Whether you are new to streaming on Twitch, or have been streaming for some time, a question that you may ask yourself is “what game should I stream on Twitch?” Although there is no specific game that I would recommend, there are tools and strategies to help you decide what game you should stream on Twitch.
In this article we will discuss what game(s) are best to stream and how to choose the best game(s) for you to stream.
What are the Best Games to Stream on Twitch?
The best games to stream on Twitch are games that you enjoy, games with lots of viewers and not a lot of streamers and lastly games that your viewers enjoy. For every streamer and every channel the “best game” to stream will vary. There is not one game or one genre that anyone could recommend over any other game or genre.
Not to mention that the best game to stream can change from week to week and month to month as new games are released and the preferences of you and your viewers change.
The reason that one game cannot be considered the “best” game to stream is because everyone has different preferences when viewing on Twitch.
Some people like MOBAs and others like FPS games. Each game is like a different channel on the TV. It is not a one size fits all.
Although there is not one specific game that is the best to stream on Twitch, there are ways to find what games are best to stream on Twitch. I’ll touch on those ways in greater detail down below.
How to Decide what Games to Stream on Twitch?
As I mentioned earlier, you want to stream a game with lots of viewers and not a lot of streamers, a game your viewers want to watch and lastly a game that you enjoy playing. When you are choosing what game to stream you will want to keep these three things in mind in order to find the game that is best for you and your community.
But remember, the game(s) you stream will more than likely change over time as the interests of you and your viewers change.
Choose a game with lots of viewers and not a lot of streamers
When deciding what game to stream you may think that it makes the most sense to stream a game with a ton of viewers right? The more viewers watching a certain game, the more chances you will have to get noticed right? Well, not so much.
If a game has a lot of viewers and not so many streamers or broadcasters then yes you would be correct. But if a game has a ton of viewers, and a ton of broadcasters then your chance of getting noticed goes way down. Like way way down.
You can even go and see for yourself. Go and see how many people are watching games like League of Legends or Fortnite.
Now scroll through and see how many people are streaming these games. You will quickly see there are hundreds if not thousands of people streaming these popular games.
Now ask yourself, what are the chances that someone scrolls all the way down to your channel and decides to watch your channel over the thousands of other channels that are out there. Not very likely right?
We call games with thousands of broadcasters “saturated games” meaning there are so many streamers streaming that game that it is difficult to break through and get noticed.
Now on the other hand, what if you found a game with one thousand people watching it and only 15 channels streaming the game.
Don’t you think people would be more likely to scroll through those 15 channels and find your stream as opposed to scrolling through thousands of channels in a saturated stream to find your stream.
Especially if you have some cool layouts or a solid title that really helps you to stand out.
But now how can you find a game that is not saturated? How can you find a game with a lot of viewers and not a lot of streamers? If you were to comb through Twitch looking for these games it would take you hours to find a game that is a good ratio of viewers to streamers.
“Wait Spongebob, we’re not cavemen. We have technology” (proceeds to pound dollar bill with the computer). If you don’t know that Spongebob episode look it up!
Anyways yes, we have technology, or just an awesome website that helps us to see what games are good to stream throughout the day. That website is Twitchstrike.com and the link to help you see what games are good to stream is here and here too.
This website is awesome by the way. It shows you games that have high amounts of viewers and low amounts of broadcasters.
It also gives you a viewer to broadcasters ratio and also shows you what percentage of viewers the top streamers on that game own.
Not only does it show you games that may be good to stream, but also the times that the game is popular. When you click on one of the games that they list you will get a more thorough breakdown of the game’s stats.
Again just an all around great tool to help you in finding games that are not overly saturated.
When using this tool I try looking for games with at least 1k viewers and 20 or fewer people streaming the game. I feel like that’s a good ratio of broadcasters to viewers. I also try to avoid games that are dominated by the top 5%.
What I mean by that is that if there is a game with 10k viewers, but majority of the viewers are on one channel then I know that it is not the game that is popular but rather the streamer.
The viewers are just there for the streamer streaming that game and not for the game itself and so it will be more difficult to get those people to my channel.
So when you are deciding on what game to stream on Twitch use tools like Twitch Strike to see what game has a good balance between viewers and broadcasters. However, this is not the only factor in choosing a game to stream on Twitch, although it is a major factor.
Choose a game your viewers want to watch
Part of building a community and gaining support for your stream is streaming games that your viewers want to watch. You will have some viewers who will watch you no matter what game you stream and that’s great, but some people will only watch you when you stream certain games.
Now I don’t think you should stream a game just because that’s what other people want, that will get old real quick, but you do want to be mindful of your community.
For example, if you are a streamer who mainly streams shooter games, and out of nowhere you switch up and start streaming MOBAs, you may lose some supporters who are there to see you stream shooters.
In the beginning I suggest staying with one game or one genre and not mix things up too much until you have some loyal supporters in your community.
Every now and again I think it is cool to switch it up and stream a game that your community wants to see you play, but I think it is more important to stream a game that you yourself enjoy and I will tell you why below.
Choose a game that you enjoy playing
This is the last, but not the least important thing you should consider when deciding what game you should stream. Choosing a game that you like to stream is one of, if not the most important thing to consider when choosing a game to stream.
If you don’t enjoy playing the game that you are streaming then your viewers will be able to tell.
They can tell because your energy will be low, the excitement won’t be there and you will be itching to get done streaming rather than itching to keep playing.
I saw this a lot recently when Fortnite started to decline. I could tell that several of the streamers that I watched were DONE with Fortnite.
Not that Fortnite was a bad game, but Fortnite had run its course and some streamers were still trying to hold on to the glory days even though they just weren’t that into it anymore.
Now this wasn’t the case for all streamers, some still enjoy the game very much, but others were just over it and only kept streaming it for their viewers and it showed. The energy and excitement was just not there.
Streaming is fun. I mean who doesn’t like playing video games with friends right? But it can also be very taxing on your mind.
When you love the game you play everything is just better. So when deciding on a game to play try to choose one that you do enjoy playing. If not, you will get burnt out real quick. Trust me.
But what if the game you want to stream is one of the saturated games that we talked about earlier? If this is the case, consider working the saturated game into your stream schedule but I definitely wouldn’t make it the main focus of your stream if you are trying to grow as a streamer.
If you are just in it for funsies and not trying to grow then it really doesn’t matter what you stream right?
As always, if you have any questions or just want to hang with me, stop by my Twitch channel here and say what’s up!
Stream Tips
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Best Streaming Software – Streamlabs Ultra is the streaming software used by most major streamers. It allows you to multi-stream, set up a merch store, and much more. Click here to check them out. 🤖 |
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For even more streaming tips and how to content check out my Youtube channel here. And if you want to check out my streams then stop by my Twitch channel here.
There is not one game or genre that is the “best” to stream, but there are things you should consider before choosing what game you are going to stream. Above all else, just have fun out there man! And keep chasing your stream dreams.
Eric streams 3 days a week on Twitch and uploads weekly to Youtube under the moniker, StreamersPlaybook. He loves gaming, PCs, and anything else related to tech. He’s the founder of the website StreamersPlaybook and loves helping people answer their streaming, gaming, and PC questions.