How to Stream on Twitch: The Definitive Guide to Twitch Live Streaming
Ever had an interest in streaming gameplay live but don’t know how to start? We are here to help. With the technology at your fingertips, you can enjoy a steady income and establish an excellent career for yourself just by live streaming your favorite games. Live streaming has exploded in the last few years, and it’s a fun hobby that can be quite rewarding on its own.
If you are a prolific content creator or an avid gamer, the chances are that you have already heard about Twitch. The Amazon-owned live streaming platform is the perfect destination to stream and share gameplay with the world.
Whether you want to stream gameplay just to your closed community or want to try your hand at building a large community spread across the globe, this guide will outline everything you need to get started with Twitch streaming including how to go live on Twitch, and hopefully, succeed.
What is Twitch
Started in 2011, Twitch is a real-time streaming site primarily focusing on gamers. Since then, it has boasted millions of users, with over 2.5 million average viewership at any given moment. While Game streamers dominate Twitch, the platforms allow users who are interested in lifestyle, food, music, political debates to stream their content. The length of live streams can be anywhere between a minute to 8 hours and more.
Over 7 million + unique creators use the Twitch platform to stream to their community. Users can follow the channels of their favorite streaming and receive activity updates and notifications. Since its launch, Twitch has teamed up with gaming organizations like Over Watch League and Blizzard entertainment to host games and sports events across the world excessively in the platform.
How does Twitch work?
If you are interested in using Twitch, you must be eager to know how to live stream on Twitch. Before going into that, let’s look into how Twitch works. Twitch is a streaming and viewing platform where gamers can live stream themselves playing games along with commentary. An internal chat system keeps them connected with their audience. The platform allows users to buy games using the links streamers integrate in their content. Streamers receive sales commissions from the same and can also make money using affiliate partnerships.
While watching Twitch streams, users can comment, ask their doubts and receive answers in real time depending on the channel. Twitch also allows saving streams; users can watch gameplays or shows streamed earlier. The platform has both iOS and Android apps, which is a user-friendly feature facilitating users to get the same content across all channels.
Twitch offers membership plans for users who want to invest in the platform to receive better options starting from 4 dollars. Subscriptions equip users to support their favorite streaming and enjoy an ad-free viewing experience along with other perks like chat badges and emotes. Emotes are emoji’s that users can purchase to show support for their favorite streamers, whereas chat badges help to identify the users, including both regular and VIP users. Badges can also be purchased to show support for specific streamers.
Twitch also offers a different type of membership plan called Twitch Prime which must be manually reviewed every month. It allows users to get access to unique gaming content and additional games with a bonus subscription each month without an additional cost, single-member chat, more storage, and a lot more.
Live stream game setup: What all do you need
Now that you know about Twitch streaming, are you wondering how to go live on Twitch? The most common question most streamers ask themselves is: What do I need to stream on Twitch? The live streaming setup you need to stream videos greatly depends on the platform you choose. Let’s look into the Twitch streaming setup; you need to live stream on the platform to understand the process.
Twitch account
It might go without saying, you will need to create an account to go live on Twitch. The signup process is simple, and it takes just a few minutes.
Click sign up and fill out the required information. Select a username, password, your birth date, and email address. You might have to activate the two-factor authentication for additional security, which sends a one-time password via text message to ensure it’s you who is logging in.
A stable internet connection
To live stream games, a desktop or laptop with a decent CPU and a good internet connection with an upload speed of 3mb/s-5mb/s is preferable to create a stable 720p at 30fps stream. The more bandwidth available, the more it allows you to stream up to 1080p at 60fps.
Hardware and live streaming software setup
It is a misconception that you have to spend a fortune on streaming accessories like Webcams, microphones, and other expensive gear to start streaming on Twitch. However, you need a device that can stream- It doesn’t have to be expensive. You can stream from your PC or even your smartphone, provided that the devices have the right technical specifications. If you are choosing to stream from a PC, you will need a strong graphics card to deliver the best streaming performance.
If you are a passionate gamer who wants to make a steady income from live streaming games, a PC, Switch, PS4, or Xbox can be the best option to begin with.
If you opt for streaming from a switch, it doesn’t have an integrated video streaming software, and you will need a capture device in addition to stream. Devices like Elgato HD60 will work in capturing audio and video from your Switch. It then inputs this to your PC to broadcast games. You can use OBS, which allows you to add overlays and graphics to your stream.
Broadcasting software
If you are streaming from the PC, you must use a third-party streaming software like Open Broadcasting Software (OBS). There is different broadcasting software available in the market; each of them showcases different levels of functionality. OBS is a free tool that is generally considered simple for beginner streamers but has limited customization options in the free option.
Here are some software suggestions if you are looking for how to stream on Twitch, recommended by Twitch itself.
Content
Whether you are planning to stream video games or just chatting around with your community, you need some sort of great content to stream. When choosing games, pay more attention to selecting the type of games your audience wants to indulge in. A piece of specific advice will be to choose the games that you are familiar with. If you have excellent knowledge and skills for a particular game, you will see a drastic improvement in the number of views. You can also decide whether to focus on a single game or like to be categorized as a variety game streamer. These tips suit any type of content you want to stream, not just games. For each live stream, it is critical to choose what to stream and make sure you have the resources ready- whether that’s purchasing a copy of the game you want to stream or purchase the ingredients required for a cooking show.
Twitch alternatives
Twitch platform is primarily for streaming games, eSports, and music. Although many other niches are there, these are prominent ones. If you want to stream content in another niche or your target audience is not in Twitch, you might want to consider Twitch alternatives.
Let’s explore some of the popular Twitch alternatives for streaming in broad niches.
YouTube Live
YouTube is one among the most used and popular video streaming platforms. However YouTube is not like Twitch as it focuses mainly on demand content but it has dedicated gaming streaming. Also, YouTube is very strict with its guideline, and users who don’t comply would be banned from using live streaming.
Instagram Live
Instagram is a social media app that beginner as an image-sharing platform and evolved to a video focused platform. Instagram allows its users to go live on the platform and upload pre-recorded videos. The live streaming functionality of Instagram is simple and easy to use as it does not require a separate software. However, it does not support screen sharing which might be a turn off to game streamers.
Facebook Live
Popular among all the social media apps that support live streaming, Facebook allows users to host real-time streams on personal and business pages. However, live streaming is certainly a secondary tool in the platform.
A professional live streaming website
If you are looking for a Twitch alternative, the best choice is to create your live streaming like which gives streamers more control over the content and monetization. When you stream on Twitch Twitch or any other live streaming platform, you actually agree to third-party ownership, which is not great in all situations.
While you can stream from these platforms when you begin with, if you are serious about taking up a gaming career, it is recommended to seek a professional way to broadcast live content. Take advantage of live game streaming by building your own website to cite the benefits of reaching broader audiences and generating more revenue. By pricing your services at a level that is lucrative for you and attractive to your audience, you can earn a lot from a professional-grade streaming platform.
In the conclusion
Twitch is a great live streaming platform, especially for both novice and expert game streamers. There are many options for setting up a Twitch stream.
As the platform is compatible with different types of devices and consoles. If you are looking for an advanced streaming solution, you must consider creating a live streaming platform that suits your business requirements and aligns with your goals.
