One of the biggest decisions a streamer is faced with is what game to stream. With so many personal favorites, cool indie games and popular MMOs, the choices seem to be endless.
Streamers can find success in any game, but when you first start it can be hard to find one that fits your style and also gives you the chance to be discovered. Carefully choosing which game and what categories your stream exists in will make or break your Twitch streaming career before it even gets started.
Be Wary of the Top Games
The games on the top of Twitch's categories are there for a reason. They're super popular at the moment. Games such as League of Legends, Counterstrike, Fortnite and Minecraft are titles you will find at the top any time of the day. Choosing one of these games for your first few streams may leave a bad taste in your mouth.
If Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered has over 250,000 viewers and 7,000 channels live, your chances of being discovered in a random draw would be 0.00014%. With titles like these, you'll be scrolling through a lot of pages before you can even find a stream with under 100 viewers. Chances are, for your first few times live, you'll be one of the thousands streaming with under five viewers. If you absolutely love the game, don't let the numbers scare you away from playing them. You will still have people who tune in to those streams, but your chances for growth are stunted.
Get on the Hype Train
The release of a new category, game or update is a great chance to jump on and stream. There's hype surrounding new releases, even for people who are unfamiliar with the title. A category that's been very hot this past year is ASMR. It's not a video game, but it's a perfect example of content in high demand. High demand means there are a lot of people looking for it, and not as many channels streaming it. Your best bet is to pick a category that has between 2,000 to 7,000 viewers. The ASMR category usually sits around 5,000 viewers and 100 live channels at any time, meaning you are over 70 percent more likely to be discovered here than you would be streaming Modern Warfare.
Streaming games with fewer viewers can be good to find loyal viewers who will continue to come back to watch you play, and you also have a higher chance of being raided by a bigger streamer. Be careful picking a category with less than 2,000 viewers as sometimes these categories are boosted because there is one popular streamer with 1,800 viewers and a handful of other channels live with under 10 viewers. When this happens, loyal viewers are unlikely to switch over to your stream. On the other hand, if the popular streamer decides to raid a channel currently live in the same category, you may find yourself streaming to their hundreds of viewers. At this point, it's up to you to keep the people entertained and wanting more.
Game Play That Makes an Impact
It's hard to say if any game can impact your stream, but your gameplay can. No matter what category you're streaming in, you will want to make your stream is interesting, engaging and fun to keep viewers around and also be discovered by new ones. Viewers are more likely to stick around if they are getting something out of your stream. It may be a fun conversation, tips, and tricks for the game or even fun facts about the storyline and development. Keep in mind what will make your stream stand out from the rest. Highlight your personal quirks or the attributes you share around your friends for a genuine, fun-for-all stream.
When it comes to popular games, gameplay becomes repetitive for both viewers and streamers. Give your stream the edge over others in the category by making self-goals or achievements for yourself while playing. This gives the viewers something to cheer you on for, while also wanting to stick around to see it through. Examples of these side quests you create for yourself could be trying to speed run your game, attempting to make as many friends as you can with enemies in an online battle royal match, or even seeing how many cabbages you can collect in your inventory just to drop them off a cliff.
When it all boils down, there is no best or worst game to stream the first time you go live. Each game allows you to reach a larger audience and also to meet other cool streamers. If you're still unsure of how to go about it, watch a variety of streams with different viewer counts in the category you are interested in. This means channels at the top with thousands of viewers, channels with a few hundred viewers, and also ones with viewers in the double digits. See how they are going about beating the curve, playing the game and interacting with their viewers. Take notes, make them your own and incorporate them into your stream. When it comes to streaming, practice makes perfect and with time and consistency comes growth.