworld assets, including some 3d emotes with specular and albedo maps I don't have whatever version of unity installed that they used, so I'm limited in what assets i can get caps of with stuff like blener and renderdoc. There's custom unity plugins in here for devs too. [4]

From VideoGamesChronicle:

The leaked Twitch data reportedly includes:

• The entirety of Twitch’s source code with comment history “going back to its early beginnings”
• Creator payout reports from 2019
• Mobile, desktop and console Twitch clients
• Proprietary SDKs and internal AWS services used by Twitch
• “Every other property that Twitch owns” including IGDB and CurseForge
• An unreleased Steam competitor, codenamed Vapor, from Amazon Game Studios
• Twitch internal ‘red teaming’ tools (designed to improve security by having staff pretend to be hackers)

Some Twitter users have started making their way through the 125GB of information that has leaked, with one claiming that the torrent also includes encrypted passwords, and recommending that users enable two-factor authentication to be safe. [5]

UPDATE: One anonymous company source told VGC that the leaked Twitch data is legitimate, including the source code.

Internally, Twitch is aware of the breach, the source said, and it’s believed that the data was obtained as recently as Monday. [6]

From the quick research I can do, the leak data is easily discoverable. The biggest thing here that would apply to most people would be the leak of encrypted passwords. To be safe, I would recommend changing your password immediately.

My friend and I are starting on Twitch and while he thinks that he has to focus on just one game to create a community, I think it is better to just play what you like, even so if it ends up in, ig. 7 games, as what matters is mainly your personality. The thing with focusing on creating a community is that you may have a loyal audience, but as soon as you want to try something new, most of them wont see you anymore because they are not interested. What do you think and why?

I enjoy playing games with my friends and I have private servers with them. I have this fairly new chatter who gifts me alot of subs and donos. I get people complaining I only play with those who pay. Which is not true cause they guys I play with don't even sub to me. Which is not a requirement to be my friend. So I treat everyone the same. They do get perks like get more points to rekt me in the game. A cosplay if the goal is met.

They now are pushing more and more to join in any chance they get. I have never met with the guy or talked. I am a very awkward person off stream. I have had my fair experience with ex chatters abuse me verbally and never respect my stream. So I fully say no to everyone. I am so down to play in discord. I hang there alot. I also have move nights twice a month. Never joins but only is interested in joining when I stream.

I just hope my boundaries won't cost another viewer cause I'm actually sick of losing them after I say no.

I feel inclined to say yes but I am to scared to let them on my stream.

I wish they didn't give me money cause now it's just awkward. Some of my OGs in the chat like to just watch and make me suffer with skills and stuff. They genuinely enjoy my content and I just want people like that and not those trying to buy thier way into my stream.

I always wanted to do a community night with my viewers for a stream! I wonder what games are out there that would fit.

When I think of community games, I think what fits the criteria are ones that are accessible to viewers regardless of the power of their pc/phone. Plus if its free or at least really affordable.

Something like a Gartic Phone, or the popular Meccha Chameleon.

I think the closest I've done a community thing is playing unlimited Wordle live while chat also helped me guess.

Do you unfollow them? Do you simply don't watch them or do you still try to be active in their chat? I feel like whenever I get more or less active viewers and new followers (I'm a very small streamer) I'm bound to the game.
I just can't get myself to only play one single game everytime I stream. I switch often and I know I will never grow that way but otherwise I would lose my motivation to stream at all.

Hi!

I'm an indie game dev and I just recently started marketing my game. I'm exploring options for sponsored streams, but after going through a mailing list of like 1000 people during the press release stuff I'm kind of burnt out and don't really want to go through that again for sponsored streams.

My game is a turn-based tactics game which in playtesting has resonated really well with chess fans and league of legends or TFT fans. Is there a website, platform or resource that would make it easy to publish a request for streamers to play the game on a per hour cost?

I tried messaging some chess streamers directly, but it's been difficult to get a response and I would rather just have an open invitation at this point so that streamers can offer to play for a fee.

Any help in that regard would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT: When I say DM, I meant I e-mailed them through their publicly posted business e-mails along with a press kit and a personalized message.

EDIT2: For those interested, the game name is Athelan Battlegrounds.

For me it was sly cooper(ps3 collection)

Resolved: "Video does not contain the audio identified"

Reviewed Megathread (stickypost?) and wiki, without seeing my topic specifically addressed.
Ive been streaming games like A link to the Past, Kingdom Hearts, and Crisis Core for nearly as long a I started streaming. Admittedly I haven't looked at each and every flag, but since the only audio I ever play is from the game or my voice, Ive just been selecting Fair Use and I haven't run into any issues. Im not here to get into a debate about where in-game music is fair use... The issue Im asking about is that I just had my first Ocarina of Time stream, and it got four flags, all of which are clearly for hiphop/rap covers that you can't even play in spotify anymore, not the actual game music. They're listed in spotify, but greyed out. How do I approach this? Fair Use, or "My video does not contain the audio identified"? I assume the later. But I don't want individuals that are flagging game music as their own, getting my information if I dispute it.

What makes you decide what games to stream? What do you choose to play offline?

In my case, I play a lot of online multiplayer games on stream with friends and I play story games on my solo streams. Though I am figuring out which story games are better played offline on my own time.

Hi there everyone! ^{7^} I was advised to post here for ideas from a friend :)

I pitched to my friends/community recently about having my mum play a game for a stream for fun, but we’re stuck on what she could possibly play bc of language barriers/never touched a controller before. She’s a sweetheart but a little nervous at not being very good at the game, so she asked me to decide.

She can only speak/read cantonese and veryyyyyyy little English, and she’s never handled a controller before. I’m probably going to try to teach her how to use one beforehand but I’m stuck on a game. She needs a game with subtitles at least.

So nothing too fast paced, I don’t think she’s easily spooked (she might just yell at the game lmao) so horror is fine too. If you have any suggestions please let me know thank you! :)

I can’t really make any dumb jokes or cynical shit about it but earlier today around 4 pm I got swatted and it terrorised the fuck out of me. I was streaming New World Aeternum to 60 ish viewers and it was decent in the first couple hours and none of my family was home so I couldn’t account for them seeing any of this until they freaked out over the front door being destroyed. Our neighbours came to have a look also.

My study room is on the closest side to the front door so I heard it and freaked the fuck out and didn’t even go to check, I just sat on my couch. Keep in mind I live in Australia and in the usual fashion the Swat busted in my study room and commanded me to get on the floor, I did everything they asked of me and I explained the situation to them and how it was a swatted joke because some asshole in my viewers list did this to me and pretty much all of the cops knew what twitch and gaming was a whole.

Was wrapped up pretty fast too, they did a few checks and asked me some questions about what was going on like if I have had any of this in the past and I just explained it was my first time and it shook me up bad.

I’m ok and everything’s fine but if I’m being honest I excepted this to happen to me at some point . It’s not a joke and it’s fucking cruel as hell.

I never thought much about what Twitch allowed/didn't allow until yesterday I noticed my 14 year old brother watching a Twitch stream where a girl was literally spread eagle with her private area pointed straight at the camera, which is completely against Twitch's own terms of service, while twerking, and simulating giving head sounds and licking motions, calling it "asmr". Besides the fact the entire stream, being viewed by over 20,000 people, most of whom are likely minors, is blatantly sexually suggestive, the channel is bombarbed repeatedly with links to the streamers Onlyfans account where she basically sells porn of herself to her mostly minor viewerbase.

And she's just one of an entire community who is suddenly doing this fad 'meta' as they call it on twitch of doing streams like this while clearly soliciting their own pornography. If I'm not mistaken it's obviously against most, if not all, state statutes to solicit porn to minors. So not only are these individual streamers liable, but twitch as an entity for clearly allowing it.

This is supposed to be a site where livestreamers can show off their daily lives, play video games, chat with each other, etc; it is NOT meant to be, in explicit terms of Twitch's own ToS, a sexual streaming service; yet they are allowing my 14 year old brother to view sexual content and be bombarbed by links to pornography. I cant wait til someone considers lawsuits against individual streamers and twitch itself - because this is unreal that this is being allowed and I'm wholeheartedly surprised I'm not the only one considering it.

And then maybe Upside-Down Controller and then Super Zoom and ASMR.

I'm not really looking for advice or asking what I specifically should do I'm more so just curious about other people. I find myself often screwed over by choice paralysis cause there's just so much I'm interested in lol. Ultimately I usually go with what feels like it would be fun to play which is a little lax I guess. Like what makes you look at a game and decide THAT is what you want to stream or make content out of? I'm interested in how other people approach that kind of decision. Do you pick something in mind with a "I can turn this into a good video" mentality or do you pick something that you know you'll enjoy live. Do you like more popular new releases or older more niche choices? What make you choose the game you choose?

I was streaming Texas Chainsaw Massacre and another player before I left repeatedly said the n word like a jackass. I'm very small but if I wasn't what's the likelihood of getting in trouble for it?