If you’re thinking about getting into the livestreaming business as a gamer, you might ask yourself, “What is a good game to stream?” Most people probably will go with a game that is popular just to get into the rankings. However, what makes a game popular? Or more importantly, what makes a game attractive to stream?
The thing is that not all games are good for streaming, especially if you’re struggling trying to get numbers. Streaming unpopular games certainly will make it impossible for you to attract viewers since the current layout on Twitch only surfaces the most viewed gaming channels. Popular streamers can make an unpopular game popular but those opportunities are few and far between.
Naturally, if you’re a competitive/high end player, then you probably want to tackle any e-sports type of game. Unfortunately, unless you’re ranked and just haven’t discovered the world of streaming, you probably won’t fall into this category. Just being part of an e-sports type of game won’t by default elevate your status, but you might want to connect with other people in that community to see if you can leverage their streams and followers.
Recent games are also a nice area to try. If you manage to get into a beta that does not have an NDA, then streaming that game would be a good move as other players who are interested in checking out that particular game will more than likely try to flock to various players to see what the new game’s hype is about. However, you should be warned that you need to get into a closed beta type of environment that allows streaming to really make use of this situation. The issue is exclusivity. So if you have some connections to a particular company, then you can try going this route. My guess is that most companies will focus on high end streamers since they already have the viewers.
The real meat and potatoes for good livestreaming games are those that allow for participation with viewers. Social games like World of Warcraft which require other players to participate are the types of games that do exceptionally well in this area. What you really want to do is engage your audience and provide special events to bring people into your stream. You don’t have to be exceptionally creative in this area; stuff like getting groups together for Flex raids, gold farming, item exchanges, contests, etc. are provide good interactive content.
The main idea here is that you have to look at your channel like an interactive TV show. TV and movies put the audience into a passive mode of engagement; games with streaming provide opportunities for active modes of engagement. The more touch points you can provide your audience to engage with your stream, the more likely people will return. The chat alone is just a tiny portion of the engagement factor.
Look at how for instance the WWE handles Wrestlemania. One of the big objectives in Wrestlemania is to provide special moments that leave a lasting impression for their audience. Things like Shawn Michael’s retirement match against the Undertaker, Austin vs the Rock, Eddy Guerrero and Chris Benoit’s double title win on the same night, the double turn between Bret Hart and Steve Austin. As a streamer, you want to create moments with your audience to make them feel special in some way. Again, you don’t have to provide something physical like a tshirt or other form of swag to impress people. With a little creativity you can turn the situation into something special without doing that much.