How to Live Stream Video Games to Twitch or YouTube

If you want to be a video game streamer all you need is an internet connection and a good PC - or one of the latest video game consoles.

Streaming from Console or PC?

On a PC you have much more control over the overlays and background effects (if you use a green screen), the placement of the footage and your webcam feed. If you stream from Playstation or Xbox, and want more options you can record/stream your gaming footage to PC.

What you'll need

1. A PC or one of the latest gaming consoles.
2. A Camera (webcam, Playstation camera, or Kinect for Xbox.)
3. Microphone - often built into the camera but you can get a better one.
4. The right software (for PC streaming).

Which Software to use?

One of the most popular softwares for streaming is OBS (Open Broadcasting Software).

In OBS you can easily control and preview all your feeds (webcam, game video, graphics, and other media) You'll get a private key that you'll use on your Twitch or YouTube channel(s).

Tutorial: How to use OBS
Tutorial: Creating Graphics/  Overlay for Streaming.

Streaming to Twitch.tv or YouTube?

There's nothing stopping you from streaming to both Twitch and YouTube at the same time, it's fairly easy to setup. But you might prefer to focus on one platform at first to build a fanbase, and interact with the community in chat. Twitch is very video game focused and you might gain followers and donations quicker there as a game streamer.