How to Start a Gaming Channel (UPDATED 2023!)

– It’s not too late to start a gaming channel on YouTube. Even if you start today, you can still be successful, you can still have videos that get hundreds of thousands of views, and you can still get thousands of subscribers. To help you achieve these goals, I’m gonna answer some very common questions

That gaming channels ask us all the time. I mean, I’m gonna warn you though that some of these answers aren’t gonna be exactly what you want to hear. That’s because this video I’m making right now is only for creators who are dead serious about growing a gaming channel. Whether it’s because you’re trying

To get a bit more popular, or you wanna make YouTube and gaming your actual job one day. Let me know in the comments what your goal is, for your gaming channel and let’s get into my updated tips for starting a gaming channel in 2023. And the first question we need to answer

Is regarding what you should be playing on your channel in the first place. Whenever somebody asks us this question, I know they’re really asking, what can I play on my channel to just get me the most views? But no matter why you’re asking it my answer’s very simple,

You should play the games that you’re most passionate about, but also have the highest potential for views. That’s basically me just saying the games you choose to play should be somewhat popular. So in that sense, can you play any popular game that comes to mind on your channel?

Well, kind of yes, kind of no. The advice I’ve given people for years now is that your channel, at least at first, should always focus on one game. This year though, I have a new approach for you, instead of focusing on one game, I want your channel to focus on one audience.

And the single game strategy is a great way to do that because it’s essentially training wheels for your channel. Playing one game means you’re playing a game that comes with a built-in audience. If you focus on that one game and you become really good at it,

And you can speak to it with confidence, you’re also speaking to an audience that trusts what you’re doing, and it helps you build your channel a lot faster. You’re gonna be able to focus on topics that are the most important to that audience and bring that to them week after week.

But if you keep jumping from game, to game, to game without any consideration for the people who are actually interested in your content, you’re never gonna reach that snowball effect of views and subscribers that you’re hoping to achieve. So your focus needs to be on making the same exact kind of video

That the same exact person would wanna watch every single time a new video pops up in their feed that’s from you. Doing this gives your viewers the confidence to eventually subscribe to your channel, it also gives YouTube the confidence to know that your videos are always for that same audience

Because no matter what, they’re gonna share your new uploads with people who have watched you in the past first. There’s certainly something to be said for being a specialist in one game, but for a lot of gaming channels that actually won’t be an option. And there is no magic number of views

Or subscribers you need to achieve before it’s time to introduce a new game to the mix. But as long as you hold on to that one audience mindset, you will have the confidence and the knowledge to understand what game you could possibly play on your channel

That they would still stick around and watch for. Whenever you make any kind of pivot on YouTube, you will lose some viewers, it’s just how it’s gonna be. So no matter what, be sure to commit to whatever strategy you’ve picked for your channel because you could upload videos about Minecraft

And they could release Minecraft 2 and you could start playing it and there will still be people who don’t follow you to Minecraft 2, even though they loved the first one. So treat those moments where you kind of feel like you need to pivot

As almost like starting a new channel and just commit to it. But enough about that, let’s say you’re now comfortable in the choices you made for the types of videos you’re gonna make, the types of games you’re gonna play. Now, what kind of content can you make to have the best results?

Well, it’s important to start out by providing value to the community that you’re trying to cater your content to. A great way to know if you are providing this community value is to hang out in these subreddits or discord servers that this community hangs out in.

Once there, you’re gonna be starting to pick up on trends in this space and you’re gonna understand the things that people struggle with the most in the game, the things that they’re most excited about, and the things that will help you eventually come up with a lot of really good video ideas

Because you’re gonna be getting them directly from this community. Also, in terms of types of videos you can make, why don’t you try to be the very first person to cover a brand new update that comes to the game? Or if you can’t be first,

Maybe you can cover the top five things about a new update, or perhaps an update video for you could look like you talking about one major change and focusing an entire video on it that a new game update brought. Outside of doing those more searchable videos with tips, and tricks, and tutorials.

What about the less searchable ones? Well, an important thing to do is to always be looking for those trends in your space. And of course, the most common type of gameplay video is the typical, Let’s Play video. It’s important to note though, that this type of let’s play

Where you turn on your screen recording software, you don’t plan anything, and you just kind of mill about in your game. The time for those has come to an end, and I think it did a long time ago. Nowadays, if you’re watching videos that look like it’s just a few friends

Having fun together in a game, what you’ll come to find is there’s actually a lot of planning and forethought that goes into those uploads. They’re not simply just turning on their screen recording software, and doing an unplanned play through. These are storytellers, and they are masters at their craft.

So if you wanna stand out while you just play Minecraft, it’s time for you to become a storyteller. Every time you sit down to record, you should have a plan. What is it that you are trying to achieve? And what are some challenges that you might face along the way?

Try also learning how to add a B plot to your videos. In my Minecraft example, this could be in the form of you making a video about fixing up a village. As you work to make this village your new home, you stumble upon a friendly villager or an animal.

These are perfect B plot opportunities because you are going to befriend this entity, and you are gonna treat them like nobody else in this village. During your story, you’ll continue to cut back to them and see what kinds of shenanigans they’re getting up to.

And in the end, when you finally fix up this village, you’ll have made a really special place for your new friend that you made along the way. I’m telling you, if you watch some of the most popular gaming creators on YouTube right now, you will find them doing this exact strategy.

Storytelling is a skill you definitely need to hone in this coming year because the next question we get plays right into it, is gaming two saturated? And let me first say it is not, however, standing out is important. And making high-value searchable videos, or telling really strong stories is part of standing out.

But in general, researching your topics, having solid goals, and planning out your content strategy is going to set you on the best path to success. Every decision you make for your channel should eventually get to a point where you’re approaching them only in a business mindset, and that includes if you’re not trying

To exactly start an LLC with employees and everything like that, because every video you make is another opportunity to reach a new audience, and continue to further grow your channel. But I’ll tell you what is saturated about gaming on YouTube, and it’s that so many creators don’t take it seriously at all.

They don’t have clear goals, and they’re not approaching their channel with that business mindset. If you can work your way to that point then I promise you, you’ll be standing out amongst the crowd in no time. On the subject of saturation though, I should go back real quick and say

It’s also fine if you play a game in your channel that a whole bunch of other people are already playing. It’s also okay to do a video on a subject that you’ve seen other creators cover in the past. That’s because usually when something is popular audiences tend to want more of it.

So don’t be afraid to give your unique fresh perspective on something that’s been done before. And let’s be honest, it’s all been done before. How can you do it better? Another question people ask us all the time is, how can I grow really, really fast? And when I see this question,

My tendency is to go on an entire rant about how YouTube takes time and patience, and you have to learn, you have to walk before you can run. But listen, I’ll be perfectly honest with you, once you know what you’re doing on YouTube, you can actually grow a gaming channel incredibly fast.

These next tips I’m gonna go over are for a bit later in your gaming career because even though I’m disposing of the whole topic of walk before you can run, it’s true you do need to know what you’re doing before you dive headfirst into a boatload of work.

So if you’re a newer creator, take these strategies, jot them down and save them for later. But this is what I would do if I was starting today. You may already be aware of this, but YouTube recently has given us three different channels in one. I’m talking of course, about the update

That’s taken your homepage and broken it out into long form videos, shorts, and live streams. And hey, just for good measure because YouTube’s given it to everybody now, the community tab could be considered a fourth channel. We’re at a point now with YouTube and gaming

That your best strategy for growing really, really fast is going to be to develop a content ecosystem. So for gaming channels that are ready for this step, I’m recommending that you take advantage of as many of these channels as possible. And everything you do should still apply

To that same exact audience that you’re targeting, but you should absolutely be making long form videos, shorts, doing live streams, and updating your community tab all the time. What I’m gonna do is give you a really long drawn out example of what a content ecosystem might look like in practice.

Let’s say for example, that you play an MMO in your channel, a really popular one. I chose MMOs because they take a lot of work. One thing you can do is livestream these, and in MMOs you tend to grind a lot as you’re trying to reach various skill levels

And get various things unlocked for you in the game. Before you do these live streams though, I want you to prepare in advance. Just like we talked about earlier, each live stream should have a very specific goal that you’re aiming for. You’re gonna cater the title

And the thumbnail of this live stream to that goal, so people, when they click on it, know exactly what you’re doing that day. During this planning phase, you’re also gonna be thinking about what videos you wanna make that week. We’re setting this up so that by the time your live stream ends

You’ll actually have a couple of videos done as well. Another thing you need to do, and I’ll let you look this up on your own time, is to set up what’s called a replay buffer in your streaming software. Now, as you’re doing your live stream and grinding out those goals,

You’re hitting that replay buffer every single time, you have a little bit of inspiration based on something that happens in the game. And because you planned out a couple different videos before you started your stream, you’re also using this replay buffer to capture additional clips. These clips will be used as B-roll

For your more scripted content that you’re gonna put on the channel later on. Meanwhile, those other clips you were capturing with really epic or funny moments, those are gonna be your YouTube shorts. If you’re planning it out the right way, one live stream could result in multiple long form videos,

And a whole bunch of YouTube shorts. Another thing you could be doing as you’re live streaming that I didn’t mention, is capturing screenshots. Let’s not forget, you need to set time aside every week to be updating that community tab as well. So when you achieve a new level in something,

And you capture that screenshot, you’re gonna be asking your audience, what level they recently achieved in the game. Always be thinking about different questions you can ask, or different polls that you can set up, so that your community tab stays active as often as possible. In this imagined workflow,

I’m trying to make sure that you understand that you can do one live stream, and actually have so much content to show for it by the end. This is what a content ecosystem looks like, and this is why it’s one of the more advanced strategies I recommend to gaming channels

Who are ready for that next step. It’s all about efficiency and trying to gain viewers on your channel that come from all different sides of YouTube. If you’re playing your favorite MMO, you wanna make sure that you’re making content that caters to every type of viewer that that game could possibly have.

So the live streams are for people who wanna sit back and hang out with you. The more scripted videos are for reaching a whole bunch of new people with your really helpful, insightful content that you make about this MMO. And your shorts for people who love this game,

But are just looking for that quick fix as they’re scrolling through the short shelf. And in between uploads, your community tab is popping with all kinds of really insightful questions, or interesting goals you’ve achieved that people can interact with. This content ecosystem strategy is exactly how I’ve grown

Multiple gaming channels really, really quickly. The most important thing to remember though, when starting this type of channel is that gaming, in my opinion, is probably the most fun space you could be in on YouTube, but that doesn’t mean it’s not super hard work.

No matter what kind of channel you have on YouTube, treating it like a business is always gonna be the key to finding success. And that’s why I said at the beginning of this whole thing that this video is only for people who are ready to be serious about their channels

And take that next step. And what’s also gonna help you is following these trends for 2023 that are gonna help any channel on YouTube find a new approach to making content that’s gonna help them go much, much further, much, much faster.