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So many people have the same questions- how much do Twitch streamers make, and can I do the same?
With the potential to make some serious money, it’s no wonder people are jumping on the Twitch bandwagon.
Check out our post to learn more about how much Twitch streamers make with Twitch and how you can start making money playing video games.
What Is Twitch?
Twitch is a live streaming video service owned by Twitch Interactive, a subsidiary of Amazon. It is used for streaming gameplay, music, art, talk shows, and other content.
In August 2014, Amazon acquired Twitch for $970 million. In July 2016, Forbes estimated that Twitch’s annual revenue was $100 million.
How Much Do Twitch Streamers Make?
How much do Twitch streamers make? Well, it all comes down to views and followings on the platform.
On average, small Twitch streamers with around 500 viewers per stream making $6 per thousand views can make around $3,000 a month.
Some Twitch streamers make WAY more money than that each month. The top 5% of Twitch streamers make an average of $257,000 a year!
But what does it take to make that kind of cash with Twitch broadcasts?
You need to be streaming full-time to make money like the top earners on Twitch. That means you need to put in the hours and build up a large following.
Let’s look at three popular streamers making money playing games on Twitch.
3 Twitch Streamers Earning Millions
When you’re a new, small Twitch streamer, it may seem like a pipe dream to make a living from your videos.
But these Twitch streamers started at zero and now make millions! You could be one Twitch stream away from success, and you don’t know until you try.
Here are 3 of the best Twitch streamers you can follow and take inspiration from:
Ninja
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is one of the more popular Twitch streamers.
He is a 30-year-old American professional gamer, live streamer, and internet personality who streams playing the Fortnite video game.
Blevins’s popularity began to surge in 2018 after a year of posting videos. All eyes were on him playing Fortnite with Drake and other celebrities.
At the height of his popularity, Blevins shattered Twitch records for the most concurrent viewers of Twitch broadcasts watched (667,000 during his Drake stream) and the most revenue-generating.
Annual Earnings: $40 million
Subscribers: 160,000 paid subscribers & 12+ million subscribers in total
Auronplay
Auronplay, whose real name is Alberto de Miguel, is a Spanish live streamer and internet personality.
He streams playing the games Minecraft, Grand Theft Auto, and Among Us.
De Miguel also posts humorous videos commenting on pop culture and other viral videos, which has him making money from multiple platforms.
Annual Earnings: $1.7 million
Subscribers: 12,059,279 subscribers
Rubius
Rubén Doblas Gundersen, better known by his online alias Rubius, is a Spanish YouTuber and Twitch streamer who posts videos of himself playing video games.
He started his YouTube channel in 2006 and his Twitch channel in 2015 and became famous in 2016 after posting a series of Minecraft videos.
Annual Earnings: $1.67 million
Subscribers: 11.5 million subscribers
How Twitch Users Make Money
It’s not impossible to make money each month on Twitch, but it is not effortless either.
If you’re thinking about Twitch streaming for your income, you need to be prepared to work hard.
Let’s look at the most common ways top Twitch streamers make money:
Donations
Donations are a significant source of income for Twitch streamers and can come in money, goods, or services.
Viewers can donate any amount they choose and often do so to support their favorite streamers.
Often, streamers will set up donation goals for how much they would like to make in a stream that doesn’t involve Twitch.
Many Twitch streamers use Patreon to make money for fans to support their favorite content creators with monthly donations.
Streamers set up tiers for Patreon donations, and each tier comes with its own rewards.
For example, a $5 per month donation might get you access to exclusive chat rooms or behind-the-scenes videos.
Sponsorships
Many Twitch streamers also make money through sponsorships.
Companies pay streamers to promote their products or services on stream. Often, sponsors will give top streamers free products to give away to their viewers or use as prizes in contests. Some streamers make a lot of money from sponsorships.
Advertisements
As a Twitch Partner and Affiliate, you’ll be able to run ads on your channel. You earn revenue from these ads based on the number of impressions they generate.
An impression is counted each time an ad is displayed on your channel. The CPM (cost per impression) rate for ads varies depending on the country where your viewers are located.
Twitch Affiliate Program
The Twitch Affiliate Program is a way for streamers to make money on their channel without becoming a Twitch partner.
To qualify for the program, you must have at least 50 followers on your Twitch account and have streamed for at least 8 hours in the last 30 days.
The benefits of the program include:
Twitch pays a share of the ad revenue that your channel generates
Get paid subscriptions to your Twitch channel
Earn special badges and emotes from subscribers
Increased chat moderation privileges
Becoming A Twitch Affiliate
To become a Twitch Affiliate, you must first meet the following requirements:
Reach 50 Followers
Stream for 8 hours
Stream on 7 different days
Have an average of 3 concurrent viewers
Once you are a Twitch Affiliate, you will be able to unlock the following revenue streams: subscriptions, ads, and bit donations.
Subscriptions – Bits & Cheers
One of the most significant chunks of money Twitch streamers makes comes from the viewers’ subscriptions.
Your viewers can subscribe to your channel for $4.99, $9.99, or $24.99 per month (paid subscription).
Twitch Partners and Affiliates earn 50% of the revenue from Twitch subscriptions, and Twitch makes the rest.
So if one of your viewers subscribes for $4.99 per month, the average Twitch streamer will earn $2.50 every month.
Cheers are messages your viewers can send you with “Twitch bits,” a Twitch currency viewers use to donate to cheer their favorite Twitch streamers.
Twitch Partners and Affiliates earn 1 cent for each Twitch bits used in cheers. For example, if a viewer donates 100 bits to you, you earn $1.
Game Sales
Several Twitch streamers make money through e-commerce. This involves selling products and services directly to their viewers.
Many Twitch Partners promote the games they play in videos to their viewers and earn 5% of the sale when their link is used to buy it in the Twitch store.
Is Being A Streamer Worth It?
Depending on how much you stream and which monetization methods you use, it can be worth gaming and video editing hours to make money on Twitch.
Twitch affiliates make a significant portion of their income from ad revenue, donations, and subscriptions.
So growing your popularity can create a sizable income for you just like other Twitch channels.
However, there are many ways adults and teens make money streaming, making it a competitive field to enter into.
You have to decide if the man-hours you put in are enough to get viewers and build a strong following.
Tips To Make More Money On Twitch
If you’re looking to make money on Twitch, here are a few tips:
Your Videos = A Business
When you’re a Twitch streamer, your videos are your business.
Just like any other business, you need to work on creating a good product and marketing it to the right people.
Your videos must be high quality and offer something unique that viewers can’t find elsewhere.
There are a few things you can do to make sure your videos are high quality and offer something unique:
Make sure your videos are well-produced and edited
Create content that’s exciting and engaging
Use reliable and quality technology and equipment
You can also list the equipment you are using in your Twitch bio and become an affiliate to make money from your recommendations.
Make Time For “Work”
Spend enough time creating content and marketing your channel to have various “products” from which to earn revenue.
This means you’ll need to make time for “work” in your schedule.
If you’re struggling to find the time to create content, try some of the following tips:
Produce videos on a regular schedule
Use tools like scripts and pre-recorded videos to help save time
Outsource some of the work, such as editing and marketing
Use your phone streaming on the go
It’s essential to be authentic and not just put on a show
When you make time for “work,” you’ll be able to produce better content and market your channel more effectively. This will lead to more viewers and, ultimately, extra money.
Be Consistent & Active
It’s important to be consistent and active to make money as a Twitch streamer.
Stream regularly! Meeting Twitch’s minimum streaming requirement of 8 hours per week will help you start making money as an Affiliate.
But the more you’re online, the more people will find you and contribute to your income.
Viewers are more likely to donate, subscribe, or buy products if they know when to expect your next stream and can see more from you in a variety of videos.
Build A Community
A large part of being successful on Twitch is how many subscribers you have and building a community.
When you have a community of loyal fans, they’re more likely to support you financially.
There are a few things you can do to build a community:
Be active in chat and interact with your viewers
Host regular giveaways and contests
Stream regularly and consistently
Engage with other streamers and collaborate with them
Be social on other platforms, such as Twitter and Instagram
Think outside the box and develop creative ways to engage your viewers
Market Yourself
You also need to be strategic in marketing your channel and put yourself in front of potential viewers who will likely enjoy your content and become paying customers.
By marketing your channel in the right ways, you’ll be able to reach more potential viewers and convert them into paying customers.
Try some of the following:
Submit your stream to directories like Twitch Finder
Make a website or social media page for your stream
Participate in online and offline events where Twitch streamers are present
Cross-promote your channel with other content creators
Submit articles about your streaming journey to online publications
Make More Money From Your Videos
Your goal may be to make extra money from your videos, but you need to be strategic in how you go about it.
Here are a few things you can do to make extra money from your videos:
Post On YouTube Channels & Other Platforms
Posting your Twitch videos on YouTube and other platforms is a great way to build an audience outside of Twitch and make additional income.
You can make money with YouTube through advertising, sponsorships, and partnerships. You can also sell merch and products through your YouTube videos.
YouTube viewers can be directed to your channel to watch the live stream, and you can also direct viewers to your other videos to keep them watching your content.
Not sure how to use YouTube to make money? Mastering YouTube will show you how.
Collaborate With Other Streamers
Working together with other streamers is a wonderful method to expand your following and earn extra money. You can collaborate with other streamers by:
Hosting each other on your respective channels.
Doing live streams together.
Cross-promoting each other’s content.
Collaborating with other streamers can help you reach a larger.
Sell Merchandise
Many Twitch streamers also make money by selling merchandise on their own website.
You can sell shirts, hats, mugs, and other products with your logo or handle. You can also sell gaming gear, such as controllers, gaming mice, and keyboards.
Some streamers also sell digital products, such as e-books, courses, and software. Others offer coaching and consulting services.
To sell merchandise on your website, you can set up a Shopify on your own website. Hosting with BlueHost is a great way to start a website for only $2.95 a month and make some passive income.
Join Game Tournaments
Playing in tournaments is the ultimate way for gamers to show off their skills on Twitch. Streamers can make money from playing video game tournaments in a few ways.
The tournaments can be highly competitive, with top players from all over the world vying for the first-place prize pool.
First-place prizes can range from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars.
The more people that enter the tournament, the bigger the prize pool. The prize pool is usually split between the top three or four finishers.
There has been a trend for sponsors to pay players to participate in these tournaments.
This has created an opportunity for up-and-coming gamers to make a name for themselves and earn extra income.
It has also resulted in some high-profile sponsorships, with some of the biggest brands in the world now investing in esports.
Key Takeaways
So now that you know how much Twitch streamers make, are you joining the bandwagon? It can be a fun and profitable side hustle!
Live streaming platforms are more popular than ever, and Twitch streams lead the pack. Streamers can make a pretty penny just by playing games and talking to their viewers.
And while some may argue that this isn’t a real job, it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to build up a large enough following to make a living off Twitch streaming.
You could make more money than you ever thought possible with enough commitment and perseverance.
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