Who would have thought content streaming would grow to the huge niche industry that it is today? Thanks to video streaming platforms like YouTube and Twitch, content creators can record themselves doing something of interest or going about their daily lives and make money. Usually, YouTube is more popular for wider audiences, whereas gamers who enjoy esports and even online casino gaming are more inclined to use Twitch.
You’d be surprised by the number of people that watch gamers in action and enjoy it and how much the said content creators make from showcasing their gaming skills. It is a rather healthy way of making a living, and today, tons of gamers have even gone as far as fashioning a full-blown career off Twitch streaming.
If you look at the list of top streamers, you’ll discover that Twitch is an extremely lucrative source of income, with many of them making millions of dollars in income every year. But how exactly do these Twitch streamers make money? We took the liberty of running down the numbers for you to offer you a baseline that could help you kickstart your Twitch career if that’s the direction you want to take.
How to Earn via Twitch
First things first, before you can monetize your Twitch account, you have to meet the following requirements:
- Have at least 50 followers;
- Streamed for a minimum of seven days in the last month;
- Streamed for at least 500 minutes in the previous month;
- Received an average of at least 3 viewers on a consecutive basis per stream.
With the above requirements in the bag, here are some of the main sources of income for Twitch streamers to give you an idea of how much they earn:
- Donations
This means asking your followers for donations, but it is hinged on how entertaining your viewers find your gaming or your channel presentation. Your follower is probably more likely to offer a donation to you if they feel that your Twitch is entertaining. Twitch also has a mini-donation type of program called Bits. Your followers can offer donations via PayPal and Amazon Pay as long as you are a Twitch Affiliate. As you can probably guess, it is difficult to quote a specific figure of how much twitch streamers make on donations because this is a factor that is largely dependent on your followers.
- Ads
Ads are a great way to make money via Twitch. Most Twitch streams usually have one or two ads running before you can continue streaming. There is, however, a delicate balance that a Twitch streamer needs to strike when it comes to ads. Should you place too many ads on your content, it may result in you losing a significant number of your viewers and subscribers.
So how much exactly do the ads bring in? That tends to vary depending on which brand the ads represent and which region they are streaming in. For example, according to stream charts, the price of 1,000 ad views in Eastern Europe is about $3-$4. Meanwhile, the cost of the same volume of advertising in Western Europe is between $200 and $400.
- Subscriptions
When you are a twitch streamer wanting to play in the big leagues, you’d probably do well to ensure that your subscriber count is as high as possible. You can do this by reminding your viewers to subscribe when streaming regularly. The subscriptions on Twitch matter a lot mainly because they are paid subscriptions.
But then, like the ad views, the amount of money you make per subscriber is highly dependent on the region you are streaming from. For example, viewers pay 7.99 AUD in Australia for the lowest monthly subscription tier. In contrast, the cost is $2.99 in China, $1.99 in Bolivia, $2.49 in Nigeria, and $4.99 in the USA, just to mention a few. So, the more subscribers you have, the bigger percentage you can take of the subscription money. Remember, Twitch Affiliate streamers are eligible for a minimum of a 50% cut on the subscription fee.
So, How Much Money do Twitch Streamers Make Across the Board?
Top streamers like Ninja make millions of dollars annually from Twitch subscriptions and exclusive sponsorship deals every year. You, however, don’t have to be a big-shot streamer to make money via Twitch. Many so-called small shots will still make anything from $50 to a respectable figure of $1,500 a month, depending on the number of average viewers. Not bad, right? That’s just a rough estimate, though, with the average twitch streamer said to make roughly between $25 and $130 each month from subscriptions and ads. However, if you have next to zero followers, you shouldn’t expect to get paid.
Parting Shot
It ultimately comes down to how much effort you put into your trade and the steps that you take to make your Twitch channel as interesting as possible. That’s what distinguishes the very top earners from the rest.
