- 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.