Video game streaming provides an outlet

Aleksandra Kajderowicz

Commentary Writer

Video game streaming has taken the world by storm. For content creators, streaming can provide a form of creative escape while also providing income for those who have had more success garnering a larger, loyal audience.

With the streaming community having such influence on the internet, streamers get to share their love for games while also showing off their creativity and personality through their commentary and style.

Senior Anna Wilkowski balances her school life with that of a part-time streamer on a popular streaming platform called Twitch, playing games such as “Minecraft,” “Valorant,” and “Genshin Impact.”

“I like streaming because it’s a cool way to connect with other people online and it feels really nice when people go out of their way to type something into the chat or follow [the channel],” Wilkowski said.

While streaming can be enjoyable, it can also be demanding at times.

“Streaming is really hard to keep up with when you’re involved with sports and school because there’s a lot more that goes into promoting yourself outside of Twitch as well,” Wilkowski said.

Streamers have to utilize their wit and creativity to accumulate an audience that will then form a community.

Streaming video games is the baseline when it comes to broadcasting content, as it allows for audiences to grow rapidly. This can then open doors to more opportunities, such as branching out into new streaming categories such as commentary or vlogging. Unfortunately, it can be a struggle to achieve enough of this growth to expand without losing a number of fans.

“Twitch has a terrible algorithm for new streamers,” Wilkowski said.

Streaming can pose certain challenges for content creators, particularly for new creators who need to generate their fanbases from scratch.

Although user-friendly, Twitch is known for various streamer interface flaws that don’t always putting streamers’ interests first.

The main way streamers can make money on Twitch is through subscriptions, where viewers pay to subscribe to their channel. This may earn the viewer special access to certain videos or chat options depending on the streamer’s offer. The most common subscription is a $4.99 monthly subscription, which Twitch then takes 50% of.

However, the goals of every streamer can make the experience enjoyable no matter how many fans they have or how much money they make.

“I really like gaming,” Wilkowski said. “Streaming made me feel like I have an excuse to play more video games.”