-
Ask a question and get free supportUnlock new privileges and see hidden discussionsWin prizes and earn reputation
-
Question of the day ~ How often do you braai?
-
Afristay giveaway.Win a 2-night stay for two people at an establishment of your choice with R1,000 in spending money. Enter here.
Sign up with GoogleHow much do you make roughly from streaming?
- Thread starter X88Bass
- Start date
I do not think South Africa is the right market to make it a viable full time income source. This country and its people are not financially able to spend on luxuries such as game streamers. First world countries are better for Twitch streamers, they have the audience, money and infrastructure. Remember that +- 40% of SA is unemployed..
I would not do this full time, rather as a hobby and see whether you are entertaining enough to gather supporters who will watch you, and start supporting you. (You will have to try get viewers in from UK as well).
Also keep in mind that only the top 10 Twitch streamers(worldwide) have Sub counts over 10K. The top 100 all sit between 500-10000 subcounts. To try and break into that top 100 to actually make money, will be tough.
Make sure you are entertaining, can talk well about all kinds of topics and whatever game you are streaming, be flippin good at it.
I would not do this full time, rather as a hobby and see whether you are entertaining enough to gather supporters who will watch you, and start supporting you. (You will have to try get viewers in from UK as well).
Also keep in mind that only the top 10 Twitch streamers(worldwide) have Sub counts over 10K. The top 100 all sit between 500-10000 subcounts. To try and break into that top 100 to actually make money, will be tough.
Make sure you are entertaining, can talk well about all kinds of topics and whatever game you are streaming, be flippin good at it.
ArmatageShanks
Honorary Master
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2013
- Messages
- 15,889
Well through a lot of hard work at the moment I make roughly R0,00
OCP
Executive Member
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2014
- Messages
- 5,305
So you are breaking even?
Then you are doing better that a large portion of the population ;-)
Streaming costs you nothing (except the start up costs for a decent setup).
If you have the setup, jump in. Start competing in tournaments (if you are good enough), post to social media (Youtube, Instagram) and hopefully you can make a name for yourself.
If you have the setup, jump in. Start competing in tournaments (if you are good enough), post to social media (Youtube, Instagram) and hopefully you can make a name for yourself.
Beyond.Celsus
Expert Member
- Joined
- May 29, 2018
- Messages
- 3,961
My guess is OP wants to do this as a career in which case streaming does not cost you 'nothing'
Your monthly internet fee for example, will not be paying itself.
If your streaming is not covering that at least, then it is not viable and should remain as only a hobby and not a source of income.
Cius
Executive Member
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2009
- Messages
- 8,347
Yep, odds are not great. Its a highly competitive space. I would recommend starting as a hobby and seeing how it goes. If you are a natural that can get a lot of followers then perhaps consider doing it on a more full time basis. I follow some youtube gamers and the overwhelming impression I get is that for most of them its more a self funding hobby than a serious source of income.
Beyond.Celsus
Expert Member
- Joined
- May 29, 2018
- Messages
- 3,961
The other, more prevailing problem, is that gaming is not as big a draw as it used to be.
The heyday of gaming being splashed on the Youtube homepage is long gone.
Even on twitch it is so heavily contested that you cannot play what you want to play and you constantly need to change with the tides. You have to keep jumping to the next big thing, even if you don't particularly like what is being played.
Switching back to Youtube, what are the most popular channels? Junk like ricegum and the two paul tw@ts.
Even pewdiepie (cringe I know) changed his channel completely. Went from gaming to paul style videos, which is the only reason he survived for so long.
Choosing streaming as a job is a lot of hard work and it does not necessarily mean you get paid to do what you love. Do it long enough and you may even start resenting games.
The heyday of gaming being splashed on the Youtube homepage is long gone.
Even on twitch it is so heavily contested that you cannot play what you want to play and you constantly need to change with the tides. You have to keep jumping to the next big thing, even if you don't particularly like what is being played.
Switching back to Youtube, what are the most popular channels? Junk like ricegum and the two paul tw@ts.
Even pewdiepie (cringe I know) changed his channel completely. Went from gaming to paul style videos, which is the only reason he survived for so long.
Choosing streaming as a job is a lot of hard work and it does not necessarily mean you get paid to do what you love. Do it long enough and you may even start resenting games.
saor
Honorary Master
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2012
- Messages
- 34,263
A lot of successful people online didn't start out considering the profit motive.
You start with something you're passionate about and if it grows into something profitable, cool. If your passion doesn't come first, people won't give ****s about your attempt at money making.
Sounds like you need to start doing stuff you're interested in rather than trying to figure out which is the most profitable thing to do. So many threads already.
You start with something you're passionate about and if it grows into something profitable, cool. If your passion doesn't come first, people won't give ****s about your attempt at money making.
Sounds like you need to start doing stuff you're interested in rather than trying to figure out which is the most profitable thing to do. So many threads already.
saor
Honorary Master
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2012
- Messages
- 34,263
Nice example of a local person doing well:
https://kinpatsucosplay.com/
Started out because they love cosplay, not because they thought it could make money.
https://kinpatsucosplay.com/
Started out because they love cosplay, not because they thought it could make money.
I know someone who makes a couple of grand streaming on Twitch. He's actually a competitive gamer.
The two of us used to jam StarCraft when we were younger.
Also: kudos for MyBB auto-correct for correcting StarCraft to the correct spelling and stylization.
The two of us used to jam StarCraft when we were younger.
Also: kudos for MyBB auto-correct for correcting StarCraft to the correct spelling and stylization.
ArtyLoop
Executive Member
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2017
- Messages
- 7,777
I had a look, basically its the same thing as the "live streams" on DeviantArt and furry sites, but turned into a large-scale business streaming everything because, people these days are so vain they need an audience.
Sorry folks, not for me.
Sorry folks, not for me.
Beyond.Celsus
Expert Member
- Joined
- May 29, 2018
- Messages
- 3,961
I watch twitch for the e-sports.
Best place to see most tournaments. CS. Siege. Dota. fifa. League. Fortnite.
Whatever your fancy.
If you fancy e-sports that is.
There are some people who stream general gameplay and some of them are very entertaining.
And that's all it is really.
Entertainment that's completely free.
fair enough if it's not for you.
Best place to see most tournaments. CS. Siege. Dota. fifa. League. Fortnite.
Whatever your fancy.
If you fancy e-sports that is.
There are some people who stream general gameplay and some of them are very entertaining.
And that's all it is really.
Entertainment that's completely free.
fair enough if it's not for you.
StoneCold
Expert Member
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2006
- Messages
- 4,007
If you want to earn money by streaming on twitch you will first need to gather enough of a following to get partnered. This will allow viewers to subscribe to your channel, to donate to you using bits and it allows you to play ads if you want. You can read more about it here: https://www.twitch.tv/p/partners/
Once partnered, the biggest income you can get is if you have subscribers. You get 50% revenue per subscription (twitch takes the other half), meaning for each $4.99 sub you get $2.50. This means if you can get to 1000 subs per month, you will earn $2500 per month, which is R35000 using R14 to $1 exchange rate.
Note that this is also before income tax, so you won't be able to pocket the full amount unless you plan on not paying income tax.
You also have to get to 1000 subs to get that kind of income, which will not be easy. Apart from the hundreds of popular streams that each have 100+ viewers, there are thousands of other streams that don't even break the 10 viewer mark. You need something to stand out from the competition and you need to be able to market yourself. This means you either need to be really good at a game that people like to watch (Dota, LoL, CSGO, WoW, etc.), or you have to be entertaining enough that people watch your stream for you, not just your gameplay. Another avenue is to play with a friend that already has a twitch audience and using that as a catapult to start your own stream (if people want to watch you).
This is incredibly hard to achieve and many people fail to do so. Ask any streamer that makes an income and/or devotes their life to streaming and they will 99% tell you that for you it's not possible to do. It's nothing against you personally, it just requires too much effort and luck. It's too risky, and you're far better off just doing it as a hobby while you earn income from a different more reliable source.
That said, nothing is stopping you from streaming in your free time, which can maybe lead to you generating some income from it (if you're incredibly lucky). But don't let it consume your life.
Good video on income from twitch:
Once partnered, the biggest income you can get is if you have subscribers. You get 50% revenue per subscription (twitch takes the other half), meaning for each $4.99 sub you get $2.50. This means if you can get to 1000 subs per month, you will earn $2500 per month, which is R35000 using R14 to $1 exchange rate.
Note that this is also before income tax, so you won't be able to pocket the full amount unless you plan on not paying income tax.
You also have to get to 1000 subs to get that kind of income, which will not be easy. Apart from the hundreds of popular streams that each have 100+ viewers, there are thousands of other streams that don't even break the 10 viewer mark. You need something to stand out from the competition and you need to be able to market yourself. This means you either need to be really good at a game that people like to watch (Dota, LoL, CSGO, WoW, etc.), or you have to be entertaining enough that people watch your stream for you, not just your gameplay. Another avenue is to play with a friend that already has a twitch audience and using that as a catapult to start your own stream (if people want to watch you).
This is incredibly hard to achieve and many people fail to do so. Ask any streamer that makes an income and/or devotes their life to streaming and they will 99% tell you that for you it's not possible to do. It's nothing against you personally, it just requires too much effort and luck. It's too risky, and you're far better off just doing it as a hobby while you earn income from a different more reliable source.
That said, nothing is stopping you from streaming in your free time, which can maybe lead to you generating some income from it (if you're incredibly lucky). But don't let it consume your life.
Good video on income from twitch:
Last edited:
Keep in mind your general audience are something like mid teens to early 20's at most. So you have to play really popular games like Fortnite and PUBG if your motivation is money. Just look at the most popular streamers, the games they play and their twitch chat. Streaming is pretty much an acting job now and no longer what real gamers do.