How to Make Money on Twitch

The tremendous impact of Twitch at the beginning of the pandemic prompted many content creators, gamers, artists, or just people who wanted to have fun and meet new people to create their channel, share their streams with the world and earn money on Twitch.

However, there are many characteristics that you must take into account to become a successful and original streamer to earn income; it is not enough to have an incredible personality or be an excellent player. If you are interested in dedicating yourself to streaming and making money on Twitch from scratch, here is all that you need to know about it.

What is Twitch?

People who are passionate about video games not only consume them through consoles or PCs; we also love reading about the news of our favorite brands, blog reviews, YouTube gameplays, and, of course, live broadcasts.

At the beginning of the pandemic, the Twitch platform reached a high rating of people who registered and spent long hours watching the live broadcasts of their favorite streamers playing the best video games in the industry.

However, before we jump into the world of streaming on Twitch, let’s go from the beginning so you can learn more about the platform.

Twitch’s History

The Twitch project came to light in mid-2011 at the hands of Justin Kan, also the creator of Justin.tv. If you are very young or have never heard of this website, let me explain a few key things.

In 2004, when computers did not have the great capacity of today, Justin Kan, along with other colleagues, opened the Justin.tv website that allowed live transmissions in the first person.

At that time, several companies competed with this project, such as Livestream and Ustream. However, Justin’s page had a video game section that grew so exponentially that it allowed him to sponsor various video game tournaments of the Blizzard company, increasing the numbers of users on Justin.tv in a fantastic way.

Justin realized an excellent opportunity to target the gamer public, so he decided to create Twitch, a platform focused on electronic sports. It didn’t take long for the community to grow bigger and bigger, so automatically, tech giants like Google and Amazon turned their attention to this platform.

They couldn’t reach an agreement with Google, so in 2014 Amazon put on its dark glasses in the best “turn that for what” style because it managed to buy Twitch for $970 million. Since then, the platform has not stopped growing, thanks to the success of eSports around the world. It’s become so popular that there’s even a TwitchCon where you can meet streamers, play games, and participate in eSports competitions.

Also, if you have Amazon Prime, you have the opportunity to subscribe for free to your favorite channel.

Platform growth and audience diversity

The year 2020 was full of changes for the whole world. Many people had to experience the lockdown alone, and those who were not alone needed some entertainment or distraction. This situation opened the way for many to decide to go to Twitch and enjoy various steamers’ content or make their channel to stream, making this platform grow up to 40% and become number one in terms of percentage of hours issued in that year.

Twitch itself revealed that in 2020 it was receiving approximately 30 million user visits daily. According to audience statistics, more than 60% of the users are men, and the rest are women or people who do not define themselves with any gender. Furthermore, 41% (16 to 24 years old) of users are centennials, and 32% are millennials (24 to 35 years old).

As you may have noticed, this platform is impressively large. Many people are streaming and many viewers, so you’re going to have an excellent opportunity to grow if you want to start streaming.

What kind of content exists on Twitch?

Although the platform is mainly known for streaming video games, if your goal is not just to play, do not worry. Over time, Twitch has diversified its content very broadly, including music, sports, art, and other types of live content.

How does Twitch work?

It is crucial that before streaming, you know how Twitch works to be aware of its internal characteristics and various of its policies.

In short, this platform allows any user to watch live broadcasts or make their streams themselves. The people who create this type of content in real-time are called streamers, and they usually interact with the audience that communicates through chat.

Its interface is straightforward; let me explain how it is broken down and how it works:

• Central Part: In this area, you can see a slider with live broadcasts and a series of recommendations for categories and channels.
• Top bar: In this part, you can find a tab called “Following” if you access it, you can see the news of the channels you follow while. Now, if you enter the “Explore” tab, you will have the opportunity to discover new channels that are broadcasting live. You can also access Esports and Music live streams, search, check your rewards, notifications, messages, and access your account settings.
• Left Panel: If you are logged in, you will see a list of the channels you follow and recommended channels broadcasting live.

Categories and tags

There are many categories and tags on Twitch. Therefore you must classify your streams correctly so that they reach your audience.

When streamers start a live broadcast, they should always select the category and tags that suit what viewers will see on the stream or what they will talk about. In this way, users who want to see a specific type of content will be able to find it in their search results or recommendations.

Followers vs. Subscribers

Due to social networks, we are very used to the concept of followers. The more followers you have on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, the more recognition you have. However, on Twitch, there are two concepts, followers and subscribers.

Both followers and subscribers of a Twitch channel can watch the streams for free. At this point, you must be wondering what the difference between a follower and a Twitch subscriber is? Subscribers pay a monthly fee that provides them with a series of advantages.

Depending on your subscription type, you will be able to watch ad-free streams, subscriber-only streams, talk privately with the streamer, and access emotes and subscriber badges.

Ways to support a content creator on Twitch

There are three ways to show support for your favorite streamers, following their channel, subscribing, and donating bits.

By following the channels you like, you help a lot to be more and more known on the platform, and other people are excited to see your content. Now, if you subscribe to a channel, you receive certain benefits as a viewer, but you help your favorite content creator do what they love.

It is important to keep in mind that there are people who spend many hours of their time doing live broadcasts, so getting a subscription from their followers is a great motivator, and it also means an extra income for their hard work.

Bits are also a great way to support; these are virtual currencies that users can buy to send donations to the streamer they like the most.

If you want to become a great streamer on Twitch, you must know all these ways of support since you can ask your audience during the broadcast to follow you if they like your content, this way, you will grow much faster.

Ways to make money on Twitch

In case you want to dedicate yourself to streaming and earn money with Twitch fully, you can choose from the following options:

1. Direct donations: You can add a personalized link to your Paypal account in the chat or create a donation panel so that viewers can make donations to your channel.
2. Affiliate Program: On Twitch, you can become an affiliate if you meet the following requirements:
   1. Stream 8 hours in the last 30 days
   2. Stream 7 different days in the previous 30 days
   3. With an average of 3 or more simultaneous viewers in the last 30 days
   4. Get and keep at least 50 followers.

By doing so, you will get the option for your followers to subscribe. Twitch offers subscriptions of $4.99, $9.99, and $24.99, and streamers get 50% of the profits.

You will also access the bits to receive donations with this currency from your followers. Also, if your channel has grown enough, you will be able to earn advertising revenue.

3. Partner Program: In addition to all the affiliate program benefits, partners have more customization options and tools for the channel. These are the requirements to become a member:
   1. Stream 25 hours in the last 30 days
   2. Stream 12 different days during the previous 30 days
   3. Get an average of 75 viewers in the last 30 days.

Living your dreams of making money on Twitch is possible with the Gamers Card

The Twitch platform has had excellent strategies to reward people who invest their time broadcasting live and making quality content. Many content creators migrated to this platform along with their followers because the income for their hard work is fairer than with other media.

If your dream is to become a streamer and be able to share with your community the topics you are passionate about or have fun with, Twitch is the perfect place for you. Remember that if you apply discipline and perseverance to your habits, you will be able to grow faster and earn money on Twitch.

You can use a gamer card like the Ugami Debit Card to redeem your stream rewards and use it for your daily spending. In this way, you will accumulate Ugipoints that you can exchange for great things from the gaming world, such as hardware, gift cards, merchandising, and much more.

If you want to be one of the first to enjoy the Ugami Card, download the Ugami App now!