Category: Content Creation

It’s a basic human instinct to have an urge to share information and spread them among your contacts.

Human beings were utterly weak and fragile when placed upon the infinite horizons of mother nature. In order for them to survive was to gather in groups to empower the strength in numbers. For numerous amount of human beings to be considered a ‘group’ had certain conditions before hand. They required a common ground method of communication. So eventually the people of Earth had attained a survival skill set known among humans as ‘language’. What’s so great about communicating through a common language is that it does not require any assistance of using tools or equipment.

To this day, people of Earth speak in different languages but a large ‘group’ of people would speak the same language, whether it divides the groups as nations or culture, surely more than one other human being other than yourself would be speaking your language today. In the current age of technology, humans taught themselves how to use electricity, computers and the internet. Many humans to this day are now learning the new method of communication using the internet by utilizing the evergreen lingual skills that they were educated with while growing up.

While the telephony technology solely relied of the vocals of people, video broadcasting and streaming will rely on both the verbal and visual method of communication, all while the person in front of the camera being able to communicate in real time by reading written chat logs of their viewers.

Now there is a challenge for those who are streaming video games. Have you ever tried to speak without being distracted while concentrating on the game you’re currently playing? In theory, this doesn’t sound too difficult, but it will become a paradox similar to when a musician tries to sing and play a musical instrument at the same time, for the first time.

With many online games requiring you to team up with other people in the internet, you would be familiar with services such as Discord, which is an evolved format of the internet’s vocal communication between players since the days of Ventrilo or Team Speak, you were naturally able to talk to other people in your team.

You would have assigned roles for the second phase of the boss requiring an off-tank to take care of adds and telling the DPS to manage their aggro, signaling your teammates for ganking an enemy player through the bush above the mid-lane and even alerting your friends that you’ve heard an enemy footstep and based on your 3D sound environment, you would call out that the enemy is in South West direction and is within 100 meters in range.

In the early days of World of Warcraft, you had to group up with 39 other people to take down bosses

So think about it, talking while playing your favorite game wouldn’t be that hard while streaming right? But once you’re put on the spotlight, things can get very awkward.

Majority of this would be because you didn’t have the time to prepare to research about a game that was recommended by others or when you’re playing the game solo, you may not need anyone’s help, nor would anyone request for your help. There are range of games that requires to you think quickly in turn of events or would require you to read the entire dialog to be able to learn about the game’s lore and controls. Sometimes it would take you longer to explain the background of the game’s story to your viewers, before you would open the door to get to the next level. You would be concerned that if you didn’t read the entire book’s worth of story, your viewers would be spoiled of what would happen in the end.

So which games would be efficient at both talking and playing? Fortunately, there are various games out there that does not require the viewers to understand its lore before viewing what you’re playing. Trading card games would be a good example. Games such as Hearthstone and Magic: The Gathering would be somewhat straightforward and platforms like Twitch even allows certain extensions that would allow the viewers to see more information that may not all be displayed on the screen.

To be able to give yourself tim to speak while simultaneously focusing on the game, you would also have to consider the pace of the game itself. Allowing yourself to give some resting periods in order to talk to your viewers within a single session of the game would be the golden opportunity for you to also regroup and focus on the next strategy. Games such as Dota 2, League of Legends, PUBG and Fortnite is a great example in this. There’s going to be multiple times when you’re leveling up your character before going into a big fight which the streamers use those opportunities to explain what their strategy is going to be to the viewers.

There are game that show the utmost and honest emotions of the streamers. Viewers can also understand and agree to a certain degree even before the streamer would start talking. This is when the streamer is situated in a dangerous scenario which has a high chance of going to the ‘game over’ screen, or would have to restart the progress all the way from the beginning. The genre that fits this description best is ‘beat’em ups’ or ‘fighting games’. Games such as Street Fighter V, Tekken 7, Granblue Fantasy Versus, Dragonball Fighterz are some of the most popular fighting games today. With a direct visual of the game characters’ health bar, viewers can tell whether the streamer is going to be happy, upset, focused or full on tournament mode.

Only a fraction of the entirety of the arcade stick population were harmed during some fighting game streams

Ultimately, there is a standout game which became a genre on its own, which is the Darksouls series and other similar style of games. Most of the scenarios that were demonstrated above can apply to this type of game where you (and your viewers) go on lengthy hours of expedition.

In conclusion, the human voice is essential for most method of communication and it revolutionized the way other humans would behave with the minimal amount of effort and energy required. This will apply the same for gaming streams and their streamers. It will certainly be a difficult task to form a community with just you playing games and talking in the beginning. I urge all gaming streamers to show your true feelings toward the viewers and the viewers will reward you with much needed appreciation and acknowledgement. The viewers don’t just follow because of who you are or what you sound like, they will reward you for opening up your true character and welcoming them to your digital doorstep.

Be confident and let your voice be heard!

In the current age of online gaming and esports, you cannot ignore the influence of ‘the most popular games’ of today.

To be acknowledged as part of a popular game, it has to be well known among most groups within our society, regardless of age and region. Of course, the game itself has to be easy to approach, mild in complexity and most importantly, fun.

In the history of all game development, you cannot justify all of the games which failed to keep up with its userbase as ‘bad games’. But it’s clear that all the bad games would eventually fail to keep up with anything.

As of writing this article, the most popular games with all aspects noted above can be narrowed down to a number you can count on your hand. One of them which succeeded to remain on the top is League of Legends aka LOL. Nowadays, it is very easy to expect when someone mentions that they’ll become a game streamer, most likely they’ll be playing LOL.

One critical matter about streaming LOL is that people often fall under the illusion which, by streaming, the popular game at the time would also help increase their followers.

No matter which streaming platform you may choose to be on, playing the most popular game naturally means that it is already a red ocean and the competition within the market is overflowing. Twitch is a well-known streaming platform to host many LOL streamers around the world. The variety of LOL streamers are usually either really good at the game, or just casually playing to kill time.

Just to rephrase, if you’re going to stream LOL today, you’ll have almost zero chance of getting any viewers at all.

So what will you do to draw attention and viewers to your stream? There are infinite ways to stream gaming content on the internet. For this one time, we’re going to ignore the technicalities and knowhows but focusing on the quality of the contents and personalities. While it’s not easy, but some LOL streamers have found ways to get more viewers by just playing the game, without having to advertise or promote their channel.

The viewers somehow get drawn into their un-human like controls and movements. Some viewers also want to mimic their gameplay as much as they can. Some actually want to become like them as their goal in life. These streamers can use magical abilities where each stroke and click of their mouse seems majestic and inspirational to their viewers.

They have proven that by playing their favorite game, they create value and meanings to many people out there. Of course, they didn’t just magically become like that in the first place. They have studied the game than most other people and have found ways to play these games in the most efficient manner.

We call them Pro-Gamers.

If you’ve been following the LOL scene for a while, you will be familiar with some of the players’ names such as MadLife from CJ Entus, Ambition from Blaze and of course, Ruler of Gen.g and Faker of SKT T1.

As of March 2020, Faker’s Twitch follower numbers go well over 2.2 Million. This number is way higher than some of the most influential streamers’ follower numbers combined. Becoming a pro-gamer may help and boost them to be equipped to become a top streamer, but just to become a pro-gamer to eventually aim for becoming a top streamer isn’t the most effective path to take.

The time and effort that goes into becoming the world’s best pro-gamer itself is never an easy task that anyone could dare to risk and sacrifice their current lifestyle for.

Can you have the best aim and control of Blitzcrank like MadLife? Try to even mimic the controls of Ambition’s Jarvan IV? Dare to compare yourself to Faker’s Leblanc?

Would you even come close to shadow any of their experiences and practice to your amount of time you’ve allocated for LOL? Think about it realistically and almost all of you would realize that you’ve had a late start, to begin with.

So does that mean that all top LOL streamers are pro-gamers? Think about the question for a minute and you’ll know that it’s an easy question to answer. So how do those non-pro-gamers make it to the top of the streamer grid?

Like I mentioned at the start, there are infinite methods of streaming games. Just like the stars of the night sky, there are so many ‘good’ streamers on the internet. There are those who honed the skills to draw viewers to their stream without having to be good at the game. These chosen few have rightfully categorized them in the line of ‘Entertainers’.

It may sound a bit unrealistic, but there is a popular phrase called ‘Just do it’.

The complexity of the competition to become one of the top streamers isn’t really organized in a textbook fashion, which is why everyone starts with uneven balance, different backgrounds, culture, region, and language but somehow, some way, they get there. It could be a creative way of playing games, or even really really bad at the game, or it could be something not even related to League of Legends at all.

They all share a common aspect at least, which is that they’re comfortable with entertaining their viewers by being funny and never-ending audio through their microphones. They’ve shared the most extrovert aspect of communication is the most introvert culture of content creation on the internet, which is streaming.

Achieving this feat is not to be compared from those who are pro-gamers becoming top streamers as they’re equally difficult and require much-needed training to make it their second nature.

Be mindful that the viewers will surely see some comedy content from these not-so-good-at-games streamers, but the emotions that these streamers get from losing in lanes or getting ganked in League of Legends is very real. By delivering these genuine reactions to the viewers could be the reason why they appreciate the streamer by their personality, not by their skills in games.

In conclusion, there are so many genres in games, so as the variety in streaming content. Find your own method to stream and check if what you’re planning is something that you like doing, to begin with. Make sure you’re enjoying your own streaming session and the viewers will appreciate your true nature.

About the author:
BurnoutFighter is an esports all-rounder with over 10 years of experience in production, event planning, and tournament organization. He is an active tournament competitor in major events such as Evo, Sea Major, Combo Breaker, CEO and many more around the world.

Join us for an industry roundtable where we ask leading indie publishers -Devolver Digital, Annapurna Interactive, Versus Evil, and Raw Fury games; for their advice for up and coming streamers looking to collaborate with them.

With the introduction of platforms like Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG and Humble as well as digital distribution on consoles thanks to PSN, the Nintendo eShop, and XBOX store. It has never been easier to dive into titles made by smaller teams, from across the globe, developed independently from larger publishers.

Over the years, there have been some legendary breakout titles. Many of these were guided to release by indie publishers with a specialty in curating and promoting many of these beloved titles through development all the way up to release. Which more often than not includes collaboration with streamers and content creators.

With that in mind, we set out to speak to a few of the most prolific indie hitmakers. To better understand what they look for when collaborating with streamers. Whether throughout development such as when a game is in early access. Or when they are approached for early copies of games ahead of public release.

So if you are a streamer and are looking to reach out to an indie game publisher, what are some essential tips they can offer when planning that initial outreach?

Publisher: Raw Fury 

Known for: Bad North, GoNNER, Atomicrops, Dandara, Night Call
David Martinez: “When working with a streamer or content creator, we’re looking for consistency. Does this channel post content or stream regularly? Do they have a dedicated audience and viewership? It’s not about how large their following is, it’s more about if they’re putting in the time and dedication to building their community. Since we are ultimately trying to reach that community.”

Publisher: Versus Evil

Known for: The Banner Saga series, Pillars of Eternity series, Guild of Dungeoneering
Lance James: “At Versus Evil, we generally look for a good fit for our games above all else. To ensure that the content creator plays content that is familiar to them and their audience. Ideally, this comes in as a natural fit and both the content creator and the game mesh well together. We get a content creator who knows the genre and the audience gets more content that they enjoy and expect.”

Publisher: Devolver Digital

Known for: Hotline Miami, Enter The Gungeon, Broforce, My Friend Pedro, Downwell
Nigel Lowrie: “I’d say what strikes me most is that feeling of being ‘genuine’ is important – however that manifests itself. They feel like it’s them out there, sharing what they love, and not performing to an audience that they are disconnected from.”

Publisher: Anna Purna Interactive

Known for: Sayonara Wild Hearts, The Outer Wilds, Donut County, What Remains of Edith Finch
Jeff Legaspi: ”When folks reach out, we look for a level of interest and authenticity with their request and in follow up conversations. As we appreciate folks that are passionate about creating content with our games. It helps when we get a cold request that isn’t in a template. Especially if they’ve created content for some of our previous games that they link to. Finally, we appreciate folks that take the time to chat with us at conventions. And continue to follow up on the conversation afterward! It never hurts to do that and leave your contact information so we can get back to them later.”

Whether you’re looking into widening your content focus beyond the Twitch Top 20 or looking to formalize your brand into a business. Building positive relations with publishers is an essential step to getting your channel taken seriously. Indie games are a celebration of artistry, creativity and of a DIY culture that mirrors streaming itself. There are game titles that explode in popularity. Many thanks to streamers playing the game that gained minimal coverage by the traditional press. So what are you waiting for? 

Having seen American Psycho years ago what I, like you, mostly recall from it is two-fold; that when Huey Lewis and The News put out Sports in 1983, they really came into their own and, that Paul Allen has a very nice business card.

They all have very nice business cards, something that our titular character should have understood in that scene. Nonetheless, it highlights the importance of business cards. I think the film might be about something else but we’re focusing on business cards here, so let’s move on.

Business cards are incredibly important for streamers if you’re looking to network at events. To make new connections at meet-ups, or you’re looking to talk to potential sponsors. A lot of people seem to be under the impression that you can just get people to follow you on social media and that’ll be just fine. I say this because, for a short while, I thought this was a good idea. So don’t worry I’m not judging you, I’m here to impart Knowledge Wisdoms. 

Why Business Cards still beat Twitter

So, the first problem with this, chances are, the person you’re talking to has just asked you for a business card and you have to fumble over a reason why you don’t have one. I know I could never think of a good one and ended up saying “Oh I just ran out” knowing full well that I never had any and to quote Saw Gerrera “Lies! Deceptions!”. 

Secondly, and the worst part, you’re not really giving them a choice. I’ve seen people say “okay so open twitter, search for me…yep..that’s me..okay give me a follow…yep…now I’m following you back..cool.” Maybe Brenda from Big Tech Firm didn’t want to follow you? Maybe their twitter is a personal thing? You just made a weird situation where they had to do it! Avoid doing this! But fear not, this is where your friend Business Card comes in!

Handing over a business card not only makes you feel slick (remember American Psycho, as established, a film about business cards) but you’re letting them choose what to do next!

“Reach out if you need anything” or “It would be great to talk some time”.

You’re giving them the choice is WAY better than the situation mentioned above. So now we’ve established why a business card is important what information should yours have on it? Well, I’m glad you asked.

Essential Info To Add To Your Business Card

Keep your business card simple! Don’t fill it with information that is not needed. Think to yourself, what would somebody I want to work with need to know? Chances are:

Name
Things You Do Sum Up Simply
“Content Creator” “Streamer” “Community Specialist”
Email
Primary Social Media Account
(Keeping this professional is important, but that’s another article for another day)

You need your name, because, well, I mean, I could go into the pros and cons of having an identifying symbol to distinguish yourself from the billions of other humans easily when you’re not in the room but that’d drag this article out a bit. You can put whatever name you like here, your Twitch name is fine if it’s what people know you by.

Remember kids, a name is a choice and you can call yourself whatever you want.

An email is the best way for people to reach somebody but make sure this email address looks relatively professional. I know you have held onto PS2sux@hotmail for years. Ideally, you’re looking for name@whateverprovider to complete the “I’m a professional” look we’ve been aiming for. Finally, your primary social media account. This needn’t be the one with the most followers, but the one you update regularly and have kept consistent with your brand. Because when I said professional above I didn’t mean keeping it bland. If your personal brand is fun and full of memes, go for it! Just know that in 2020, companies will look at your online footprint. And leading with it on a business card and keeping things consistent online is a good look. 

Make your business card an extension of your brand

The artwork is a good way to help your card stand out, but not everyone can do amazing stuff or get it commissioned. A card without artwork is also fine, while it might not stand out as a super cool card, hopefully, the impression you left with someone will be more than enough!

As a side tip, you can write something funny on the back of the business card. It can make it stand out just as much as cool artwork would. I got a business card from someone who worked in education and on the back of the card there was an interesting fact! I can still remember that card and that person, which is half the point of a card! It was on brand and stood out! Perfect!  

So, what things should you avoid? Firstly, keep it the same size/shape as everyone else’s business cards. It might seem like a good idea to get creative and make a business card that’s shaped like an origami crane. (Okay, that would be really cool). Chances are the person you give it to will either want to put it in their business card holder or a wallet and go through them after the event you’re at.

A weird shape is just going to get either crushed up or left behind because they had nowhere to put it.

Make sure it’s on relatively thick card stock, pretty much for the same reason. It’s much cheaper to print off your own business cards on paper at home. But, it’s going to get crumpled up and might not leave a good impression. Using somewhere like moo.com gives you a range of business card types and in our experience has always been good quality but there are plenty of alternatives out there!

Also, as a final parting tip, consider who you’re giving these to and where you’re leaving them. Not only are they not cheap to produce so you don’t want to throw them around. I’ve seen people leave business cards on tables in social areas at conventions.

Sure, this might seem like quick marketing to all the people who go by but did you really want just anyone having your contact details? (Really, I recall seeing business cards left by a streamer around the chill-out area at PAX which first of all, litter!

Secondly, random people have your phone number, anyone that might work there, and be annoyed that you have left litter everywhere! Don’t litter!)

With these tips I hope you see the value in business cards, which ultimately was the main message of the Christian Bale 2000 movie American Business Card, I think. Honestly, it’s been a while since I’ve watched it.

When you have your business cards, it’s important to learn a little about how to network at events. Take a look at our mini-doc we made that runs through some tips from the XSplit Community, and let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Streamers, they’re all over the place these days. But what sets them apart from other content creators who do gaming and other streaming content on the internet?

Let’s have a real talk about people on the internet these days. Some people, for the sake of individuality and instant popularity, will create an alternate persona.

A persona that is likely to be more relatable and fun – to gain more attention and fame. Take for example, content creators who openly admit that the character they portray on their videos and social media can be a far cry from the real person when the cameras are off. This character they have created can be a polar opposite of who they are, but for the sake of being a likable person, this persona has been created to garner the attention of the viewers and be as relatable as possible – the perfect personality that’s likely to shoot into popularity the fastest. This does not only apply to Instagram influencers and VOD content creators, but it can also be everywhere. The streaming community cannot be spared.

Characterization is all over the internet, you’re not sure whether the person on their social media is the real person instead of a perfect persona created for the likes and fame. Here is where authenticity can be key to differentiate you from the rest of the current internet personas out there.

You are unique

There is no other person like you, not even twins are the same. Do you agree? What makes you – you – makes you different. How is that a plus? 

Conformity to what society dictates can be a bane for our creative existence. It simply places us in a box where it compartmentalizes who we are as human beings. You can be one thing in this life and if it doesn’t fit it any of the things that society has listed – then you’re weird or different. Back in the day, being different is often seen as being a social deviant. 

These days, being different is highly celebrated. Some find it fun and entertaining, the person is seemingly living the best life he/she has. But is it all real? That’s the million-dollar question, right?

Authenticity, what?

Being an authentic person, what does it mean and how difficult can it be to become my best authentic self?

Be yourself.

But how can we identify our real selves in this world of internet personas and characterizations – we start with ourselves. Yes, simply put look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself – who am I? What makes me, me?

We constantly look up to famous streamers and gamers for inspiration but haven’t you looked into yourself and see that what makes you yourself is something that can be deemed interesting.

Some people might say:…but I’m not that interesting, why would people be interested in me?”

Let’s go back to the idea, no two people are alike and twins are different. 

You can be doing one thing but how you do it makes the difference and no two persons have the same outlook, it can be similar but be totally different at the same time.

Social media perfection

What is authenticity in the world of social media perfection and almost everything can be professionally staged? How do we even know if someone is being authentic and real online? There are a lot of people who staged a personality or character to portray for their audiences. It can be a procured personality based on the perceived persona that the audience reflects on the content creator that’s not necessarily the real person.

We often question if something is even real in this digital age where things aren’t always what they seem. Photos and videos can be faked, edited and perfected in a certain way. People can be replaced by AI (and even clones! In the near future, the existence of one’s true self is about to go extinct. Just to get the most likes and comments on socials.

The reality is that authenticity in social media is dying. Being real is a dying trend since it doesn’t get you as many likes or hearts – perfection and being ideal is what gives you attention unwanted or otherwise.

Streamers being authentic

In an era of live broadcast, most say that they watch the stream not for the game or content streamed – but because of the person doing the streaming. 

People amass a huge following out of their personality, how they talk and carry themselves online. If you think you’re boring, then think again. No two people are alike, remember? So, you might be doing normal things but in your own way – that makes it all different. Your reactions and comments, opinions and suggestions are all different because your experiences and endeavors shaped you to become the person who you are today. You possess a story that only you can tell, you have a path that only you walked through and paved. 

Don’t burn yourself out

Nobody can have a perfect and consistent personality online, especially when it’s necessarily staged. Some people say that they get content burnout because they cannot churn out content that the audience might like. Having a perceived character also does the same thing, it gets tiring to be a person who you want people to see you as. Being yourself and having fun streaming out there is priceless – it takes the burnout off your chest and you get to genuinely enjoy what you are doing. Don’t make it a task and make it your own experience. 

We hope that it some way we made our point across, you don’t need to be anybody but yourself when you’re streaming or creating content out there. Being you is the best characterization that you can portray and we’re here to support it!

Making your production better is like a present to your audience. While there are many ways available to streamers to make the stream better, we think these six things are some of the most important to address first. 

Audio

Audio should be on the top of everyone’s list as the first upgrade to their streaming production. Your conversation is one of the main things people come to a stream for. Keeping it audible and clear is important. 

One of the first routes to look at would be a dedicated USB microphone, the Blue Yeti is a fine example of this. Already have a USB mic? Maybe an XLR microphone for you, like the Rode Procaster. Now, one of the downsides to this is you will need an interface to connect it like a Focusrite 2i2 or a GoXLR. This, in turn, will bump up the cost and add another layer of complication to your stream. For this reason, if you’re doing your first round of upgrades a USB mic is the way to go. Honestly, some webcams have great mics built into them so be sure to look up online comparisons and reviews before you buy!

Lighting

Before you buy a new camera you should look into lighting. While it’s true a fancy new webcam, or a DSLR / studio camera will make a big difference to the quality of your stream, it won’t mean a thing if your lighting isn’t right. Correct lighting can make a cheaper webcam look like a more expensive one!

Elgato offers a good solution, aimed at content creators, the Key Light, which is packed with features and integrates with the Logitech ecosystem. For a first upgrade, however, you can find cheaper ring lights and camera-mountable LED lights that will do a good job.  It’s also worth finding lighting tutorials online to find out how to position everything as well as set up your camera to make the most of your new lighting. 

Hotkeys & Macros

Tired of tabbing out of your game to do something in your streaming software? Want to mute your microphone quickly?

Want to mute your microphone quickly?

Using Hotkeys can make a ton of difference to the ease with which you can produce your content. This is especially true if you’re on a one monitor setup! You can find out how to set up hotkeys in XSplit right here.

Macros are the next step when it comes to automating things in your stream! Think of it as one action performing multiple steps, for example, when I press this key combination mute my mic, go live to my channel and start my intro. All, with one button press. The possibilities of what you can do with Macros are pretty wide so experiment with things you’d like to do! Find out more about the Macros extension here. Not only will these features save you time but they add a level of slickness to your live production!

Overlays

Having customizable overlays, with alerts, starting, ending and BRB screens can help differentiate your stream from others. As well as adding a polish if implemented correctly.

It’s even easier than ever these days, by jumping directly in with XSplit Gamecaster V4 you can have your overlays in moments. Adding your own graphics to these systems is easy as well, however, using the already created overlays is a great place to start!

Also, as they are all running in the cloud they won’t be a big use of system resources! Don’t, however, try to cram too much on your screen at once. While it might seem cool to have a ton of things happening on your screen at once, it can be pretty distracting for a viewer. Everything should have a purpose when you put it there, that purpose can, of course, be “because it looks cool” but try to keep this to a limit. Is it giving anyone information? Does it add flair that separates you from the others or establish your brand? Know what you want people to get from your stream and focus your overlays on that.

Transitions

Scene transitions can take a standard broadcast and add a television-like feel. Go from one scene to the next with a flourish while also giving the viewer a sense of moving from one thing to the next. XSplit Gamecaster V4 and XSplit Broadcast both have these built into the program and can be implemented with ease. You can even create your custom transitions to add a layer of personality! They also give a sense of motion, you’re going from one scene to the next sure, but you’re also going from one place to the next. The transition is always a reset moment. Something crazy just happened? Okay, let’s go over here and talk about a different place. It’s only a few seconds but it can honestly feel like a reset for a viewer! 

Getting your bitrate/resolution right. 

Streaming at 1080p 60FPS might seem like a move to step up production but sometimes it can make the viewers experience worse. Not all streaming sites offer encoding options to every level of streamer and without them, your viewer may be unable to watch your stream due to buffering. Even worse, if your internet connection and computer can’t handle encoding a stream at those settings you will start to drop frames. However nice everything looks on your end, the moment you’re dropping a ton of frame the viewers experience just got worse. XSplit will run a test the first time you set up a new streaming output and recommend settings based on your computer and internets ability. XSplit Broadcaster can also use an Adaptive Bitrate system which will automatically change your bitrate if your connection is moving around. 

Implementing any of the above tips will make a big difference in the quality of your production. One of the biggest tips we can give, however, is never spending too much. You can throw a lot of money into your live stream but the reality is you don’t need to. Nail these fundamentals and your stream will be set up for a good long while.  

Gaming is more than just pressing buttons on a controller in order for you to get to the next level. For any gaming content creator who wants to be able to make a name for themselves; as a gaming influencer, you’re going to need a lot more than just a console in order to do it. Being a gaming influencer requires you to have the right personality and the right setup to make it happen. For the setup, there are a few things that you definitely need to have for good player experience.

A Private Room

The first thing that you’ll need is a private space to play in and record the content for your channel. The size of this room can vary between the size of a standard single-person bedroom, or something twice that size. You can also do game streaming in your living room, where there is more space for guests on your stream. Or enough space to allow you to experiment with streaming VR games.

What’s important in choosing your space is – if it has enough legroom needed to create content for your channel. It doesn’t mean you have to keep filming in the same place every time. There will be occasions that will require you to move locations if you plan on streaming for mobile broadcasts. 

Strong Internet Connection

This is essential for every online gamer who wants to frequently do live broadcasting, a strong net connection will help allow you to keep streaming on your channel for as long as you want to, especially if you plan on streaming for hours on end more than once a day. A weak wifi connection can have serious effects on your video and quality, and more often than not, result in your stream getting spontaneously cut-off prematurely after less than five minutes. 

A strong internet connection with XSplit’s Broadcaster, you can maintain a seamless combination that will allow you to be able to stream for as many hours as you want, without interruptions. 

Two Monitors

For people who plan to do a lot of serious game streaming, it’s important for you to have two monitors for your gaming setup, one for you to use for gameplay, and another for you to monitor your social feed. Some people might think of it as a bit of a hassle, but any professional streamer will tell you that it’s better for you to have two monitors, so that you won’t get distracted by message alerts, or chat flow popping up on the same screen.

Two monitors can be optimal to get a better view of your game and stream without switching tabs all the time. While one screen’s used for gameplay, you can also use the other monitor to upload your content; while chatting with your followers or other streamers or schedule your next session.  

Gaming Console And PC

This is obviously important for anyone who wants to do gameplay streaming online. You might want to use the same online console you’ve been using to play games in your living room. We recommend getting one that is specifically used for streaming, to avoid running out of memory in between sessions.

You have the option of using a wide variety of consoles for your streaming channel – like a Playstation, an X-Box, a Nintendo Switch, or the main PC you plan on using for your setup altogether. This depends on what your console of choice is, but that doesn’t mean you have to limit your gaming setup to just one. A lot of well-known content creators are known to use more than one console for their playthrough videos.

High Def Web-Camera

In order for a streamer to be more recognized among his followers, and have a more noticeable brand campaign, an HD camera can help with his promotion, and serve as a good mirroring device for practicing his facial expressions when he’s recording. 

Game streamers can get more than one use from having a high functioning camera for their streaming setup, one of which is that it serves as a great device to use for promoting their own personal branded merchandise, like their t-shirts, or hats, or sweatbands. A lot of streamers would connect a green-screen with their camera set up so that they can remove the surrounding box of their chat window in order to make more room for their gameplay screen.

Gaming Headset With Microphone

Along with being able to make visual presence with your online audience, it’s also important that you be able to have a verbal connection with them as well, which is why when you’re online, it’s recommended for you to have a gaming headset with a built-in microphone so that you can have better sound quality to project to your listeners.

Having a headset with a microphone attached will allow you to have a more personal impression with your gameplay, while also giving you the opportunity to work on the kind of vocabulary you want to use when you’re streaming. Gaming headsets are also important for when you plan on doing a multiplayer live stream with two or more other gamers, in order for you to be able to have proper communication with the other players on your team.

Gaming Chair

While having a well functioning gaming console and communications equipment is important, it’s also important that your setup includes your own personal gaming chair, like that of an office chair, your game streaming setup needs you to have a chair that you can be comfortable sitting in for hours on end. Professional streamers like “Ninja’ or “Myth” do game streaming for at least twelve hours a day, and at that time they need a sturdy chair that can handle the kind of hours they put in, and be able to adjust to the height and positioning they want.

An individual chair is great for single-players, but for channels that use more than one player for their videos, have more of a group dynamic, it’s okay to want to switch that setting to a couch, for more than one occasion.

These are just a few of the important equipment pieces needed in order to make sure you have the best streaming experience possible, in order for you to make it as a professional game streamer yourself, the rest is up to you. Good luck.

Whether people notice it or not, everyone has a personal brand. If you’re thinking “oh sure, that’s easy. I’m the Twitch streamer with the beard who plays shooters.” While that may be technically true, it might not be completely accurate. Remember, your brand isn’t just what you say about yourself – that’s only a small portion of it. Your brand is not just how you describe yourself, it’s mostly how others perceive you. Let’s see what we can do to improve personal branding.

What is personal branding?

Perception is everything. I know it may seem disingenuous and a little bit dishonest, but think about it like putting your best foot forward instead of wearing a mask.

Take Dr. Disrespect as an example. I think he’s a master of personal branding. He’s consistent with his character and reinforces it throughout all his other online and offline touchpoints, but at the same time, he is very clear that the Dr. Disrespect persona is just a character and that he and Herschel Beahm IV are not the same person. 

As a streamer, you’re partially an entertainer, partially an educator, among other functions you fulfill, and as such, you are a public figure to a certain extent. To build up a good personal brand, the goal is to try and control the narrative and shape the perception around you.

Before we go through the different ways we can improve and reinforce personal branding, let’s discuss why personal branding is important in the first place.

Why is it important?

With a very distinct personal brand, it will be easier for you to stand out from the crowd. On Twitch alone, there is an average of 3.3 million broadcasters every month. Each and every one of them is competing for eyeballs and view time, both of which are very finite resources. Keeping yourself distinct will help your recall and stickiness, your ability to be persistently remembered.

A distinct brand, being very clear of the value you offer, is going to help persuade some of those eyeballs to land on to you. An established brand lets viewers know exactly what they can get out of watching you. When your brand is clear about who you are and what you can do, people who are after what you offer are going to come.

Your personal brand will also help build trust. If you’re known as the go-to guy for specific things, then anything you say will have more weight. Reputation goes hand in hand with your personal brand. Of course, you’d still need to have the knowledge and actual expertise to back up that trust, but your personal brand helps people understand that you’re the subject matter expert.

If your personal brand resonates with certain groups of people, they will be drawn to you naturally and stick with you. Personal branding helps cultivate loyalty. It’s exactly why some people prefer Coke over Pepsi or Nike over Adidas. People will gravitate towards what speaks to them more.

How do you Build up Your Personal Brand?

There are a number of ways to improve, enhance, and amplify your personal brand. 

The initial step, and I think one of the most important, is to figure out who you are. Your personal brand cannot be fake. It is an enhancement of who you are. It has to absolutely be genuine.

Ask yourself some basic questions.

“What am I most passionate about?”
“Are there things I’m very good at?”
“Am I excited by what I’m doing?”
“What do people say about me?”
“What are some of my most positive qualities?”
“Am I aware of my negative qualities?”

Try asking a friend for help if you’re having trouble answering any of these questions. Once you’ve arrived at your answers, you’ll have a much clearer understanding of what you stand for and what value you can offer to your audience.

Now that you’ve answered who you are, you should determine the value you can offer. It can’t be too far off from what you’ve already identified as who you are. Your personal branding is not a lie, it is not a front – it is just an amplification of who you are and what you love.

Once you have that, you will be able to identify your niche. Armed with the knowledge of what you’re selling (yourself), you can find people who’ll be buying. Who would you appeal to? For example, if you’ve identified yourself as a shy, introverted guy who gets really intense with Pokémon games, then lean into it. Your audience will be like-minded people. You’d have to find people who like chill streams who essentially like a more intimate stream. 

Design your communications in line with your audience. You’d have to design your stream according to what you’ve identified so far. Let’s go with the intimate stream example again – you’d have to make sure to speak in a manner your audience would appreciate, maybe bring your webcam a little closer to your face, keep the music low, and the gameplay chill. Not everyone has to be the obnoxious screaming streamer. If that’s their niche, their branding, then great. But if it’s not you, then don’t force yourself to be.

Caring for your Personal Brand

Once you’ve built up your personal brand, it takes some doing to make sure it doesn’t drastically change or deteriorate. You need to control your brand’s narrative. 

You have to remember that your brand isn’t only online. When you’re talking to your audience outside of your stream, you have to remember that things you say and the way you behave affects the perception of you. And things that happen offline eventually reach the internet anyway. That’s why it’s also very important to have a personal brand that’s genuine. 

That said, it’s also very important to be very visible online. Design your online presence by how you want to be perceived. You’re the trendy social influencer type of streamer? Then always make sure to not be caught dead using whatever social media your mom uses, but be very active on apps she’d never even heard of. You’re the tech expert? Then show up on forums, have well-informed opinions on the latest tech, and make sure everyone knows what you’re talking about.

By virtue of being visible offline and online, don’t be afraid to network with people. Like in most industries, who you know is equally important as what you know, sometimes even more so. Ever notice how some streamers blow up after they squad up with popular personalities and streamers? That’s not to say it wouldn’t have happened otherwise, but it probably never hurt. But by being in tight with people with the same audience and the same niche, you’ll have access to more opportunities and more viewers. And when it’s your time to help out others in your circle, do so and that helps your personal brand, too.

—–

These little tidbits are just the basics of personal branding that I’ve picked up from 15 years of working in the marketing industry. It goes much deeper than this, but this is a very good start. And remember that your personal brand never stops evolving, so you should never stop developing it.

Streaming games is an easy proposition when you’re a pro player (well, as easy as becoming a pro player is which I’m told is “very hard you have no idea”), you can rely on your skills and pro plays to make a good stream. What if you’re like me, however, and are average at best at competitive games but like chatting with your audience? Well, fear not friends, here is a list of some games that I have found have the magic combo of space, fun and the unexpected. Perfect for chatting with your audience.

Euro Truck Simulator 2 / American Truck Simulator

These games have grown and grown in popularity on streaming platforms and the ability to chat with your audience while you play is a big one. There’s a whole layer of gameplay where you can grow your trucking business but honestly, for me, it’s all about the road trip. Pick the longest journey, put on some relaxing music and sit and chat with friends. The chat is your co-pilot, the person on the other end of the CB Radio keeping you sane as you barrel down the road that never ends. The game keeps you focused enough while leaving your brain free to converse. Either of the Truck Sim games will work, though there is more variety and a larger modding community in ETS2 due to it being the older of the two. 

Chris’s Top Tip: Play this game offline with your favorite music, it’s the most zen-like experience you can have in a video game. I imagine it’s the same experience people who like to “go for a drive” have but being a city dweller I never had a car. The brain is focused enough to disengage but free of distraction enough to just enjoy your music.

American Truck Simulator on Steam

Jalopy

Imagine the advantages of a Truck Sim but with the need to keep both your car and elderly grandad in good health along the way? Keeping a chill atmosphere but with added drama such as your car running out of gas in the middle of a wooded dirt road, leaving you to walk forward hoping you find a gas station. Get to the gas station and find you only have enough money for half a can only to have to walk back in the dark. Tires will blow, engines will start to billow smoke and it all creates a wonderful emergent narrative that you and your audience have experienced together. There’s a narrative element to the game which happens around you, and I won’t spoil it here. Honestly, as far as chatty streaming games go this delightful indie is one of the best. 

Chris’s Top Tip: You get asked if you want to take your grandpa with you at the beginning, do this for your first playthrough but after that leave him behind. You have your co-pilots in the chat and I think this is the game at it’s best. 

Jalopy on Steam

Titanic: Adventure Out of Time. 

Honestly, you could pick any adventure game but this one held a special place for me and my audience. Laughter, puzzle-solving and some of the finest B Movie acting you will ever see. Adventure games let you work with your audience to play the game while having a unique and, mostly, relaxing atmosphere where you have the time to figure things out. Finding older, more obscure FMV like adventure games is my jam and Titanic: Adventure Out of Time ticked that box mightily. Stop WW2 by finding a necklace? Or something like that? Who knows, but boy did I and my community have fun together as I streamed it. 

Chris’s Top Tip: Go weird, old and wacky. GOG.com is the hook up here and the adventure yourself and your audience will be talking about for years awaits! 

Titanic: Adventure Out of Time on GOG.com

L.A Noire

So L.A. Noire itself isn’t exactly a slow, chill game but it has a lot of quirks. Again, there is an element of watching, listening and reacting with your audience. The strange facial expressions aside, there is a strong plot here and plenty of action. For me, this is also a great example of adding your own layer to a game as a streamer. An audience member of mine said, “you should do it all backward” and thus a new experience was born. Walking backward, driving backward, nothing is straight forward for Cole Phelps, The Backwards Detective. Something like this can be done with a lot of games and honestly made L.A. Noire an unlikely favorite of my audience. 

Chris’s Top Tip: As a chatty streamer, make games your own! Try a different type of run in a game to make the space for you to chat, give characters a new personality with your commentary. Do voices, experiment and have fun! 

L.A. Noire on Steam

Bonus Track: Shenmue. Play Shenmue, now, today. It’s weird, old, kinda tough to wrestle the controls but if you want to combine everything we have learned from the above games? Shenmue has you more than covered. Chill moments to talk as you walk from place to place or while you work at the docks, bizarre B Movie voice acting to enjoy, and a game you can add your own layers to. It’s even easier now with the rerelease out there.

Shenmue I & II on Steam

Game Types to avoid as a chatty streamer

Competitive games

These can be pretty difficult if you’re a chatty streamer, or at least if you’re me. I find you get too into a game, for example, Overwatch. I’ll zone in on the action and play it the way you’re meant to, which is giving it your full attention. At this point, however, your audience is just watching some who is, at best, basically fine at Overwatch play. I’m not talking to them unless it’s between matches and even then it’s mostly to catch up on what they have been saying. 

Narrative / Text Heavy Games 

Disco Elysium, I’m told, is a wonderful game, with brilliant writing and while it may be perfect for someone looking to practice voice acting I find with a text-heavy game you don’t end up with much time to chat. Most of your time is spent reading aloud. Some streamers enjoy this and many audience members get a lot from it but when it comes to talking with your viewers there, in my experience at least, can be not much time. There is a chance for discussion of what has just happened but this is a more analytical approach to streaming and less freewheeling chatter.

So there we have it, playing some of these games is a great way to allow and create great conversations with your audience. And hey, while you’re here, you can stream everything I mentioned right now, for free using XSplit Gamecaster! (XSplit Gamecaster is free, not the games, pay your game developers, friends.) Taking your streams to the next level? XSplit Broadcaster has you covered!