When it comes to streaming it can be extremely hard to find your “Niche”. I asked this question on twitter and the results seem to be overwhelming. Ill lay out the two sides and then at the end say what the majority had thought as well too.

One Game Streamers

Picking one game to play can have many good or bad reasons. One good reason is you can pick a game (Mind you saturation somewhat does have a factor here as well too) and You can build a community around one game and grow on this. Plus side is you gain regular viewers because they are normally seeking out a person who plays this specific type of game. They know what to expect. Keeping in mind, Whether you play a game that is over saturated or one that is under saturated you still have to put in the work and the time it takes to bring viewers to come into your stream. Playing a game like Fortnite, or Apex or Dead by Daylight, that has some of the top viewers on the directory can be hard to make your place. Unless you are a professional player/competitive player, or extremely funny, It can be hard to make a footprint there.

There is also A LOT of risk if you stick to one game. Say this game is new, taking off and some what popular. You play this game every single day. And one day the it flops. Whether the fan base disappears, The developers pull the plug (Which we all know too well on games and companies in the gaming space) and now what? Do you try a brand new game? Stick this out til its gone? Find a similar like game to start playing? It really depends. You have to also ask yourself this “Have I built this community big enough and been personal enough with them that they will watch me play anything?”. If the answer is yes normally you can switch games easily because folks aren’t there to watch game play, they are there to see YOU. And that is just a bonus if they like the game.

Variety Streamers

Now you have the flip side of this, Variety streamers. These streamers play any game they want and aren’t limited to anything other then what they want to play. Again, they have pros and cons. A pro would be you wont get bored of games. When you do get bored you just flip to a different game and play that. Mind you variety can be great if a game you frequent is not that great and you just switch games. Though building a community could be extremely hard for the simple fact that you are always changing games. And changing games so differently like going from a Battle Royale, to a Team game, Then you flip to an Indie game and a simulator game it can be quite challenging. Though you might pick up a follower or two while doing this you have to really drive home who YOU ARE personality wise to keep that viewer coming back.

Being a variety streamer in my opinion means having to really lay on who you are. Connect with your viewers on a personal level. I’m not saying go out and spill your entire life story or social insurance numbers. For example, I share A LOT with my stream, But I also don’t share a lot either. Like what the name of my BF is, Or my family names for example. But we talk about life and issues that happen to be happening in my life as well as my viewers as well too. I think this makes people want to come back due to being able to relate to you as well. Finding the balance between disclosing certain information and not disclosing others can be really tricky. Give it time though and patience with yourself and you will find the right balance for your stream too!

Genre Streamers

These are streamers who stick to one genre and only one. Which I would also consider a type of variety. These people stick to team games, MMOs, battle royales, simulators, really anything from horror to indie games too. They play something similar enough that people enjoy their content and will watch normally since the games aren’t that drastically different. A lot of people dabble in this version of Variety and it seems to be a successful one for them as well too.

As you can see there really is a lot to streaming, Especially the type of content that you want to put out as well too. Personally, I stream variety. HOWEVER I would say I do main the game Dead By Daylight which will again change if you have been following my stream, now in 2022 I am primarily focusing on arts and crafting as streams. I will play games like Overwatch, Stardew Valley, as well as simulators and random games here and there. Making a switch in games can be really hard and challenging however if you let your viewers know and plan plan plan like I have with my main game of DBD to Arts and Crafts it can be more forgiving than just giving it a go blindly.

Now on to what twitter says. They have basically agreed across the board that Variety OR genre streaming is the best way to go. A lot of people even made the comments that they could not see themselves playing a single game for a long period of time as they would probably be extremely bored from this. Which can be extremely taxing especially if the game is going south or has a bunch of bugs suddenly. Twitter seems to agree that having multiple games or at least a few that are rotated around them makes the streaming experience easier because when you are bored with a game the whole stream feels it as well.

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I think regardless of your choice, A streamer should always remember that whether you play a bunch of game or just one there is a lot of behind the scenes things that need to be done. As was mentioned in previous blogs, There really is so much to do. It is not enough to just turn on the going live button and hoping for the best. And whether you decide to play just one game for years you are always able to change up your style if you feel that it is needed. The streaming world is constantly changing, therefore we need to adapt and change things where we see fit! And there is no magic formula for streaming. Just have fun and play what you want to ultimately!