words Alexa Wang
At the beginning of 2020, online gaming was already on the rise, with consumers projected to grow to 57 million by the end of the year. However, now that everyone is being restricted to their homes, the gaming community is growing quicker than ever.
Perhaps one of the great things about quarantine is that it’s allowing so many online communities to grow. Gaming is only one of them, and yet the number of people interested in online streaming for video games grows day by day. Many young teens and adults are turning to online gaming to help make their time at home go by faster. Because of that, many gamers begin to think, “I want to stream online too.” The best part is – you can.
If you’re looking to become a better online gamer, begin streaming, or just want to enhance your virtual gaming skills, these helpful tips will put you on the right track to improve your gaming technique online.
1. Have The Right Gaming Gear
If you want to become a professional gamer, long hours in front of a screen on any given day are almost guaranteed, but that doesn’t have to sound so daunting if you have the right gear!
Get a gaming computer and proper accessories. While a gaming computer isn’t required if you’re interested in streaming, it is important if you aim to grow your audience or following. Ensuring that you have a computer, screen, microphone, and gaming controls, is thus important as this will help your viewers understand your gaming tactics and strategies better.
Not only will a computer made for gaming allow for better connection and screening, but the proper microphone and headset will help you to communicate with your audience and fellow gamers.
Get comfortable. These days comfortable chairs are becoming a popular trend in the gaming community! The importance of this comes from the prolonged hours you’re going to spend sitting in front of one of these Gaming computers. If you’re going to be sitting that long, you’re going to want to feel comfortable and capable of being on screen and communicating for long periods of time. Having comfortable headphones that don’t hurt your ears will also contribute to better gaming.
2. Play Games That Are Exciting
Make your stream a thrilling one. As a gamer, the motivation to play a game comes from the exciting experience that communicating with other gamers entails. Playing against other people, trying to win, or find clues in storyline games is an exciting thing to watch other people do online. But when it comes to the type of games you stream online, you want to make sure they are engaging, fun to watch, and exciting.
It’s important to keep in mind that your viewers won’t be playing games with you. They’ll be simply watching you, and just like a Netflix show, you want to keep their interest. Companies like Sony have revealed plans for new games for the PS5 as early as the 2020 holiday season.
To retain and grow your following, stay on top of gaming news, and keep an eye on the newest video games that people are going to want to see as soon as they come out.
3. Engage Your Audience
Get creative. One of the most important things you can do as an online streamer is to know your audience. The gaming community is made up of so many creative minds and skilled professionals with interests in many things. If you know what your audience is into, you can choose games to stream that’ll keep their interest.
Let’s say you know your viewers are a huge fan of story-telling games, specifically Marvel or superhero storylines. Streaming a game like the PS5’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is one that could potentially spark your audience’s interest and keep them coming back to watch you every time you’re live.
On streaming sites like Twitch, it’s even easier to engage with your audience by talking to them directly on-screen and reading their answers to you through the chat. Take advantage of these tools! Building your audience and establishing connections is what makes the gaming community a special one.
4. Be Passionate
Remember why you love it. If you’ve been thinking about streaming your games and plays online, there’s a good chance that it’s because you actually enjoy gaming. Many streaming professionals didn’t ever set out to make their living by playing video games – they all started because they just loved to play. They loved to share, wanted to be a part of the community, and wanted to get involved. Nevertheless, if you want to go a bit further, you can actually make money from hosting gaming servers, and it’s a profitable venture as well because you already know whom you’re marketing to.
Tuning in to other gamers, learning from their technique, and even watching how others interact with their followers and audience on camera can teach you all you need to know about becoming a great gamer online, but at the end of the day, loving what you do is the most important thing.
There are so many tips and tricks you can follow to enhance your gaming skills and build your name as an online gamer. You can buy the most expensive gear in the world, and while it will enhance your streaming technique, none of it will matter if you’re not dedicated to the game because you love playing.
Being passionate about gaming is what’s going to keep you going live every time, whether you have an audience of 10,000 or 1. If you do it because you love it, you’re already on the right track.
