How to become a streamer on Twitch, YouTube, etc.

Twitch, YouTube, etc.: Streaming is growing from year to year and has become an increasing trend. More and more people around the world start their own channel on one of the streaming platforms every day. Many digital platforms offer the possibility of sharing your hobby with others via streaming.

First things first though: Via streaming platforms like Twitch or YouTube, basically anyone can become a content creator. Depending on what you're interested in, there are different genres of streaming - from video podcasts to games, music or fitness. Once you've decided on a particular platform, you might ask yourself how does streaming work at home and what are the requirements?

Once you've created an account with one of the streaming platforms, you're ready to go. To share content live with an audience, you need the right equipment. In addition to a stable Internet connection, computing power is especially important. For example, Twitch recommends at least an Intel Core i5-4670 or a comparable AMD processor as well as eight gigabytes of RAM for good results. A powerful PC is sufficient for the start. At some point in the future, you can think about possibly upgrading the hardware or getting a second streaming computer on which you can follow the live chat, for example.

But in addition to the right hardware, the right software is also crucial. Besides XSplit and Twitch Studio, the best-known and most popular applications include the streaming software OBS. The free open-source program works under both Windows and macOS.

To communicate with viewers simultaneously, it is recommended to have your own team chat. Both Teamspeak and Discord are well suited for talking to several people at the same time. Teamspeak is one of the pioneers in terms of team chats and is now considered the great classic among team chat applications, which focuses on pure talking and chatting. However, the operation is a bit more complicated, since a dedicated server has to be set up in advance.

In 2015, Teamspeak found itself with a competitor - the chat and voice program Discord. This program comes with a clear user interface and, compared to Teamspeak, offers the option to communicate via video chat. In addition, the free software can be used directly in the browser.

Besides the choice of platform, you still have to make an important decision: PC or gaming console? Although a lot depends on your gaming preferences, a gaming PC offers some advantages. On the one hand, team chat applications like Teamspeak or Discord can be used for chatting. On the other hand, the flexibility of the hardware is also an important criterion for deciding for a PC. This is because you always have the option of upgrading or updating it further.

To get noticed and comment live on the stream, a webcam and microphone are essential. You can use the microphone on your headset to start with, but in the long run, we recommend a high-quality streaming microphone that picks up less background noise and reverberation.

It's also hard to imagine streaming without a webcam - after all, it puts you in the limelight. Here, too, a not-so-expensive beginner's model is enough to get you started. Good webcams that deliver images in HD quality can be found for under $100.

The two dominant streaming platforms differ in many respects. The main difference is that Twitch clearly focuses on the live broadcasting of video games and is primarily of interest to gamers. But the platform has long since also offered videos from other areas - such as music, sports, and fashion.

While Twitch specialises in live streams, YouTube relies on the on-demand principle with permanent content - that is, individual videos can be uploaded and viewed at any time. YouTube, which registers around one billion users per month, is ahead of the game, especially when it comes to diversity. Some of the world's best-known influencers can be found here. On various channels, users can choose from a wide range of videos from a wide variety of areas. But Twitch also has an enormous reach and around 100 million monthly users. Live chats during a live stream are possible on both platforms.

Although Twitch is primarily known as a streaming platform for live video games worldwide, it has continued to expand its range of topics in recent years and is much more than the “YouTube for gamers”. One of the most popular Twitch sections is Just Chatting. As the name suggests, the streamers chat live with their followers about all kinds of topics and questions.

Alternatively, you can watch TV series and movies from Amazon Prime Video together and discuss them in the chat. Twitch has launched a feature called Watch Party for this purpose. Categories such as music & performing arts, talk shows, and podcasts, as well as the Twitch trend ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) already have a large fan base that continues to grow.

Whether it's YouTube or Twitch, if you stream content that is age-restricted, you need to enable age restriction. This significantly reduces access to your videos for audiences who are too young. Copyright is also an important issue for anyone who wants to upload a recorded video or start live streaming. YouTubers can learn how to protect themselves at the YouTube Creator Academy, for example. Twitch also recommends that its users inform themselves about copyright law and only use music from its own Soundtrack by Twitch tool.

Streaming and communicating with followers at the same time - this can get exhausting in the long run. To concentrate fully on the stream, it makes sense to hire moderators. They can take care of your chat by, for example, excluding certain viewers and deleting inappropriate comments. This gives you full control over the streaming and can improve the quality of your stream.

Whether Minecraft server, Valheim server or Global Offensive, in short CS:GO server – if you want to play in multiplayer mode, you should look for your own game world. At IONOS, you can choose between three different server models. How much performance and resources you need will influence which one is best suited to you.

The overview shows three typical game situations and the matching server models:

To make your choice easier, we will briefly introduce the three game servers.

The budget option: If you are primarily looking for a cheap game server, a virtual server is the right choice. Although there are fewer configuration options for a vServer than for the other models, you can still extensively customise your game server according to your individual wishes thanks to root access.

A vServer is not enough? Then how about a cloud server? Depending on the plan, it can be configured according to your needs. You can adjust server resources such as CPU, RAM, etc. at any time according to the number of players and capacity. With this model, you rent virtualised server resources that are billed by the minute.

Unlike virtual servers, with a dedicated server you don't have to share system resources with other users - this means that the complete performance and server hardware are available only to you at all times. Thanks to full root access, you can configure the entire system according to your needs. Dedicated game servers are also billed on a per-use and per-minute basis.

If you would like to have a professional presence online, you can do this with your own website. First, check whether your desired address is still available – you can do this with the help of our domain check. If it is, you can order it and select the appropriate plan.