Oof, full-time streaming is damn near impossible. It’s the equivalent of being in a “famous band” at this point. The likliehood of being able to live a comfortable lifestyle from it is slim to none. I mean your only 2 options are being top 100 in the World at a super popular game, or to have a stand-up comedian level sense of humor and wit that people find relatable. Even then, chances are pretty freaking low.
Whether it’s Twitch, Mixer, Youtube, etc. the main issue is exposure. Frankly, none of these platforms (for live streaming anyways) are super big on promoting the visibility of small and/or new streamers. The growth curve on any of them is definitely exponential after a certain level, but the thing no one tells you is how flat and straight that line is at the beginning, and for a long time.
Not to mention that it is a lot of work, and for very little return. I have no ambitions of doing this full time, I accept that it’s impossible. I do it mostly as a socially fulfilling hobby (I’m a bit of a homebody) and for some supplementary income (very very little. Mostly use funds for games/pc parts to improve my stream, there is no take home). Even still, I have a regular stream schedule that I keep, 6 days a week. I constantly try to change up my content (overlays, alerts, etc.) to keep it fresh and interesting. It’s a job for all intents and purposes, and one where your pay is next to nothing for a long time.
It’s also very expensive. There is a certain quality standard that viewers expect. You have to have a decent webcam ($50), a decent semi-pro mic ($75), green screens are encouraged ($60), and that’s all low end prices and just what they can see. Without going in to specific cost of parts, you’re going to at least need like a gen 6 i7 processor or equivalent, a gtx 970 or equivalent, 16 gigs of ram, 2 monitors, and a bare minimum interent speed of 60 down and 6 up (which, admittedly, is much more common these days). Now I know some people might say “I stream and I don’t have these things,” and that’s totally fine, that’s just a rough estimate of items that I generally see consistent amongst a variety of streams that I would consider “quality.”
Going a little more off of what I said about hardware, here is why those things are important. Streams without cameras are the VAST majority of the time unsuccessful. If being a successful streamer is like being a rockstar, doing it without a camera is like winning the fucking lottery. Viewers want to see the streamer. they want to identify with the person playing the games. They want to see you smile, they want to see you rage, etc. Mic quality is a little more subtle, but trust me people notice. Your standard PC or xbox headset (yes, even you logitech and turtle beach) sound like shit on a stream. The dual monitors are more a necessity for PC gaming (one for the game and 1 for all else) but even if you’re streaming on your xbox to a cap card, having everything open on a single monitor is a pain in the ass. Your stream should bare minimum be a quality of 720p and 30 fps, and your game should be 60 fps on your side as well. That’s where the hardware is important (as well as the internet connection). And that’s not even accounting for all the other programs you’ll have running to monitor your stream and other things.
Ok I just realized this got way more ranty than I intended, so I’m gonna shut up now lol.
TL;DR It’s fucking impossible if your starting goal is to do this full-time, you will fail. End of story.
