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Archives for February 2020

Getting Started on Twitch: 5 Ways to Fund Your Streaming Career

Getting Started on Twitch: 5 Ways to Fund Your Streaming Career

February 23, 2020 By Michael Piggott

You’ve been playing video games for a long time, and it’s time you break out into the world of Twitch streaming. Maybe you want to share your experiences or want to make money, but getting started on Twitch is the first step to streaming domination.

Streaming on Twitch can be lucrative if you do it right, but it isn’t easy. You need to find ways to make money on Twitch to keep the bills paid. It might be best to start small and work your way to full time unless you’re lucky enough to have no living expenses.

Check out five ways you can fund your streaming career on Twitch.

1. Getting Started on Twitch Leads to Sponsors

Streamers spend hours a day online and over time you’ll gain fans, subscribers, etc. They’ll come back to you faithfully, especially if you’re entertaining, interactive and work on promoting yourself. As you gain popularity, you’ll earn sponsors that pay you either with cash or product to promote them on your streams.

There are also groups that help you find sponsors for your Twitch stream as well. Sponsors are one of the best ways to earn money by streaming.

2. Receive Donations from Viewers

When you’re a showman and provide a streaming experience that is entertaining, then viewers who like your shows can send you donations through Twitch or sites like Patreon. Why would someone send a donation? They want to keep you on the air, and they know to give you money can help.

Everyone needs to pay the bills. If streamers can’t do that, then they’ll have to 

3. Sell Merchandise to your Viewers

Being a streamer is a lot like owning a business. You have a brand that you’re promoting, and the goal is to make a good living. Your brand is everything about you and your Twitch stream. Many streamers have catchphrases, special names for their viewers, etc.

If you have a good fanbase, then you can create merchandise such as shirts, hats, etc. and sell them on your stream. If you have a likable brand, then your fans should want to buy them.

4. Subscribers Provide Recurring Income

As you gain popularity, you may begin earning subscribers to your stream. Unlike YouTube, subscribers on Twitch pay a monthly fee that you split with Twitch.

You can’t start out charging for subscribers until you have at least 50 followers. This is when you become a Twitch affiliate and eventually a Twitch partner.

5. Selling Items Via Affiliate Links

Affiliate links are products from a third-party that you sell on your Twitch stream. There are many affiliate programs for all kinds of products, but Amazon is one of the most popular.

Since Amazon owns Twitch, it made it easy to add Amazon products as a widget to your streaming page. When someone clicks on the product and buys it, then you receive a percentage of the sale. It’s a popular way to make money on Twitch.

Hard Work Pays Off

If your dream is to make a living playing video games, then getting started on Twitch can get you on your way. Use these tips to earn money as fast as possible and make your dream a reality.


Filed Under: Financial, Gaming Tagged With: streaming, twitch

How Much Does it Cost to Make a Game? You’d Be Surprised

How Much Does it Cost to Make a Game? You’d Be Surprised

February 10, 2020 By Michael Piggott

In the past, videogames were often regarded as trivial ways to spend your time (and you were often criticized for enjoying them).

Today, with the addition of voice actors, storytelling with massive depth, and constant development in high-quality graphics, it’s easily argued that videogames have become works of art.

So, it’s no surprise that there are plenty of independent developers out there who’d like to try their hand at making their own game.

But, how much does it cost to make a game that’s AAA quality? Not everyone knows what to expect.

Let’s take a look at five things to keep in mind.

So… How Much Does it Cost to Make a Game?

The answer to this question is highly variable based on a handful of factors. Things like total man-hours spent, licensing, and the overall length of the project all contribute to the total price tag.

Put simply, though, it costs millions— often into the double digits.

Let’s dive into the elements that influence this number.

1. Labor ($3M – $5M)

This is the meat of the game budget. To make a game that’s AAA caliber, though, you’re going to need a team of some of the most talented developers out there.

Since people of this proficiency are hard to come by and constantly being tracked down by other companies, you’ll need to offer them a competitive salary. Depending on the size of your project, you’ll likely already be in the millions in terms of cost.

But, the reality is top-tier games require this level of investment.

2. Music ($500K-$1M)

Hiring session musicians (or even an orchestra, in some cases) can put a huge dent in your budget depending on how fleshed-out you want your games music to be.

In some cases, commissioned work can cost up to $2,500 per minute of composed music.

While stock music is typically an option for independent developers, the vast majority of AAA games all have original soundtracks that musicians were hired to compose, perform, and record.

Games that take place in fantasy or medieval settings tend to have higher budgets for original music than games in the Grand Theft Auto series.

3. Licensing ($1M-$5M)

Licensing can easily cost millions of dollars.

The developers of Grand Theft Auto V, for example, licensed nearly 250 songs for the game’s radio station that plays while you operate a vehicle. In some cases, licensing one song can cost thousands of dollars (depending on its popularity).

There are many other instances where licensing comes into play, too. This includes the use of trademark names, original characters (such as those from a film), and other forms of intellectual property. 

4. Complexity ($3M-$5M)

The more complex your game is (fleshed-out online play, overall content, etc.) the more code that will need to be written.

As your game’s code becomes more extensive, though, it becomes exponentially more complicated to work on and maintain. This often means more requiring more hours from your team (or even having to hire extra programmers).

This is especially true if you’re developing an original game engine (and not tweaking one like the Call of Duty games do). 

Grand Total: Approximately $10 Million

This number will vary depending on what you need for your game (especially when it comes to licensing requirements). But, $10 million is a fairly common number to see as the total budget of a AAA game.

Final Thoughts 

Developing a AAA game costs millions, so it’s out of reach for the majority of gamers.

But, those with a true passion for the industry still have the opportunity to make their own games on a smaller scale. In these cases, the answer to ‘how much does it cost to make a game’ will be far more reasonable.

Want to learn how you can save money while you game? This page has plenty of useful info about how we can help.

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: gamedev, Gaming

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