What’s Behind Making Viral Content for the Professional Streamer?

Video game live streaming is more than just a way for professional streamers to showcase their gaming skills… it has also become a way for gamers to earn money while waiting for their chance to win big in a tournament.

Although most live streamers don’t really get to earn big, some get lucky enough to attract a substantial share of their target audience’s attention and end up making millions of dollars in this profession!

There are as many as 40 million active gaming channels on YouTube Gaming alone — and up to 100 billion hours of gaming content have been watched on YouTube. This is a testament to the vast market that exists in this space and the fact that many people are willing to spend hours just watching their favorite live streamers playing a game. Impressive, huh?

Popular Gamers and Professional Streamers

Statistica estimates that there were as many as 2.7 billion gamers across the world in 2020. A good number of these gamers are making a living as professional streamers. What’s so impressive about some of these live streamers is that they are actually earning millions of dollars just by sharing live streams while they play games.

Some may wonder why live streamers are so popular, whether they be IRL streamers or those who simply stream their games. But many fail to realize that many gamers or those engaged in esports are already celebrities in their own right.

Using their popularity together with the skills they’ve honed from hundreds, even thousands of hours playing games, these live streamers entertain their audiences as they play games or conduct walk-throughs for those who may not have even tried a particular game yet. Others also share tips, tricks, and even ‘cheats’ to help other gamers win games or items or gain unlimited lives.

Live streaming allows gamers to continue playing the games they love and to support themselves with the money they earn through this profession. Many of them say that the best thing about live streaming is earning good money while doing something they really love. Thus, instead of just being a hobby, gaming and live streaming have become their profession.

FraelsarN

Pierre Johnsson is one of the big names in the world of professional streamers. Best known for his handle/username FraelsarN on Twitch, the popular Swedish streamer is based in Gothenburg, Sweden. He identifies himself as a variety streamer. This simply means that he plays several different games instead of just sticking to one game or genre.

He might be one of the world’s most popular live streamers, but FraelsarN started out as a ‘nobody’ just like everyone else. What sets him apart from the others is that he quit his job and started streaming despite having zero followers.

It must have felt strange to talk to the live audience knowing there was really no one there to hear him, but he did not give up.

As FraelsarN continued gaming and doing live streams, his fans and followers began to grow. Quite unexpectedly, he went on to become someone whose name is revered by countless gaming fans.

His advice to gamers is just to have fun, no matter how difficult their situation. He encourages newbies to keep going, despite knowing that it will not be easy, particularly at the beginning.

Cohhcarnage

Ben Cassell, aka ‘Cohhcarnage’ or simply ‘Cohh,’ is a Twitch-exclusive streamer with an estimated net worth of $5 million. He enjoys multiple brand partnerships but also has his own brand of merchandise.

Like FraelsarN, Cohhcarnage considers himself a variety streamer who plays/streams different games across multiple genres. He shows true dedication to his profession, often working extra hours to do live streams for his fans.

While a 40-hour workweek roughly translates to around 2,080 hours a year, Cohhcarnage streamed for nearly 3,200 hours in 2020. His dedication paid off as more brands approached him for partnership. Cohhcarnage has admitted that he tries out products before agreeing to endorse a brand. While this has led to the loss of several proposed partnerships (and a lot of potential income), he is unwilling to compromise his channel’s integrity.

There are numerous live streaming platforms that these gamers enjoy using. The fact that many of these live streamers have received millions of total watch hours is incredible. Fans spent more than 100 billion hours just watching live streams of games on YouTube in 2020.

Top live streamers by views in 2020 (in no particular order):

• NOBRU (Brazil)
• MortaL (India)
• Dynamo Gaming (India)
• Sc0ut (India)
• VEGETTA777 (Spain)
• TheDonato (Venezuela)
• Total Gaming (India)
• Gyan Gaming (India)
• LazarBeam (Australia)
• SOUL Regaltos (India)
• MrStiven Tc (Colombia)

Live Streaming Niches for Gamers

According to data collected by YouTube Gaming, the following are the top five overall most-watched games in 2020:

• Minecraft: 201 billion views
• Roblox: 75 billion views
• Garena Free Fire: 72 billion views
• Grand Theft Auto V: 70 billion views
• Fortnite: 67 billion views

There are several types of game niches to stream:

• Shooters
• Sports
• Racing
• Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA)
• Battle Royale
• Sandbox-style

What niche do most of these live streamers prefer? Many of these gamers are, in fact, variety streamers because they seek to reach more people. Moreover, they also enjoy playing a variety of games and are not afraid to try something new.

In trying to find the best niche for streaming and the content they want to share with their audience, many of these famous streamers simply follow their hearts. But they also anticipate what their target audience might like — that could mean playing their favorite games or trying out new games to see how they fare with something less familiar.

So, what do you want to stream, and how do you want to do it? You can do any of the following:

• Walk-throughs
• Humor/show
• “Let’s plays”
• Game reviews
• Esports and tournaments

Explore the happy world behind content streaming. It might be difficult and lonely, particularly if you don’t yet have many viewers. But the advice of today’s most popular and successful streamers is to keep going and to simply enjoy what you’re doing. The more fun you are having, the better your chances at getting fans who’ll watch your live streams because they simply love what you are doing.