Do you want to play your favorite games and earn money at the same time? We got you covered - start your gaming career with this quick but resourceful guide with 4 steps.


Step 1: Buy The Right Equipment
Before you get to make money, you should invest some - it is the rule of business. Here is what you should invest in to start your career properly:
● Good gaming PC: the streaming PC should be able to handle new games at good resolution with no delays, meaning high-quality GPU and CPU
● The camera should capture the content in good resolution
● Mic for streaming should enable creation of high-quality noise-free audio
● Lightning and green screen are needed if you want to hide the background

Before choosing the equipment, make sure to compare different brands and read detailed reviews in order to make a well-informed decision.

Step 2: Gain Crucial Skills and Equipment
Unfortunately, the skill of playing games is not enough for a game streamer. You should also learn how to edit videos, pictures, and sound, manage the community of viewers, tell interesting stories and comment on your playing activity in an engaging way, as well as be consistent with your content production and know how to market your channel.

Consequently, you should also get a hang of the following software:
● Tools to make screen record on Mac or on Windows: Camtasia, Movavi Screen Recorder, Screencast-O-Matic
● Video editors: Openshot, Davinci Resolve, Filmora
● Sound editors: Adobe Audition, Ableton Live, Audacity
● Live-streaming software: OBS Studio, Streamlabs OBS, LightStream

There are some companies that produce game streaming software which is a collection of all of these tools at once (except for social media management). However, they are sometimes costly and are not as high-quality as separate tools.

Step 3: Choose Your Platform
The industry offers a lot of hubs for live streamers to choose from. There is no solution that suits everyone so rather than pointing at the perfect solution, we would like to give you a guide on how to decide for yourself.

Look at Your Niche
Obviously, some platforms are multifunctional, but there are specific ones: some are preferred by mobile gamers only, others were created for kids, and there are ones that are accessible only in certain countries.
Therefore, you should define what kind of games you play and for what audience to narrow down the choice.

Write Down Your Goals
Do you want to be a major streamer, and you are ready to work for it for several years or do you just want to occasionally stream some videos? The answer to that question matters since you are likely to get zero views on Twitch with the second goal in mind, and you are unlikely to reach the first one on a small platform.

Evaluate Your Technical Knowledge
Obviously, if you want to do game streaming very professionally, you will have to learn about big platforms and how they function. However, if it is more of a hobby, you might not want to spend a month trying to figure out the tech problems.

Review Platform's Revenue Policies
Some platforms do not allow direct donations while paying a part of the ad revenue while others allow direct donations only and have no creator's fund. On some platforms, both are allowed. Therefore, make sure that you know what you are comfortable with and whether the platform of choice allows it.
You can start your search from the most popular platforms though. It includes Twitch, Smashcast.TV, D-Live, Steam, and others.

Step 4: Tell The World About Your Game Streaming Channel
Game streamers have to be people of many professions to be successful: they have to play, entertain, edit, and market. You can hire people to take over some responsibilities after you get steady revenue, but you have to start by yourself at the beginning.
You may be the greatest streamer of all time but what does it matter if nobody notices you. Stream promotion is as important as delivering good content. Let's take a look at marketing 101 to get you started.

Get Active on Social Media
Social media has long become a great media marketing tool. It is easier to get noticed there by asking friends to share your work, following other people, using hashtags, commenting, and using cheap ads. You can offer backstage photos, start discussions in Twitter threads or game reviews on Facebook groups, or get exclusive sneak peeks before the posting.

Collaborate with Other Streamers
It is unlikely that you will collaborate with PewDiePie as soon as you publish your first video. However, it does help a lot to do collaborations even with the smallest streamers to help each other out and discover new audiences.

Make Giveaways
There is probably not a single person who does not like to win free stuff so giveaways always get some attention. Make sure to choose good streaming merch and run some supporting ads on social media as well.

Actively Engage With Viewers in Comments and Communities
Viewers like being noticed, and they are more likely to engage with creators who know about them. It makes them feel special. Therefore, invest some time into creating real communities and communicating with them.

Conclusion
Game streaming is an exciting career, but it does require some preparation. You have to get some equipment as well as new skills to be able to launch successfully.

At the same time, if you manage to jumpstart your career, you will be able to do what you love and what you are passionate about. It is a great privilege today that is worth pursuing.