How to livestream on Twitch - Beginner's guide

Streaming has never been easier. Of course, publishers/developers like Paradox Interactive are now partnering with streaming sites like Twitch to make it so that all you have to do is push a button to broadcast your game. But it’ll be awhile before every game you play will have this feature, so in the meantime, how do you go about setting up your very own stream? It’s easy, but you need the right tools and a platform. For the purposes of this guide, we decided to go with Twitch, a site that was branched off of Justin.tv and designed specifically for eSports and live video game streaming.

Things you’ll need:

• PC
• Game
• Internet
• Webcam (optional, but highly recommended)

The type of game you want to stream will determine what kind of PC you’ll need. You do need a decent CPU to host a good quality stream.  An i5 will likely help, but you can also get away with an i3. Again, that depends if you’re hosting 4v4 matches of Starcraft II or streaming old school adventure games…that are text based. You’ll want a minimum of 4GB of RAM.

As for internet, you’ll want to check with your provider to see what they have. Upload speeds of 3-5 mb/s would be fantastic, but you can also get away with 1-2 mb if you adjust your settings in Xsplit. It won’t be the highest quality stream, but it’s still doable.

A webcam will make the experience more personal. After talking to Marcus “djWHEAT” Graham, a popular streamer in the Starcraft II community and an outreach manager at Twitch, he highly recommended installing a webcam if you want to build an engaged audience.

“Most people would rather watch a human element behind it, than just watch gameplay,” he says. “[The webcam is] a wildly popular addition to most everyone’s stream. You have this intimacy with the broadcaster because they put the webcam there.”

How to do it:

Xsplit is one of the easiest programs to use and set up. The free version has lower audio quality, but will do the job if you’re just getting started. (If you’re going to be making money off your streams at some point, you would need to purchase a license for higher audio quality.) The program allows you to tweak your settings to set up the best stream possible, and has a convenient option for you to notify your social networks that you’re ready to broadcast.

How to be good at it:

Here’s the hard part. Anyone with the right equipment can stream, but in order to gain a following or stream something that's worth watching, you need to do more than just play. We asked djWHEAT, a world-famous StarCraft II personality who currently hosts multiple shows and has been doing this professionally for years, what kind of advice he would give to beginners. Here’s a summary of what he came up with:

Social networking – You have to start somewhere, so tap into your social network. Twitter, Facebook, and even the Twitch site itself allow you to branch out and connect with people. Reach out to communities, and go to different web sites, especially those concerning your games of choice. It takes a lot of legwork, and the hardest threshold to break is your first 100 viewers.

Being a good player - Not sucking at your game certainly helps, and if you’re funny and interesting, people will want to watch. Bring a guest on from time to time and engage the audience. Ask them to be a part of your stream by telling you where to go or what to do.

Consistency – Consistency is key. It will get you viewers regardless of how long your stream is. It’s much easier to follow someone who has a set time on when he or she will go live. Label your stream correctly so people know what they’re about to watch.

Don’t be AFK – Just think of what you’d want to watch. No one wants to watch a stream when no one is there. Don’t go live until you’re ready.

Here are the basics to get you started. Do you want a more comprehensive step-by-step guide? Let us know in the comments. If you're a streamer already and have other suggestions on how to get better, share below! GLHF! Many thanks to djWHEAT for his advice!