Video games opened new doors for people who were seeking jobs. Whether you are a developer, composer, writer, or anybody that could be involved in the process of creating a video game, you would have an opportunity to work in the gaming industry. Yet, creating video games was only the start of things. Esports brought opportunities to people who wanted to compete on a professional level.
And then came streaming, allowing people to play their favorite games and to share that experience with the world. Some streamers are only streamers, living their life through streaming, as a full-time job. Could anybody do it? It depends.
Streaming is Unreliable
There are plenty of success stories of streamers earning enough money to live and purchase whatever they wanted, from cars to houses. You do not have to have 15k viewers on average to have a successful stream. Some live just fine with 500 viewers. Yet, viewership comes and goes, depending on many factors.
The community’s opinion can change, you could get banned for any number of ridiculous reasons. You might not be appealing to the community any more.
The most problematic thing is never blowing up in the first place. If your stream ends up with 2 viewers every single day, then it would be hard to be using streaming as the only source of income.
Streaming Could Make You Rich(er)
There are many popular streamers who earn enough money to purchase whatever they need, from food, clothes, to cars and houses. Yet, there are even more streamers who do not get more than 5 viewers. Scroll down any streaming service’s category list and you will find the unsuccessful stories.
But, that does not mean that your stream cannot take off. With good advertising, promoting your stream, as well as either educational, high level gameplay or entertainment value, you could stream and earn money. You could also offer advice, or play music. Anything is streamed nowadays, enabling people from all fields of education and interests to be successful.
The Long-Term Concerns
Streaming has a couple of issues inherently. There are long-term concerns. Will you be streaming for the next two or three decades? If so, then what are you going to be streaming? Streamers often burn out from playing the same video game for a year, let alone a decade. Also, which video games will you be able to play for a decade? Which ones will be popular enough?
Lastly, will you have enough time and energy to stream in your 40s and 50s? If so, who will your audience be? There are plenty of concerns regarding long-term streaming. Short-term, it might work if your stream takes off.
Fun and Games and Money
Streaming can also be viewed as a secondary source of income, provided that you already have enough through your primary job. With that, you could earn money on the side and still have a successful career. If your stream takes off, then you could consider switching to streaming as a full-time job. A streamer’s career depends on donations, sponsors, ads, as well as subscribers. Have that in mind before you devote your time and money to streaming.
Streaming could be a full-time job, yet one needs to consider everything that could go wrong. Streaming can be unreliable and things may change with the sneeze of a streaming service administrator.
Plan ahead and have backups in case things do not go your way.
