Did you know people make money by playing games?
Yes, playing games. Who knew that would be a reality!
It sounded unbelievable to me as well, but it’s the truth.
When I used to see people streaming their gameplay on YouTube, Facebook, Twitch or other places, I used to think of it as fun.
What surprised me was, apart from this fun activity, many YouTubers also earn money.
And this could be done by anyone, including you.
However, this tutorial is about how you can stream mobile games on YouTube (currently working only for Android devices). However, if you are not aware of how other users are making money from YouTube, you should check out the following guides:
Once you are aware of the basics of how YouTube lets us monetize our video content, the next goal is to start posting content.
If you are a gamer, you are going to love this tutorial. You must share it with your gaming buddies to help them earn passive income or just to let them show off their gaming skills on YouTube. Win-win!
Just so you know, Twitch is the most popular social network where you earn money for streaming your gameplay. YouTube joined the party next, and Facebook has just started.
I’m a big fan of a couple of games like Counter Strike, Call of Duty and recently started playing PUBG (Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds).
While I was playing PUBG on my mobile, I was wondering how I could stream the game live on YouTube or Facebook. Upon doing some research, I got to know about OBS software, that I have already talked about earlier in one of my articles. Setting up OBS sounded like a fun thing, but I wondered how it would be for streaming Android device games.
Before I could delve deep into it, I learned about the YouTube gaming app which is available for Android devices. Using this free app, you can live stream any Android game or app on your YouTube channel. This is probably the easiest way to live stream your Android games or anything from the screen on YouTube.
The only limitation is, you can only stream on YouTube. For other social networks like Twitch or Facebook, you need to find another solution. I will talk about that in some other article.
For now, let’s learn everything we can about the YouTube gaming app. By the end of this guide, you should be able to live stream any game from your Android phone to your YouTube channel.
How to Start streaming Android Games on YouTube & Make Money
First things first, YouTube offers ad monetization (YouTube Partners program) for active channels which offers genuine and useful content. Once a channel reaches 4,000 watch hours in 12 months (last) and 1,000 subscribers, it is reviewed to join the program. Once your channel is approved for YouTube partner program, whenever someone watches your uploaded videos on YouTube, you will end up making money.
And this is some decent amount of money we are talking about here.
For example, on my YouTube channel, I have 292 videos, and so far I have earned close to $5000 from these videos.
With the growing popularity of YouTube, you have a great chance to earn more over time.
You can upload any original content, for example, a screencast, recording yourself, educational content, cooking videos, DIY videos, fun videos and also gaming videos.
To monetize gaming videos, as stated in the YouTube content monetization policy for games:
Video game content may be monetized depending on the commercial use rights granted to you by licenses of video game publishers. Some video game publishers allow you to use all video game content for commercial use and state that in their license agreements. Likewise, videos showing software user interface may be monetized only if you have a contract with the publisher or you have paid a licensing fee. (Source)
In simpler words: You need to check if you are allowed to monetize the game that you play the most on your Android phone or even on PC by streaming it on YouTube. You can take help of gaming forums to find answers too.
Now comes the big question:
How do I start streaming the games?
For this tutorial, we will focus on the YouTube gaming app.
The first thing you should do is download the YouTube gaming app on your Android phone and log in using your Google account.
Depending upon the status of your YouTube account, it might ask you to verify yourself using a phone number. Once the basic setup is complete, the next step is to start streaming from your phone.
Open the app and click on the broadcast icon at the top.
On the next screen, you need to select if you wish to Live stream, and also the video quality.
When you hit next, you need to know that you are about to go public. That means any background noise or screen notifications will be live as well. So, make sure you disable all notifications and set up your environment in a way that you are not embarrassed in any way.
Once you hit the next button, you will be prompted to select the app that you wish to live stream.
In this case, I have selected the PUBG game. Now, on the next screen, you need to give a name of the video and add a description.
You will also get the option to share the video link on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other platforms before you go live (an excellent way to inform your regulars). Click Next to open the app with the controller to start streaming.
You have the option to enable/disable the front camera from the camera icon.
You could place the floating bubble anywhere on the screen so that it doesn’t disturb your gameplay.
Once you are ready, click on the start button to start streaming and you will be live instantly.
You will also be able to see viewers comment while playing. If you have your laptop/computer in front of you, you can open YouTube live dashboard page on your browser and see the user comments and control the settings of your live videos.
My experience streaming PUBG on YouTube from Android phone
I wanted to try the live game streaming, and I did stream PUBG on my YouTube channel via the YouTube gaming app. The app made the streaming fun. However, I experienced a lag which was due to an underpowered Android phone.
The most important thing is a high spec phone (great hardware) for this purpose.
As more powerful Android devices launch in the market, we can expect better gameplay and more people joining the club of gamers who stream online.
Now, its your turn to live stream your gaming skills on YouTube and build your following.
If you know about someone who is already earning passive income by streaming live games on YouTube, I would love to hear about it. Do share your further ideas in the comment section below.
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