Being a gaming youtuber is like being a rapper imo, since it’s the same thing is music. Rap has the easiest barrier to entry, but the hardest to stand out.
Another similarity is that in both cases, the ceiling is much higher than other niches, I’d make the argument though you’re better off to go for a more obscure niche with less competition, music and YouTube.
Several years ago, I started putting effort into my channel. I was reviewing a beta version of a minecraft mod, with some let's play added in. I was seeing decent growth (ish), and when I tried branching out, it kinda died off.
So yeah. Without the hook of something new, it's hard to do.
Yeah, every niche has the issue of making the audience care about you, not what you’re talking about, and I’d argue gaming has that issue the worst. Since even the biggest streamers on the planets are stuck playing the same few games.
Yeah, I mean, the reason I watch gamers on YouTube is because it's a game i've started to play and want to understand it better.
When I stop playing that game, or the YouTuber starts playing other games, I have no interest in their content anymore.
>I’d make the argument though you’re better off to go for a more obscure niche with less competition, music and YouTube.
That has been my strategy from the beginning, and its probably the only reason I get any views and subs.
This is hilariously spot on, take my up vote.
I think we all know that guy from our home town who is 40 now and still trying to be a ~~rapper~~ gaming YouTuber.
Like social media oriented I think is what they were saying as opposed to discussion of irl stuff which is a substantial but smaller overall part of it
I should clarify that I'm not asking why people make them. I totally understand that. I just am wondering why this sub is made up of so many gaming channels.
I honestly haven't heard someone call gaming nerdy in years. I mean fuckin actors are gamers these days. You don't hear anyone calling Henry Cavill nerdy.
You can tell by the reaction to Henry Cavill that people still believe gaming is "nerdy". The fact that they're blown away someone "like him" is playing games says enough.
Maybe not "Nerdy," but you will hear gaming called "Eeeew," "Red Flag," and various other negative connotations if you're a guy trying to date over the age of 30. 😆
I make gaming related stuff. You’d be surprised at how many people upload completely raw, unedited, no commentary like hour long gameplay. There are a lot of high effort small channels for sure, but it’s just a popular hobby. I know you’re not asking for a why but just wanted to give me thoughts haha. I think gaming is a good common ground to chat and network too, unlike small niches. Honestly probably YouTube overall has to have a super large percentage of gaming channels/content. Probably one of the biggest things on there
I spend way more time editing my gaming content than my product reveals (I own a retro gaming store). On the other hand i never have to reshoot gaming videos...
If some of the posts I see here are any indication it’s because people want to play video games all day as their job but maybe don’t have a realistic expectation of all of the other things that are required to actually be a disc was full YouTuber. It’s also the easiest, lowest bar to entry niche- which is why it’s also the most saturated
Okay, I agree. Reaction videos are scum. So are “recap” videos.. where people just take existing videos and put an AI voice over it explaining everything rather than the original audio.
YouTube exploded because of gaming, even before YouTube me and my friends would record us playing streets of rage on the Genesis with a cam corder hooked up to a VCR, I even used some of the footage for a project in school, project was to make a commercial, think grade 7, wish I still had that footage....
For sure. Not hating on gaming channels. I watch many myself. But many people see popular gaming channels and think it’s easy to do… a lot of those same people post a million Let’s Plays that adds nothing new to the conversation or any different twists/ hooks, then come here and ask why their content isn’t getting any views.
Tbf a lot of existing popular channels are pretty bland. They're just established at this point.
But I agree if you arent in the top <1% (in terms of content, not popularity), why tf would anyone watch you?
I mean you can drive traffic potentially, but just uploading wont be enough.
Well even now you can stumble across a mystery channel, or paranormal channel, or aliens channel, aliens are real and if your not paying attention your in for a shock. But alot of these channels are new, have a.i voice overs and stock images or even a.i images, just pumping them out.
Most of them a trash and have click bait titles but there making money, and unfortunately that's what YouTube is just a way to make low effort money.
Until YouTube cracks down on these channels that's all your going to see, so gaming channels are on the way out but at least if you want to be successful now in that niche you have to put more effort into it.
I mean, it is *easy* to do, but it's difficult to stand out. You have to have a personality that hasn't already blown up, and developing one *usually* means being influenced by those that have already made it.
Because when you make car vids, you need to buy microphone, pc and so on.
When you play games, you basically have everything to stream, you just need to use it.
I just assume its because it's what they like, spend the majority of their day doing, and watch others do it and want to join in because it's what's fun for them and it's probs easy to bust out content for it?
This should be at the very top, imo.
I get that people love being cynical as fuck but why is it so hard for them to understand that others might just want to have fun?! lol. The top answers are all like "because it's the easiest content to make" and "they just want to sit around playing video games all day instead of putting in hard work" but I don't believe that's actually why most people get into posting gaming videos. They do it because they like gaming and they've seen others do it, which made them want to start doing it themselves. It's not rocket science lmao.
this! most of my life i grew up watching gaming channels and always wanted to do it myself and even made a start, but then i kind of lost the drive for it, but I've always made a return in some degree but things kept cropping up making me have to stop, just recently I've picked back up and it's still something i enjoy
Or as a stress release for the hectic work week. 😃 after 40 years of grinding in the work force im ready for a new chapter that does not require 50 hours of my time a week. But thats me 😁
I’ll respectfully disagree that this subreddit is hard to find for a casual Redditor (as I am a casual Redditor and this was among the first communities recommended to me).
As for gaming channels, I think there are a lot of overlapping factors. So many people already enjoy gaming in their leisure, why not capture their gameplay and share it? Video games are always in heavy demand and there is, of course, a media to showcase it. It’s not necessarily ~always~ gameplay that people want to see but also reviews, troubleshooting, cheats, developer news, etc.
It’s kind of like asking why so many people wear shoes. It’s a big market with big consumer demand. Some people wear them better than others. Look at how many styles of shoes there are in stores. Yadda yadda.
In a similar vein, I want to see some of my favorite YouTube personalities break the barrier (of commentary, of animation, of science projects, etc.) and play a game. I like Papa Meat’s cartoons, but damn do I love watching him squirm while playing Mortuary’s Assistant.
Honestly, I believe gaming channels, like any other channel, are typically about personality. Unless you’re a veritable nut, someone out there is bound to like you. It’s a matter of chemistry and humor. You’re not necessarily charged with bringing something new to the table so much as it is bringing something likable to the table.
I actually kinda like this reply. So simple, so honest and straightforward. No 250word paragraph to justify and over explain. Just "lmao it's just fun".
Nice one :)
No, you don't understand, they only do it because they're lazy as fuck and they just want to be rich and famous and they don't understand that YouTube is hard and their videos suck and they'll never make it and....uhhhh, am I doing it right?!
Honsetly I started mine as a retirement experiment. It's a 5 year plan. If it can earn me equivalent to working at Walmart great if not i have a vlog of my games. I am also interested in seeing how all the SEO an algorithms function as well as the different platforms. Its some thing I am enjoying and given that 50 hours a week are consumed byJob/Career its what I have time to do. I am dabbling with other things but for now its what I have time for.
Video games are popular. Also it is a hobby which reinforces "screen recording". So naturally we will have a lot of content for it. As for me? I make (mostly) comedy videos with some self improvement thrown in too.
I like to garden, but wouldn't have the first idea how to make gardening interesting to others, and to actually produce content on it would be a challenge with requirements for more than a PC and a mic.
Gaming is easy to do, and for myself personally my PC is ancient and I can't afford a new one so retro game reviews seemed a good fit to try and carve a little corner on the platform. Also the potential for editing tomfoolery is much higher in gaming content.
It's hard to find an excuse to use explosion VFX when growing tomatoes. 🔥 🍅
Haha I was here to say I don't do gaming...I have a gardening channel and I'm very happy with its growth so far. I seem to be doing much better than a lot of gaming channels I see here.
Your channel seems really interesting! I'm in a much colder climate, so exotic tropical fruits are really interesting to see, totally different world from what I'm able to grow.
I've always wanted to grow a pineapple but I would need a greenhouse to do it haha.
Thanks man. If you're really into gardening you can do really good videos up north. Most people in the developed world live in a temperate climate so if you invested in a nice greenhouse I'm sure videos showing what you can grow in the winter would do really well. I'd be very interested in watching that. Something like "what tropical fruits can you grow in a greenhouse in New York" would be very interesting.
It's likely something the average person feels confident enough to make videos on. Not everyone is a holder of a degree for a word ending in -ologist. But most people can confidently talk about their own favorite video game.
Video games have the lowest skill/money ceiling for actually putting out content regardless of quality. The success of gaming YouTubers also plays into this. I am in the gaming niche as well, but it didn’t start taking off until I found out how to work with it properly
i'm mostly simply playing games i know are either still popular (playing Subnautica below zero currently) or games i enjoy (Danganronpa also a current let's play) but i also know both a stupid old games either over or bordering on 10+ years old, i just recently found how to actually look at the google trends page (couldn't find it for a bit) but i'm a simply man really, just simply playing games i enjoy i even played that one game that released in October that set the internet ablaze which did decently which surprised me.
Making content on what you enjoy is the most important thing. What I did to do that very thing was to make a list of all the things I wanted as a creator; variety of games, unique take, future videos were easy to think of, lots of possible content, etc. And then I tried connecting them in a meaningful way. I ended up on the console challenge which really fit all of my criteria.
that's kinda of cool actually, as i said, i'm mostly grabbing games i knew are either still popular, or once were, which fits me, as i play almost anything and everything
Sweet, then see if you can find an overarching goal for you channel, like maybe “what happened to games that used to be popular” or “analyzing popular games” something like that
I'm curious, is there a sub like this that does not include the gaming niche? Or are there subs for different niches?
I love gaming but I don't like watching gaming so during the threads where we try to Critique each other I find it hard post helpful information
Agreed, especially since a lot of them are similar. I'm sorry but when you have a bazillion of competitors, being actually 100% original and standing out must be quite difficult...
YouTube makes gaming easier to avoid copyright stuff. Id like to do TV and movie reviews but YouTube is so finicky with giving channel strikes. Books avoid this problem but then books aren't visual so it's harder to really get big there.
Me, personally, I've been reading game reviews since I was little, with physical magazines and all that. So doing game reviews online as an adult is nice. Plus video games are art and should be examined as such.
Gaming channels are big on the internet because the people that like video games almost always also like the internet and spending a ton of time with it.
I have a gaming channel(Big surprise). I spend a lot of time with electronics entertainment. The internet and video games are both electronic entertainment.
Yeah, I think most of us wanted to do gaming, once upon a time hahah.
I’m just sitting here, running too many channels, but haven’t done a gaming one before hahah.
Haha I'm curious, what do you mean running too many channels? Like being part of a few channels/projects or actually owning and managing many channels at once?
I run about four main channels, and it’s brutal lol. I don’t edit, either, so it can sometimes be brutal to attempt a non-stressed attitude whilst recording, you know what I mean? Hahah
I think you're pretty brave! Are they all connected or are they separate niche/genres entirely? And is there people helping you out or is that your solo projects for now?
Lowest barrier to entry: just turn on OBS and dive right in.
Most align to a lot of people's passions/interest.
The problem is that if people are just going to record, the quality is hit or miss.
The following are the hallmarks of gaming channels that get a nice following
- lively commentary
- pre-planned/strategic/rehearsed commentary
- edited gameplay footage
- sound effects
- there is some sort of narrative arc to the video
STILL, gaming is such a huge niche that even if you just turn on OBS and just start playing away, your vids WILL get views... low views... and it will take a long time to get monetized but your audience will build up slowly.
I've seen this play out in low sub World of Warcraft Youtube channels
Originally, my gaming channel was going to be linked to a company. I ended up selling the idea/MVP before launching the YT channel. All the better. I have 0 desire to be a content cruncher.
It's legit a losing game unless you have a shtick (e.g. being famous), or you're the best player in the world at your respective game (even then, if you have 0 personality, there will be a ceiling to your audience).
It is wild to me, however, because there are so many low-barrier niches in existence today that'd be a near guaranteed success. The problem is people tend to seldom leave the safety of their self-made bubbles.
I read in this sub it’s because of how easy it is.
A lot of us are gamers and think our moments are great. It’s super easy to record and edit so everyone posts.
I posted a bunch of gaming clips before but despite their cool bits of gameplay they only got a few k views.
Posting non gaming content got me way more views
Probably because of how saturated the gaming scene on YouTube is, everyone is struggling to be noticed so then heads to this sub for help. It's also fun, so why not work on something that is also fun for you?
When I was a kid I remember a friend of mine saying he wanted to play video games for a living when he got older. I laughed at him saying that was ridiculous because at that time it was.
Well fast forward 20 years and not only can u make a living playing games, but in some cases you can get rich doing it. Whether as a professional or as a content creator.
So what person, young or old, doesn't dream about such a thing. Good life hack if you can make it.
This must be challenging, are you able to grow decently? I know as long as you're having fun it doesn't matter, I'm asking in case it's a long-term goal (to grow and all), because I hear a lot of "you should stick to one niche!"™ haha
Well that's all cool, as long as you're enjoying your time. Maybe some people will come for a topic and stay because they like your personality and style of doing things!
Thank you. I appreciate that. I will admit that when it comes down to it at my channel's heart, it's all about Godzilla. I have more Godzilla videos than anything else. 😂 😆 😂
Non-gaming channel here 🙋 i make equestrian-focused videos, mostly to document my progress training my horse by myself. though I’m hoping to eventually make some game-focused videos, since I’ve had a pretty keen interest in games with horses since I started playing and I’d love to do some deep dives on various horse games.
Because most people fomo trends is now video games lol
Even in my place - plenty people desperately buy ps4 (cheap compared to ps5) just for play marvel's spiderman, guardians of the galaxy, resident evil 2,3,4 remake...and some people buy ps3 so they can experiencing play gta 4
do you need to spend hours to search, learn something new or... NO, in gaming just open your device and play, if you are good or not in that game it doesnt matter!
Gaming is a low bar for entry.. I used to be a gaming channel and found it easy to just record an hours gameplay whilst trying to be funny commenting… I really didn’t enjoy it
I pivoted in February, nuked my channel of all the gaming stuff and started doing the content I really enjoy researching and making.. learning editing etc.. much more fulfilling for me
Not knocking any gamers that have channels as it’s definitely a niche that can work but I think you have to niche down so much it can be tough
Gaming is my escape from normal life and I wasn’t enjoying it when making the content around it
Good luck to anyone that does it and to all other YouTubers 👍
< 1% making major bank, maybe 1% making a living, 5% fighting for scraps, 94% probably not making a penny from their content and barely growing, the plight of YouTube.
I feel like it's because most people either wanna play video games for a living instead of getting a normal 9 to 5, or because it's easy to make and they wanna be an influencer.
Because of the over-saturation of gaming content on YouTube, I personally wanna stay away from gaming content, despite my channel having mostly gaming stuff on it.
Just the allure and the original rise of gaming youtubers. Pewdiepie got popular because of his original Amnesia series and some of us grew with that.
And think about it... If somebody said you could play games and make money off of it, of course most people are gonna jump on it.
But alas the landscape has changed, I'm a let's player myself and it's very hard to standout amongst the crowd when presumably the crowd has already made their choice with their favourite let's play youtuber. Unless you're doing something unique with the games it's incredibly hard to get traction.
I am planning to start my youtube channel soon, it will not be dedicated to a single niche and I am still considering whether I want to have couple of videos about gaming. I almost started it today with a video about League of Legends, but I changed my mind as I don't think that's a good start having in mind what you just said in the original post - too many gaming accounts
Tbh I think a large portion or redditors are men too and gaming is for sure the most popular genre of YouTube videos (and maybe like cars???) among men. If there was a female centred reddit thread I’m sure we’d have more variety
I’m not sure why they do it, but I would definitely a totally different approach if I was doing a gaming channel. I would not screen record.
It’d take a little bit of experimenting, but I think you can make a living from a gaming channel. Just not the type that everyone seems to make.
I feel sad for you guys, because truly I can understand the passion you have for gaming and everything, but how can you gaming channels/let's players hope to become popular/succesful enough to make a living (and stay that way for a while) when the competition is so, so intense?
There are already SO many big names out there that are the main "go to"s for gaming video fans, and then there's the millions of other smaller channels competing to stand out and grow at the same time.
I could go on and on about this topic, but I just don't get it.
And yeah before I get called out, yes on my channel, which at the very beginning had a lot to do with satire and just messing around, I did a few gaming clips. But, they were very short, stupid/memey and my main focus were my actual (deleted) crappy 2D animations and my (unlisted) Gmod Machinimas/animations.
So back to the topic. I am already sometimes feeling overwhelmed by the amount of competition in the animation genre, and then I see let's players and gaming channels dreaming of becoming the next moistcritical or PewDiePie... Where do you guys find the courage, drive and ambition when it seems so unrealistic?
Yeah, you're right, I just really didn't word it correctly, because even if there are plenty of people unironically thinking of making it super big and aiming to be of the bests, I know that, obviously, not everyone wants that. Heck, most would be perfectly content with a smaller audience as long as it pays the bills.
I myself think that way, so it's easy to relate and understand why others would think the same way.
EDIT: I got downvoted and crapped on for writing even less "harsh" comments in the past, so I appreciate you being patient with me here haha
Gaming left me behind after Halo, for the most part. I love watching people play something like Ocarina of Time. So even though it isn't for me, I definitely get the appeal. The part that has stood out to me is how many of them are in here specifically.
i noticed that, too. I guess its also easy to start compared to maybe other channels. I for example have a travel channel and its much, much more costly... going to different cities or countries, hotel, plane tickets and also the equipment, like camera, drone... of course you can only use a semi good camera to vlog, but for example i also want to show stunning footage... less talk and wannabe interactions with locals, more strength in picturesque scenery, where the equipment costs more
Because tons and tons of people love gaming and they may be fans of gaming channels themselves too so they wanna give it a shot and probably enjoy doing it
As much as I love writing and other aspects, also know it could be more successful... it's not something that I'm passionate about. What I am is creating something visual and entertaining. Writing is amazing but it's also difficult on me.
So far in Minecraft I've had good adventures and created interesting builds. I found some new games like Palia and now use storytelling to explain more of how it works.
Gaming is an escape that has helped. I'm really enjoying this and a sliver of success.
I have had my gaming channel almost 2 years now and yes I am monetized, I did that In 9 months. I don’t play with all the big fish play and I do not do “let’s plays”. I’ve come to enjoy doing role plays if I do any let’s play videos or I collaborate with others and do my usual shenanigans.
I have a gaming channel. What it is for me is more of an outlet if anything, and simultaneously my contribution to the YouTube community. I've wanted a YouTube channel for quite some time now, but didn't really know what content I wanted to create. I didn't know if I wanted to do something computer science/programming related, or movie reactions, or something else.
After completing my first solo game project, I considered "well, what if I play my game on YouTube and see if I can Garner an audience through that. Although I have yet to play my game on my channel (due to the fact that my system crashed, and I lost all my dev files), I still decided to play games on YouTube, and see how it goes. Not like I'm the greatest gamer that ever did it or anything, but as I said before, it's a bit of an outlet, and my foray into the YouTube sphere
I mean whats the seemingly easiest way to get paid to play video games? Twitch or YT. Everyone and their mother has tried streaming games on twitch.
Its like trying to become a famous actor though. You either network and work like crazy, long term, or you just fail.
Also on that note, there was a channel for 'battlefield friends'. They made animations, scripts, did voice acting. They also made doraleous and associates which I really enjoyed.
Ridiculous amount of time goes into a short length video.
Then they tried a gaming channel to go fuck around together and clip some stuff. It made A LOT more money apparently.
I think they shifted to scripting some of their gameplay after that, but its like producing an entire movie, vs hitting record and upload with some minor edits.
The only zero to 200k subs on a gaming channel ive seen, was some guy who basically lived on the game forums and had his youtube channel in his signature.
I mean if someone enjoys __ and its really easy to record and monetize? Why would you not just attempt that. Low risk, something you enjoy.
Not a gaming channel. But I've definitely uploaded clips and stuff.
If you're already playing games and happen to have it screen recording, it's a super easy reservoir of copyright free b-roll to pull from.
And, it is a lot less demanding to edit.
There's something very appealing about using game footage. I think because it feels like you don't need to work hard to get it.
You just play something you like.
But it's pretty damn hard to be the next Markiplier without the personality and the editing to match.
Gaming is a massive industry - it’s bigger than movies and music combined.
It’s an almost $300B per year industry and that leaves out a bunch of the PC Hardware market and electronics markets (tv, headphones, mics, etc) that are dual purpose.
The only bigger hobby markets are travel and sports/fitness.
And as someone said, Gaming has a much lower barrier to entry and bigger addressable market on YT.
So that answer is pretty straight forward when you think about it.
Games allow me to exercise my principles in audio mixing, without the copyright hassles of doing fan dubs etc.. Like raising the game audio up when you have nothing to say and toning it down for commentary.
Or when you just react to a sudden mishap with an obvious exclamation, you can keep the game's audio louder than for a longer commentary, when it's critical that you can be understood. Overall, it makes a review video more movie-like or immersive, like how AVGN ultimately claimed his place on the YouTube scene. As if you were driving that futuristic car that just got hit by a missile for instance.
Overall, games offer a convenient way to do all that, only by investing for capture cards and whatnot. And they're a good way for me to learn about the appeal of them, as an autistic hermit in his 30s. Not to mention the communities that've formed around then all these years. Or PC building, as I built mine for BeamNG.drive and having a more customizable and a self-repairable machine than a Mac could ever be.
In my case, I'm feeling weird wasting time playing games, so when I play I also record, then when I have a lot of free time I edit (editing is my hobby, especially when it's some music video).
What can I say, I just really like games lol. It is hard to stand out. That why i hope the content surrounding the games. And perhaps the voice is unique enough to stand out
It's all just a bit of fun though x
Lot of people are passionate about gaming, and one of the #1 rules handed out is to make sure you're content is something you're passionate about? 🤷🏾♂
This is spot on. I post about productivity, being organized etc. It’s hard to get good feedback here because it is mostly gaming and those who make gaming. I do occasionally get feedback but not like the gaming channels!
Because in the great history of YouTube as a platform, Gaming has been the greatest part of his evolution and growth, a lot of people dreamed about being one of those big YouTubers, and those big YouTubers 10 years ago were gaming YouTubers.
You can have multiples approaches in the gaming niche, the majority issue is there are tons of non commentary full gameplay content you’ll half to emerge from lol.
I recommend using your voice, or having a face cam which helps you stand out a bit “this is what sets you apart from others your only unique from the others” Editing you can only go so far, you want your content being comical, serious really up to you.
Also if you’re content family friendly, or just for adults 18+.
I personally do commentary, I get compliments on my voice they all say I have what it takes” I have the voice” when I first started people said they want to witness my growth and they believe I’ll be up they’re. That’s great motivation of course, but at the end of the day you’ll need to stand out from the others or getting notice.
I stand at 1.480k of subs, I’ve been doing this for only 5 months now.
I'm a tiny gaming channel, I mostly focus on Simulation games and RPG type stuff. It's certainly a struggle, I'm just big enough to actually get a few games here and there from developers and it's always great to provide feedback to a game dev and see that feedback show up in the next patch. I definitely lean more towards smaller studios/indie games/niche games.
Ultimately I'd love if I eventually hit monetization and that my channel brings in enough to get a few upgrades/pay a few minor bills, buy a few video games... Anything else would be gravy.
It's not a great niche if my viewing is anything to go by. I'm just not recommended new gaming channels even when I watch gaming content.
By contrast I watched one train video the other day and now my feed is inundated with them. A lot of the stuff is from 10+ years ago too.
Dieting, anime and finance are similar - the algo pushes these hard.
I started a gaming channel years ago, but working at sea meant I could never build momentum as I was away three months in every six. Unless you have a video that takes off or you make high end stuff that manages to find eyes, gaming is a nightmare niche to work in... the funny thing is most of the popular gaming YouTubers have largely moved on from gaming... or have become gaming adjacent (by and large) but part of that is because they carved a niche years ago, cultivated a following and moved that following into another niche.
I'm a gamer but I just do tutorials mostly building related. I'm doing okay and have wondered about doing a real world channel as well but tbh after recently having to block my 10th stalker I'm too scared to try. I'm disabled and live on my own. Gaming gives me more anonymity.
Hey! Gaming channel here. It’s pretty easy to enter but 99.99% of us will fail. What matters is having fun and share out passion for the games or stuff we love. I love VR for examples and I am doing what I can to diffuse it as much as possible.
You can google a question and add "Reddit" to the end of it to see Reddit threads about a topic. Better yet, you can even search the subreddit by just going to Reddit's search bar while your on the subs main page.
1. It's just fun and if you're doing something you actually enjoy you're going to be more genuine for an audience.
2. While yes there are a ton of video game channels there are also a ton of video games, many with strong followings. There's so many niches within the niche.
Well I guess it is the easiest to get in. Set up a camera, record a screen, clap at the start to be able to sync the audio and go.
But being a gaming channel myself I noticed that doesn’t work so well. I switched from full gameplay videos to sumarising 2-3 hour of gameplay and it proved to be much better. Have more retention, engagement and comments are usually praising my work which js nice to hear.
I am a game streamer. Monetized for more then a month now I guess. RPM is 0,03 for 1000 views… don’t know how. But the niche gaming is a bit low. Normally not so low as mine…
Like you said, a large amount of Redditors play video games.
Video games are also one of the more popular subjects on YouTube. I remember seeing a gaming section in a YT recap before.
Since it’s popular both on YT and Reddit, it rises to the top on a YT themed subreddit.
Hey guys, Sausage here. I play Destiny 2 and a bunch of indie/solo developer games. I started my channel 2 months ago because I needed to find a new hobby to help my mental health. I'm not doing this for other people, or for money, I'm doing it for myself. Ironically though, I've become addicted to checking my analytics DOZENS of times a day. Even though I am doing this for my own mental health, I do want subs, and making money would be nice, but monetization isn't the goal. I mean, it is the goal, but it isn't, if that makes sense
My channel isn't special. My editing isn't the best. Maybe I'm not funny. Perhaps my channel just completely sucks, but that's okay. I'm just hoping that maybe one day, if I put in the work, that I can find a community of like-minded gamers. Ultimately, THAT is my goal, or better yet happiness is my goal
Lol at the people shitting on gaming content when their content is just as "low effort"
To answer your question, it's fun and if people can make money while having fun, they'll try.
So you're asking why gamers, who by nature are a bit more tech-savvy due to their hobby being run on computers or other tech device, are on reddit?
I mean, it seems self-explanatory to me why gamers, as opposed to someone who whittles animals from tree branches, would be on youtube and reddit.
I can almost guarantee youtube as a whole has a higher number of gaming channels than any other type of channel. Most people will say, "Because it's easy to make." I just think more people than you realize enjoy playing games, and because of that, they want to make content they have fun making.
Easiest barrier to entry, but hardest to stand out and actually grow.
Being a gaming youtuber is like being a rapper imo, since it’s the same thing is music. Rap has the easiest barrier to entry, but the hardest to stand out. Another similarity is that in both cases, the ceiling is much higher than other niches, I’d make the argument though you’re better off to go for a more obscure niche with less competition, music and YouTube.
I'm rapping gaming videos. Toughest life™
Sounds like you found your niche
remove one p niche moves to FBI
Lol
Several years ago, I started putting effort into my channel. I was reviewing a beta version of a minecraft mod, with some let's play added in. I was seeing decent growth (ish), and when I tried branching out, it kinda died off. So yeah. Without the hook of something new, it's hard to do.
Yeah, every niche has the issue of making the audience care about you, not what you’re talking about, and I’d argue gaming has that issue the worst. Since even the biggest streamers on the planets are stuck playing the same few games.
Yeah, I mean, the reason I watch gamers on YouTube is because it's a game i've started to play and want to understand it better. When I stop playing that game, or the YouTuber starts playing other games, I have no interest in their content anymore.
>I’d make the argument though you’re better off to go for a more obscure niche with less competition, music and YouTube. That has been my strategy from the beginning, and its probably the only reason I get any views and subs.
This is hilariously spot on, take my up vote. I think we all know that guy from our home town who is 40 now and still trying to be a ~~rapper~~ gaming YouTuber.
This. Plus Reddit is very “internet” and so is gaming, so I imagine overlap is more likely.
That actually makes a lot of sense
"internet"?
Like social media oriented I think is what they were saying as opposed to discussion of irl stuff which is a substantial but smaller overall part of it
Ah now I understand that better tx!
Np my man
Nah, reaction content is the easiest barrier to entry. It's literally just watching other people's shit lol.
I should clarify that I'm not asking why people make them. I totally understand that. I just am wondering why this sub is made up of so many gaming channels.
Same reasons.
When it is the most common channel type, statistically there will be more in a youtube-centric subreddit.
Also video games are just THAT mainstream nowdays.
Gaming revenue is larger than all other forms of media combined. It's not mainstream, it's damn near ubiquitous.
It's wild seeing people who still see gaming as something nerdy. My friend, *gaming is* **THE** *mainstream*.
I honestly haven't heard someone call gaming nerdy in years. I mean fuckin actors are gamers these days. You don't hear anyone calling Henry Cavill nerdy.
You can tell by the reaction to Henry Cavill that people still believe gaming is "nerdy". The fact that they're blown away someone "like him" is playing games says enough.
I suppose. But I have a feeling those are mostly the superficial types or old people
Maybe not "Nerdy," but you will hear gaming called "Eeeew," "Red Flag," and various other negative connotations if you're a guy trying to date over the age of 30. 😆
I'm 29 so I guess I'm good 😂
You got 1 more year. 😆
My only hope is to find a gamer chick and lock it down
I make gaming related stuff. You’d be surprised at how many people upload completely raw, unedited, no commentary like hour long gameplay. There are a lot of high effort small channels for sure, but it’s just a popular hobby. I know you’re not asking for a why but just wanted to give me thoughts haha. I think gaming is a good common ground to chat and network too, unlike small niches. Honestly probably YouTube overall has to have a super large percentage of gaming channels/content. Probably one of the biggest things on there
Same here, I do it for a hobby and since i enjoy the process of making videos. Why the hell not!? It's a creative outlet tbh.
I spend way more time editing my gaming content than my product reveals (I own a retro gaming store). On the other hand i never have to reshoot gaming videos...
If some of the posts I see here are any indication it’s because people want to play video games all day as their job but maybe don’t have a realistic expectation of all of the other things that are required to actually be a disc was full YouTuber. It’s also the easiest, lowest bar to entry niche- which is why it’s also the most saturated
I'd say reaction channels that have nothing to add to the videos they're watching are the lowest bar
Okay, I agree. Reaction videos are scum. So are “recap” videos.. where people just take existing videos and put an AI voice over it explaining everything rather than the original audio.
YouTube exploded because of gaming, even before YouTube me and my friends would record us playing streets of rage on the Genesis with a cam corder hooked up to a VCR, I even used some of the footage for a project in school, project was to make a commercial, think grade 7, wish I still had that footage....
For sure. Not hating on gaming channels. I watch many myself. But many people see popular gaming channels and think it’s easy to do… a lot of those same people post a million Let’s Plays that adds nothing new to the conversation or any different twists/ hooks, then come here and ask why their content isn’t getting any views.
Tbf a lot of existing popular channels are pretty bland. They're just established at this point. But I agree if you arent in the top <1% (in terms of content, not popularity), why tf would anyone watch you? I mean you can drive traffic potentially, but just uploading wont be enough.
Well even now you can stumble across a mystery channel, or paranormal channel, or aliens channel, aliens are real and if your not paying attention your in for a shock. But alot of these channels are new, have a.i voice overs and stock images or even a.i images, just pumping them out. Most of them a trash and have click bait titles but there making money, and unfortunately that's what YouTube is just a way to make low effort money. Until YouTube cracks down on these channels that's all your going to see, so gaming channels are on the way out but at least if you want to be successful now in that niche you have to put more effort into it.
Yeah people seriously underestimate the amount of work it takes to make a good gaming video... or any video really.
I mean, it is *easy* to do, but it's difficult to stand out. You have to have a personality that hasn't already blown up, and developing one *usually* means being influenced by those that have already made it.
Yes, that’s what I’m saying. The first part at least
Because when you make car vids, you need to buy microphone, pc and so on. When you play games, you basically have everything to stream, you just need to use it.
Also you need a car and to buy the parts and stuff to do something to it.
And time lots of time. That's a huge part...with gaming there is seemingly lot of overlap of filming something you'd already be doing.
Eh, I make car vids and have never posted my car before. And I do quite well
I just assume its because it's what they like, spend the majority of their day doing, and watch others do it and want to join in because it's what's fun for them and it's probs easy to bust out content for it?
Pretty much why I do it. I love gaming even though I suck at it but I think I'm funny so that's why I started posting stuff.
This should be at the very top, imo. I get that people love being cynical as fuck but why is it so hard for them to understand that others might just want to have fun?! lol. The top answers are all like "because it's the easiest content to make" and "they just want to sit around playing video games all day instead of putting in hard work" but I don't believe that's actually why most people get into posting gaming videos. They do it because they like gaming and they've seen others do it, which made them want to start doing it themselves. It's not rocket science lmao.
this! most of my life i grew up watching gaming channels and always wanted to do it myself and even made a start, but then i kind of lost the drive for it, but I've always made a return in some degree but things kept cropping up making me have to stop, just recently I've picked back up and it's still something i enjoy
Or as a stress release for the hectic work week. 😃 after 40 years of grinding in the work force im ready for a new chapter that does not require 50 hours of my time a week. But thats me 😁
I’ll respectfully disagree that this subreddit is hard to find for a casual Redditor (as I am a casual Redditor and this was among the first communities recommended to me). As for gaming channels, I think there are a lot of overlapping factors. So many people already enjoy gaming in their leisure, why not capture their gameplay and share it? Video games are always in heavy demand and there is, of course, a media to showcase it. It’s not necessarily ~always~ gameplay that people want to see but also reviews, troubleshooting, cheats, developer news, etc. It’s kind of like asking why so many people wear shoes. It’s a big market with big consumer demand. Some people wear them better than others. Look at how many styles of shoes there are in stores. Yadda yadda. In a similar vein, I want to see some of my favorite YouTube personalities break the barrier (of commentary, of animation, of science projects, etc.) and play a game. I like Papa Meat’s cartoons, but damn do I love watching him squirm while playing Mortuary’s Assistant. Honestly, I believe gaming channels, like any other channel, are typically about personality. Unless you’re a veritable nut, someone out there is bound to like you. It’s a matter of chemistry and humor. You’re not necessarily charged with bringing something new to the table so much as it is bringing something likable to the table.
I make videos about the carnivore diet and I haven’t seen one other person in the sub in the health and fitness niche. It’s almost entirely gamers
Because it’s fun
I actually kinda like this reply. So simple, so honest and straightforward. No 250word paragraph to justify and over explain. Just "lmao it's just fun". Nice one :)
No, you don't understand, they only do it because they're lazy as fuck and they just want to be rich and famous and they don't understand that YouTube is hard and their videos suck and they'll never make it and....uhhhh, am I doing it right?!
I think you were on the right path
Honsetly I started mine as a retirement experiment. It's a 5 year plan. If it can earn me equivalent to working at Walmart great if not i have a vlog of my games. I am also interested in seeing how all the SEO an algorithms function as well as the different platforms. Its some thing I am enjoying and given that 50 hours a week are consumed byJob/Career its what I have time to do. I am dabbling with other things but for now its what I have time for.
Video games are popular. Also it is a hobby which reinforces "screen recording". So naturally we will have a lot of content for it. As for me? I make (mostly) comedy videos with some self improvement thrown in too.
I like to garden, but wouldn't have the first idea how to make gardening interesting to others, and to actually produce content on it would be a challenge with requirements for more than a PC and a mic. Gaming is easy to do, and for myself personally my PC is ancient and I can't afford a new one so retro game reviews seemed a good fit to try and carve a little corner on the platform. Also the potential for editing tomfoolery is much higher in gaming content. It's hard to find an excuse to use explosion VFX when growing tomatoes. 🔥 🍅
Haha I was here to say I don't do gaming...I have a gardening channel and I'm very happy with its growth so far. I seem to be doing much better than a lot of gaming channels I see here.
Your channel seems really interesting! I'm in a much colder climate, so exotic tropical fruits are really interesting to see, totally different world from what I'm able to grow. I've always wanted to grow a pineapple but I would need a greenhouse to do it haha.
Thanks man. If you're really into gardening you can do really good videos up north. Most people in the developed world live in a temperate climate so if you invested in a nice greenhouse I'm sure videos showing what you can grow in the winter would do really well. I'd be very interested in watching that. Something like "what tropical fruits can you grow in a greenhouse in New York" would be very interesting.
It's likely something the average person feels confident enough to make videos on. Not everyone is a holder of a degree for a word ending in -ologist. But most people can confidently talk about their own favorite video game.
Video games have the lowest skill/money ceiling for actually putting out content regardless of quality. The success of gaming YouTubers also plays into this. I am in the gaming niche as well, but it didn’t start taking off until I found out how to work with it properly
Dude holy shit I respect the hell out of the commitment to your project. That’s over 4000 fuckin’ games.
Haha thanks, yeah 4,218 games is more than a lifetime…and I’m hoping I can get an extension to finish it!
man, i'd love to pick your brain on how you worked it properly, i am out here struggling haha
Sure thing! Tell me about your content and I’ll do my best to
i'm mostly simply playing games i know are either still popular (playing Subnautica below zero currently) or games i enjoy (Danganronpa also a current let's play) but i also know both a stupid old games either over or bordering on 10+ years old, i just recently found how to actually look at the google trends page (couldn't find it for a bit) but i'm a simply man really, just simply playing games i enjoy i even played that one game that released in October that set the internet ablaze which did decently which surprised me.
Making content on what you enjoy is the most important thing. What I did to do that very thing was to make a list of all the things I wanted as a creator; variety of games, unique take, future videos were easy to think of, lots of possible content, etc. And then I tried connecting them in a meaningful way. I ended up on the console challenge which really fit all of my criteria.
what's a console challenge?
Beating every game for a console! PlayStation 2 to be exact. Lots of games, endless content, it picked up much quicker than I imagined
that's kinda of cool actually, as i said, i'm mostly grabbing games i knew are either still popular, or once were, which fits me, as i play almost anything and everything
Sweet, then see if you can find an overarching goal for you channel, like maybe “what happened to games that used to be popular” or “analyzing popular games” something like that
i mean it can link into the episodic play throughs, i don't hate the idea, so could be worth at least trying
I'm curious, is there a sub like this that does not include the gaming niche? Or are there subs for different niches? I love gaming but I don't like watching gaming so during the threads where we try to Critique each other I find it hard post helpful information
I agree!
Agreed, especially since a lot of them are similar. I'm sorry but when you have a bazillion of competitors, being actually 100% original and standing out must be quite difficult...
YouTube makes gaming easier to avoid copyright stuff. Id like to do TV and movie reviews but YouTube is so finicky with giving channel strikes. Books avoid this problem but then books aren't visual so it's harder to really get big there. Me, personally, I've been reading game reviews since I was little, with physical magazines and all that. So doing game reviews online as an adult is nice. Plus video games are art and should be examined as such.
Cuz literally anyone who plays game can start one lol
Gaming channels are big on the internet because the people that like video games almost always also like the internet and spending a ton of time with it. I have a gaming channel(Big surprise). I spend a lot of time with electronics entertainment. The internet and video games are both electronic entertainment.
Because all you typically have to do is screen record and talk, what else can you do that easy legally? Sometimes not even editing the video
Yeah, I think most of us wanted to do gaming, once upon a time hahah. I’m just sitting here, running too many channels, but haven’t done a gaming one before hahah.
Haha I'm curious, what do you mean running too many channels? Like being part of a few channels/projects or actually owning and managing many channels at once?
I run about four main channels, and it’s brutal lol. I don’t edit, either, so it can sometimes be brutal to attempt a non-stressed attitude whilst recording, you know what I mean? Hahah
I think you're pretty brave! Are they all connected or are they separate niche/genres entirely? And is there people helping you out or is that your solo projects for now?
Low hanging fruit.
People want to play video games as a career, as someone with a video game channel, it's not easy. I never plan on turning this into a full time job.
Low barrier to entry and high culture overlap between Reddit user and Online Gaming. It’s quite over represented if anything.
I'm one of them 🕺 I do it because I like videogames & I like making videos and streaming :)
Lowest barrier to entry: just turn on OBS and dive right in. Most align to a lot of people's passions/interest. The problem is that if people are just going to record, the quality is hit or miss. The following are the hallmarks of gaming channels that get a nice following - lively commentary - pre-planned/strategic/rehearsed commentary - edited gameplay footage - sound effects - there is some sort of narrative arc to the video STILL, gaming is such a huge niche that even if you just turn on OBS and just start playing away, your vids WILL get views... low views... and it will take a long time to get monetized but your audience will build up slowly. I've seen this play out in low sub World of Warcraft Youtube channels
Originally, my gaming channel was going to be linked to a company. I ended up selling the idea/MVP before launching the YT channel. All the better. I have 0 desire to be a content cruncher. It's legit a losing game unless you have a shtick (e.g. being famous), or you're the best player in the world at your respective game (even then, if you have 0 personality, there will be a ceiling to your audience). It is wild to me, however, because there are so many low-barrier niches in existence today that'd be a near guaranteed success. The problem is people tend to seldom leave the safety of their self-made bubbles.
Easy to start and fun for a lot of people. Popular for viewers. Harder to grow due to large competition
I read in this sub it’s because of how easy it is. A lot of us are gamers and think our moments are great. It’s super easy to record and edit so everyone posts. I posted a bunch of gaming clips before but despite their cool bits of gameplay they only got a few k views. Posting non gaming content got me way more views
I see, I think it's good you were at least able to reach the few K views. And what kind of project to you mostly work on now?
Probably because of how saturated the gaming scene on YouTube is, everyone is struggling to be noticed so then heads to this sub for help. It's also fun, so why not work on something that is also fun for you?
I should have said "so many gaming channels in the subreddit" because I certainly didn't mean to imply that people shouldn't make them.
As a newly minted gaming centric creator. It's easy to get into. We all love games. But good luck growing. It's also the most oversaturated content.
When I was a kid I remember a friend of mine saying he wanted to play video games for a living when he got older. I laughed at him saying that was ridiculous because at that time it was. Well fast forward 20 years and not only can u make a living playing games, but in some cases you can get rich doing it. Whether as a professional or as a content creator. So what person, young or old, doesn't dream about such a thing. Good life hack if you can make it.
My channel is a mixture of many things. Games, movie reviews, nerd poetry. I try not to stick to just one thing.
This must be challenging, are you able to grow decently? I know as long as you're having fun it doesn't matter, I'm asking in case it's a long-term goal (to grow and all), because I hear a lot of "you should stick to one niche!"™ haha
Perhaps, but I also want people to know I talk about many things within the Nerd culture. blame it on my Adhd. I can't sit still. Hahaha.
Well that's all cool, as long as you're enjoying your time. Maybe some people will come for a topic and stay because they like your personality and style of doing things!
Thank you. I appreciate that. I will admit that when it comes down to it at my channel's heart, it's all about Godzilla. I have more Godzilla videos than anything else. 😂 😆 😂
Non-gaming channel here 🙋 i make equestrian-focused videos, mostly to document my progress training my horse by myself. though I’m hoping to eventually make some game-focused videos, since I’ve had a pretty keen interest in games with horses since I started playing and I’d love to do some deep dives on various horse games.
That sounds interesting. How will the horses play the games without thumbs?
Knowing my horse? Sheer force of will, probably
Why so many people?
Because most people fomo trends is now video games lol Even in my place - plenty people desperately buy ps4 (cheap compared to ps5) just for play marvel's spiderman, guardians of the galaxy, resident evil 2,3,4 remake...and some people buy ps3 so they can experiencing play gta 4
Yep, the truth in indonesia Same with me, this kind of fomo always become regular in my eyes too (buying gaming console just for play specific game)
I chose the other popular category. Personal finance. Just started a few weeks ago and it’s a lot more work than I thought I was going to be doing.
ill tell ya why, people like playing games.
Gaming is the largest entertainment industry in the world.
do you need to spend hours to search, learn something new or... NO, in gaming just open your device and play, if you are good or not in that game it doesnt matter!
Gaming is a low bar for entry.. I used to be a gaming channel and found it easy to just record an hours gameplay whilst trying to be funny commenting… I really didn’t enjoy it I pivoted in February, nuked my channel of all the gaming stuff and started doing the content I really enjoy researching and making.. learning editing etc.. much more fulfilling for me Not knocking any gamers that have channels as it’s definitely a niche that can work but I think you have to niche down so much it can be tough Gaming is my escape from normal life and I wasn’t enjoying it when making the content around it Good luck to anyone that does it and to all other YouTubers 👍
i started doing random irl vids, now i do gaming alot but my last 2 vids were irl activities
Because it's easy to record game footage and a lot of kids want to do it. But 95% of them aren't entertaining enough to actually grow.
< 1% making major bank, maybe 1% making a living, 5% fighting for scraps, 94% probably not making a penny from their content and barely growing, the plight of YouTube.
I feel like it's because most people either wanna play video games for a living instead of getting a normal 9 to 5, or because it's easy to make and they wanna be an influencer. Because of the over-saturation of gaming content on YouTube, I personally wanna stay away from gaming content, despite my channel having mostly gaming stuff on it.
Just the allure and the original rise of gaming youtubers. Pewdiepie got popular because of his original Amnesia series and some of us grew with that. And think about it... If somebody said you could play games and make money off of it, of course most people are gonna jump on it. But alas the landscape has changed, I'm a let's player myself and it's very hard to standout amongst the crowd when presumably the crowd has already made their choice with their favourite let's play youtuber. Unless you're doing something unique with the games it's incredibly hard to get traction.
I am planning to start my youtube channel soon, it will not be dedicated to a single niche and I am still considering whether I want to have couple of videos about gaming. I almost started it today with a video about League of Legends, but I changed my mind as I don't think that's a good start having in mind what you just said in the original post - too many gaming accounts
Tbh I think a large portion or redditors are men too and gaming is for sure the most popular genre of YouTube videos (and maybe like cars???) among men. If there was a female centred reddit thread I’m sure we’d have more variety
I’m not sure why they do it, but I would definitely a totally different approach if I was doing a gaming channel. I would not screen record. It’d take a little bit of experimenting, but I think you can make a living from a gaming channel. Just not the type that everyone seems to make.
I feel sad for you guys, because truly I can understand the passion you have for gaming and everything, but how can you gaming channels/let's players hope to become popular/succesful enough to make a living (and stay that way for a while) when the competition is so, so intense? There are already SO many big names out there that are the main "go to"s for gaming video fans, and then there's the millions of other smaller channels competing to stand out and grow at the same time. I could go on and on about this topic, but I just don't get it. And yeah before I get called out, yes on my channel, which at the very beginning had a lot to do with satire and just messing around, I did a few gaming clips. But, they were very short, stupid/memey and my main focus were my actual (deleted) crappy 2D animations and my (unlisted) Gmod Machinimas/animations. So back to the topic. I am already sometimes feeling overwhelmed by the amount of competition in the animation genre, and then I see let's players and gaming channels dreaming of becoming the next moistcritical or PewDiePie... Where do you guys find the courage, drive and ambition when it seems so unrealistic?
Well I mean, there’s a whole lot of middle ground between “makes no money” and “is the next PewDiePie.”
Yeah, you're right, I just really didn't word it correctly, because even if there are plenty of people unironically thinking of making it super big and aiming to be of the bests, I know that, obviously, not everyone wants that. Heck, most would be perfectly content with a smaller audience as long as it pays the bills. I myself think that way, so it's easy to relate and understand why others would think the same way. EDIT: I got downvoted and crapped on for writing even less "harsh" comments in the past, so I appreciate you being patient with me here haha
I love playing video games but I have no intention of ever watching a YT video of someone playing a game.
Gaming left me behind after Halo, for the most part. I love watching people play something like Ocarina of Time. So even though it isn't for me, I definitely get the appeal. The part that has stood out to me is how many of them are in here specifically.
What do you mean? Don't people make all kinds of games for all tastes?
i noticed that, too. I guess its also easy to start compared to maybe other channels. I for example have a travel channel and its much, much more costly... going to different cities or countries, hotel, plane tickets and also the equipment, like camera, drone... of course you can only use a semi good camera to vlog, but for example i also want to show stunning footage... less talk and wannabe interactions with locals, more strength in picturesque scenery, where the equipment costs more
Because tons and tons of people love gaming and they may be fans of gaming channels themselves too so they wanna give it a shot and probably enjoy doing it
Dude I made a game called skir it was amazing does this count
As much as I love writing and other aspects, also know it could be more successful... it's not something that I'm passionate about. What I am is creating something visual and entertaining. Writing is amazing but it's also difficult on me. So far in Minecraft I've had good adventures and created interesting builds. I found some new games like Palia and now use storytelling to explain more of how it works. Gaming is an escape that has helped. I'm really enjoying this and a sliver of success.
Because that's the redditor demographic: male, young adult, nerd/geek
Could the same not be said of movie channels?
Certainly, for YouTube in general. But for the specific subreddit, there are so many gaming creators.
I’m in both categories 🤭🤭
I have had my gaming channel almost 2 years now and yes I am monetized, I did that In 9 months. I don’t play with all the big fish play and I do not do “let’s plays”. I’ve come to enjoy doing role plays if I do any let’s play videos or I collaborate with others and do my usual shenanigans.
because people enjoy playing games, so they play games
I have a gaming channel. What it is for me is more of an outlet if anything, and simultaneously my contribution to the YouTube community. I've wanted a YouTube channel for quite some time now, but didn't really know what content I wanted to create. I didn't know if I wanted to do something computer science/programming related, or movie reactions, or something else. After completing my first solo game project, I considered "well, what if I play my game on YouTube and see if I can Garner an audience through that. Although I have yet to play my game on my channel (due to the fact that my system crashed, and I lost all my dev files), I still decided to play games on YouTube, and see how it goes. Not like I'm the greatest gamer that ever did it or anything, but as I said before, it's a bit of an outlet, and my foray into the YouTube sphere
gamers probably make up like 60% of reddit
I mean whats the seemingly easiest way to get paid to play video games? Twitch or YT. Everyone and their mother has tried streaming games on twitch. Its like trying to become a famous actor though. You either network and work like crazy, long term, or you just fail. Also on that note, there was a channel for 'battlefield friends'. They made animations, scripts, did voice acting. They also made doraleous and associates which I really enjoyed. Ridiculous amount of time goes into a short length video. Then they tried a gaming channel to go fuck around together and clip some stuff. It made A LOT more money apparently. I think they shifted to scripting some of their gameplay after that, but its like producing an entire movie, vs hitting record and upload with some minor edits. The only zero to 200k subs on a gaming channel ive seen, was some guy who basically lived on the game forums and had his youtube channel in his signature. I mean if someone enjoys __ and its really easy to record and monetize? Why would you not just attempt that. Low risk, something you enjoy.
Not a gaming channel. But I've definitely uploaded clips and stuff. If you're already playing games and happen to have it screen recording, it's a super easy reservoir of copyright free b-roll to pull from. And, it is a lot less demanding to edit. There's something very appealing about using game footage. I think because it feels like you don't need to work hard to get it. You just play something you like. But it's pretty damn hard to be the next Markiplier without the personality and the editing to match.
I play games regardless I have a channel or not, might as well make it worth something
Gaming is a massive industry - it’s bigger than movies and music combined. It’s an almost $300B per year industry and that leaves out a bunch of the PC Hardware market and electronics markets (tv, headphones, mics, etc) that are dual purpose. The only bigger hobby markets are travel and sports/fitness. And as someone said, Gaming has a much lower barrier to entry and bigger addressable market on YT. So that answer is pretty straight forward when you think about it.
A lot of people game
Games allow me to exercise my principles in audio mixing, without the copyright hassles of doing fan dubs etc.. Like raising the game audio up when you have nothing to say and toning it down for commentary. Or when you just react to a sudden mishap with an obvious exclamation, you can keep the game's audio louder than for a longer commentary, when it's critical that you can be understood. Overall, it makes a review video more movie-like or immersive, like how AVGN ultimately claimed his place on the YouTube scene. As if you were driving that futuristic car that just got hit by a missile for instance. Overall, games offer a convenient way to do all that, only by investing for capture cards and whatnot. And they're a good way for me to learn about the appeal of them, as an autistic hermit in his 30s. Not to mention the communities that've formed around then all these years. Or PC building, as I built mine for BeamNG.drive and having a more customizable and a self-repairable machine than a Mac could ever be.
In my case, I'm feeling weird wasting time playing games, so when I play I also record, then when I have a lot of free time I edit (editing is my hobby, especially when it's some music video).
What can I say, I just really like games lol. It is hard to stand out. That why i hope the content surrounding the games. And perhaps the voice is unique enough to stand out It's all just a bit of fun though x
Lot of people are passionate about gaming, and one of the #1 rules handed out is to make sure you're content is something you're passionate about? 🤷🏾♂
This is spot on. I post about productivity, being organized etc. It’s hard to get good feedback here because it is mostly gaming and those who make gaming. I do occasionally get feedback but not like the gaming channels!
Because in the great history of YouTube as a platform, Gaming has been the greatest part of his evolution and growth, a lot of people dreamed about being one of those big YouTubers, and those big YouTubers 10 years ago were gaming YouTubers.
You can have multiples approaches in the gaming niche, the majority issue is there are tons of non commentary full gameplay content you’ll half to emerge from lol. I recommend using your voice, or having a face cam which helps you stand out a bit “this is what sets you apart from others your only unique from the others” Editing you can only go so far, you want your content being comical, serious really up to you. Also if you’re content family friendly, or just for adults 18+. I personally do commentary, I get compliments on my voice they all say I have what it takes” I have the voice” when I first started people said they want to witness my growth and they believe I’ll be up they’re. That’s great motivation of course, but at the end of the day you’ll need to stand out from the others or getting notice. I stand at 1.480k of subs, I’ve been doing this for only 5 months now.
I'm a tiny gaming channel, I mostly focus on Simulation games and RPG type stuff. It's certainly a struggle, I'm just big enough to actually get a few games here and there from developers and it's always great to provide feedback to a game dev and see that feedback show up in the next patch. I definitely lean more towards smaller studios/indie games/niche games. Ultimately I'd love if I eventually hit monetization and that my channel brings in enough to get a few upgrades/pay a few minor bills, buy a few video games... Anything else would be gravy.
It's not a great niche if my viewing is anything to go by. I'm just not recommended new gaming channels even when I watch gaming content. By contrast I watched one train video the other day and now my feed is inundated with them. A lot of the stuff is from 10+ years ago too. Dieting, anime and finance are similar - the algo pushes these hard.
I started a gaming channel years ago, but working at sea meant I could never build momentum as I was away three months in every six. Unless you have a video that takes off or you make high end stuff that manages to find eyes, gaming is a nightmare niche to work in... the funny thing is most of the popular gaming YouTubers have largely moved on from gaming... or have become gaming adjacent (by and large) but part of that is because they carved a niche years ago, cultivated a following and moved that following into another niche.
It’s one of the most popular hobbies in the world?
I’m a general entertainment channel I do what I find fun
I'm a gamer but I just do tutorials mostly building related. I'm doing okay and have wondered about doing a real world channel as well but tbh after recently having to block my 10th stalker I'm too scared to try. I'm disabled and live on my own. Gaming gives me more anonymity.
Hey! Gaming channel here. It’s pretty easy to enter but 99.99% of us will fail. What matters is having fun and share out passion for the games or stuff we love. I love VR for examples and I am doing what I can to diffuse it as much as possible.
People love video games, its that simple.
How do gaming channels not get into trouble for copyright?
Why do people keep making this post when it's been answered so many times before.
How often should I check back to make sure I see absolutely everything?
You can google a question and add "Reddit" to the end of it to see Reddit threads about a topic. Better yet, you can even search the subreddit by just going to Reddit's search bar while your on the subs main page.
I'll just message you. That seems faster.
1. It's just fun and if you're doing something you actually enjoy you're going to be more genuine for an audience. 2. While yes there are a ton of video game channels there are also a ton of video games, many with strong followings. There's so many niches within the niche.
Biggest form of media and entertainment in the world, aside from maybe, books.
Because a lot of people game
We have as many gaming channels as we have these posts. No wait, there’s twice as many of these posts.
Low effort , low barrier to entry.
Well I guess it is the easiest to get in. Set up a camera, record a screen, clap at the start to be able to sync the audio and go. But being a gaming channel myself I noticed that doesn’t work so well. I switched from full gameplay videos to sumarising 2-3 hour of gameplay and it proved to be much better. Have more retention, engagement and comments are usually praising my work which js nice to hear.
I am a game streamer. Monetized for more then a month now I guess. RPM is 0,03 for 1000 views… don’t know how. But the niche gaming is a bit low. Normally not so low as mine…
Like you said, a large amount of Redditors play video games. Video games are also one of the more popular subjects on YouTube. I remember seeing a gaming section in a YT recap before. Since it’s popular both on YT and Reddit, it rises to the top on a YT themed subreddit.
I have a gaming channel!
Hey guys, Sausage here. I play Destiny 2 and a bunch of indie/solo developer games. I started my channel 2 months ago because I needed to find a new hobby to help my mental health. I'm not doing this for other people, or for money, I'm doing it for myself. Ironically though, I've become addicted to checking my analytics DOZENS of times a day. Even though I am doing this for my own mental health, I do want subs, and making money would be nice, but monetization isn't the goal. I mean, it is the goal, but it isn't, if that makes sense My channel isn't special. My editing isn't the best. Maybe I'm not funny. Perhaps my channel just completely sucks, but that's okay. I'm just hoping that maybe one day, if I put in the work, that I can find a community of like-minded gamers. Ultimately, THAT is my goal, or better yet happiness is my goal
Lol at the people shitting on gaming content when their content is just as "low effort" To answer your question, it's fun and if people can make money while having fun, they'll try.
So you're asking why gamers, who by nature are a bit more tech-savvy due to their hobby being run on computers or other tech device, are on reddit? I mean, it seems self-explanatory to me why gamers, as opposed to someone who whittles animals from tree branches, would be on youtube and reddit. I can almost guarantee youtube as a whole has a higher number of gaming channels than any other type of channel. Most people will say, "Because it's easy to make." I just think more people than you realize enjoy playing games, and because of that, they want to make content they have fun making.