How streamers make a living

How streamers make a living

Many people wonder if it is possible to live streaming and Youtube videos. Many people risk it without knowing exactly what they are doing. Few are able to live on it.

The Ninja case

Ninja, the most famous streamer in the world, has revealed earning more or less $ 500,000 a month. He is today considered one of the most influential people on the planet.

For the release of the game Apex Legends, the star of Twitch would have touched nearly a million dollars to promote the new game Electronic Arts. An astronomical amount that would remain a very good investment considering the huge impact that it could have on the community of players ...

Ninja remains a case apart. Streamers' revenue is mainly related to their fan community. A streamer may very well not multiply views but receive very generous donations from its followers. Everything is based on volunteering. The most atypical personalities are usually those who stand out the best. We will notice that the funniest streamers are often the biggest mouths, the funniest or the most annoying.

Various sources of income

If there is no limit for donations, the majority of Internet users do not usually give more than 5 or 10 € per month to their favorite streamers. During a Stream, however, it happens regularly that a generous donor passes by and transfers 1000, 10000 or 50000 € - causing at the same time a reaction of the streamer in full play.

It is often the more generous donors who get a "reward" such as a quote or public acknowledgment, pushing others to overtake them, which is of benefit to the streamer.

There is another way to make money on Twitch: subscriptions. At a price of $ 5 per month, it is possible to receive exclusive content (emotes, access to chat in certain moments, etc.) thanks to this subscription. This income remains the most stable for the streamer. Some of this income is still paid to Twitch. The largest streamers on the platform (those with at least 10,000 subscribers) earn 70% of the amount generated by subscriptions, or $ 3.5. This number multiplied by a minimum of 10,000 gives the tidy sum of $ 35,000 just with subscriptions per month.

Then come advertising revenue. An advertisement inevitably starts when you start watching a stream, whatever it is (obviously, if you have an ad blocker, it will not be the case but then the streamer will not touch the money he could have won ). This advertisement will allow the streamer to pocket a certain amount of money. Subsequently, he can launch advertisements as he sees fit, for example during a break or at moments of his live. Here again the revenues are very variable, as with the donations, because it is the goodwill of the streamer and according to how his community will receive the fact that he himself launches advertisements.

And lastly, partnerships, sponsored content or product placements are an integral part of streamers' revenues. And there are many ways to promote an advertiser, whether it's through social networks, live or with a distinctive sign. Other advertisers ask the streamer to play their game during a sponsored live. It is now mandatory to specify when a video is sponsored. And concerning the remuneration, everything depends on the contract that has been made with the brand or the game. This can be done in the form of a fixed payment with a predetermined sum or it can be according to the number of viewers on the live, with a fixed amount for a viewer that would grow as and when. We can imagine that a streamer that has more than 10 000 viewers can see the sum increase considerably.

Often in the sector, it is estimated that a streamer has been successful when it manages to generate more than $ 2,000 a month - enough to live off his passion. To get there, the road is long and full of pitfalls. The most popular will however assure you: streaming is above all a passion and not an end in itself. And that's what often distinguishes professionals and many players who see an opportunity to quickly inflate their bank account ...