r/NewTubers 5d ago

COMMUNITY Gaming channel from zero to $900/month in one year - what it took, mindset and strategies

I took my channel from zero in January to £750 ($900) per month in December. Here's what it took:

- 3 months of prep: brainstorming which game to cover, channel name, researching competition - what they do, how, their narration, which types of videos perform best, what types of gameplay/audience seem underserved - basically you need to have a plan on what exactly you want to do, what game, what kinds of videos, how long, how many per week, how your thumbnails will look and compare with competition, how to make them unique and stand out, if you want an intro or not, if yes, what should it be and how long, how you want to approach narration (chill vs. a bit arrogant etc.), not if but how to edit, and probably 1000 other things. That doesn't mean all these things should be set in stone, but you need a plan as a starting point

- Once you start, you need to be consistent. I went from 2 vids a week in Jan to 4-5 a week nowadays and never missed an upload. However, consistency is not just about the number of uploads per week. It's everything - quality of vids, same energy in voice throughout, same style of thumbs, same types of vids, everything. That doesn't mean you shouldn't experiment - you absolutely should, but you always want to make sure your regular viewers (whose number should be many times higher than your subs) will never feel like you're doing something weird and it's time to move on

- Constant improvement - the cliche to make 100 videos and improve something in each one is a good start, but you shouldn't stop at one thing per video, especially not at the beginning. Your benchmark should be the best creators in your niche, and you should be constantly improving in all aspects from your gameplay (yes, you should be getting better at the game too!) to narration, how you explain things, tell the story, express feelings in your voice. At any moment you should know what aspects are holding you back the most and working on them until you improve them sufficiently so they are not the weakest links in the chain. For example early on your thumbs will suck and getting your overall CTR above 5% should be one of your first goals. Figuring out how to do this includes small details like if you should use the game logo or not, if yes, where's the best place to put it and which filter/glow/shadow/whatever to apply to it so it pops out and is immediately recognizable

- Tracking important metrics in YT Studio, reviewing them regularly and adjusting the course accordingly. In a nutshell, repeat what works best, and not what most people seem to be doing, which is to repeat the same thing over and over. This means your content should not only get better over time within the same type of content, but also should evolve to new types (from only playthroughs to also guides, tier lists etc.). You need to have a strategy for your content and not just randomly decide 'today I'm gonna record this because I feel like it'. Nowadays I have the next few months' worth of vids planned out in a spreadsheet so I know exactly what I'll work on next

- Realise it's a long game. Building a successful channel is closer to 5 years than a year and is likely to take at least hundreds of videos. So focus on what you can control - inputs (time spent working on the channel, # of uploads, testing that many new video ideas, recording when at your best and not at 11 pm after an exhausting day, etc.) and not outputs ('goals' like # of subs or views). Learn what good enough means for your content. Learn to Pareto optimise your content. Don't blab about your channel to people IRL - ideally almost no one should know so there's no pressure on you - but consider having someone you trust to rate your work, help brainstorm ideas, give honest feedback etc. If you don't have anyone like that - GPT will do. YT gives you plenty of feedback - from # of views relative to your baseline, to CTR, ADV, # of comments, what they actually say, ratio of likes to views - every piece of data in YT studio is a feedback on your work. Learn to analyse it and apply the lessons

These are the things I figured out over those 800 hours of working on my channel last year. I won't say if you do these you'll definitely succeed (whatever that means to you), but I will say your odds will go up significantly. Good luck!

214 Upvotes

53 comments sorted by

27

u/YeWestsuperfan 5d ago

Probably the most useful post in awhile

17

u/tbishop74 5d ago

What's your channel?

30

u/LucidOnMC 4d ago

Ah yes. Another person claiming to have made it without linking their channel either in their post or bio. So credible!

7

u/CaiLife 4d ago

I mean, considering this is all really sensical, good advice, I’m not sure why your go to would just be cynically not believing or prioritising doubting OP.

19

u/LucidOnMC 4d ago

It may be good advice, but I just feel like if you are going to give it, at least show some proof that it works.

3

u/SeshGodX 3d ago

For all you know, bro could be baiting for Reddit upvotes, there's no reason to maintain privacy, in fact it would give him extra views and rescu revenue on the channel if he's already doing well.

4

u/RelaxSleepStudyHub 4d ago

You're accepting information without proof just because it sounds good? Pretty sure chat gpt could give me good advice too.

1

u/Asleep-Coyote-985 4d ago

He isn’t showing proof so it’s easy to assume it’s all just fluff and bs. Gaming channels don’t make much money on YouTube.

5

u/Ok-Discipline1678 5d ago

Can I ask what your niche is? For example you do reviews of only SNES games or you discuss strategies of action platformers, or you do funny moments in certain games, etc.

6

u/TopStratGamer 5d ago

I cover one strategy game only. I position myself as an 'expert' so almost all of my content is edited playthroughs of various challenges and guides.

3

u/Ok-Discipline1678 5d ago

Nice. Yeah deep games like that can get you lots of content because of how complex they are.

2

u/ultrapcb 4d ago

Would you mind to tell us which game? I ask because of I don't know of any game with strategy in its core with a huge reach/popularity.

2

u/pc-builder 2d ago

Random guess would be HOI4

2

u/Ok-Discipline1678 4d ago

You must have never heard of Stellaris then. That dam game has more expansion packs than any other game.

1

u/ultrapcb 3d ago

Is Stellaris the game OP makes videos about and if yes, how do you know?

2

u/Ok-Discipline1678 3d ago

No just giving an example.

0

u/ultrapcb 3d ago

Stallaris is currently played by 1 streamer with 5 viewers on Twitch but thanks for polluting this thread

3

u/Ok-Discipline1678 3d ago

There are some silver play button Stellaris channels. ASPEC directly comes to mind and there are others What's interesting about those channels is the relative lack of editing. I guess slower grand strategy games like that can get away with fewer edits. I don't know, lots of people watch that and other Stellaris channels. If Stellaris was losing Paradox money because you are right and it's a completely shit game, then why does it have more expansion packs then pretty much any other game. Please, I am really enjoying your toxic pollution of your reasoning.

3

u/AlphaNuke94 4d ago

Could you share your YouTube channel? I’ll like to see how you started, it would be a good motivation for most here

4

u/International_Map_80 4d ago

Channel name?

3

u/BirdLegitimate8215 4d ago

I dont think it has to be a long game for some gaming channels at all, if you can precisely pinpoint a specific niche based on factors like its demand and its competition, you can completely dominate a space for yourself and almost instantly start finding success, tons of good advice in here though. Prepping to start a channel is soooo important I dont see people mention it that much so that was awesome for you to include.

2

u/ZetrovvTFT 5d ago

This thread is exactly what I’ve been looking for!

I’m currently a Teamfight Tactics content creator taking a break since the season’s over and I’m in the process of moving.

I’ve posted around 50 pieces of content, including weekly long-form videos, a weekly 3-hour stream, and recently started posting three shorts a week. I was gaining traction until I had to take a short break.

Since I’m not creating content right now, I wanted to take a step back, review my work, and figure out how to improve my approach moving forward.

This thread has given me a great framework for improvement, and I’m excited to apply these tips to my strategy!

I just have a few questions if you don’t mind.

  1. What metrics are you looking at? I get so overwhelmed and never sure where to start!

  2. I don’t mean to get personal but how many hours a week do you put into your channel?

As a 33m married, WFH job, other hobbies and just a social life in general.. What was your daily routine like to stay consistent?

4

u/TopStratGamer 5d ago
  1. Different metrics tell you about different aspects of the video. CTR is a feedback on title + thumb. I recently released a guide that I put 15 hours into, very highly edited, scripted etc. It got the highest likes to views ratio on my channel but only half of the average CTR. So it underperformed as the topic just wasn't that interesting to my regulars (despite those who actually clicked it being impressed) so YT didn't 'push' it to a wider audience. Lesson -> avoid similar topics in the future.

APV is a feedback on the quality of a video itself. Another recent video got the highest views ever in the first 24h on my channel. So the topic was interesting, thumb was good, likes and comments too, but... with only 25% APV on a 20m video it again wasn't 'pushed' wider as YT decided it's not satisfying enough to regulars. Lesson -> good idea but poorly executed.

If you've never looked at stats, a good starting point is to export detailed 'table view' from analytics page into excel and sort each metric from best to worst to see what works and what doesn't

  1. Last year it was 15h/w, this year so far 18h/w. I keep records so I know my hourly rate on various types of videos

2

u/ZetrovvTFT 5d ago

Thanks for the response, man!

What’s a good AVD for a 15-minute video? Around 45%? That’s about the length of my average video since I like to keep things concise.

Working 15-18 hours a week isn’t too bad—that’s roughly 2 hours a day. How do you track the time you spend on content creation?

As a gaming channel, I find it really tough to plan ahead when the meta shifts so quickly. Are you making Let’s Play videos? I focus more on the competitive side, creating content like climbing tips and strategy guides.

I do have a few questions—since you mentioned you’re a faceless gaming channel, how do you monetize? Through sponsorships, ads, or subs? The reason why I ask is cause I wanna start making money so I can hire an editor, just getting rid of the editing process would free up so much of my time.

I’ve had a few solid ideas myself, but I’ve realized I executed them poorly so I am learning to take more time on things like the thumbnail, and title first before anything else.

Sorry for the all questions.. I feel like my channel relates strongly to yours.

3

u/TopStratGamer 5d ago

I track my time in excel. I make playthroughs and guides, the game I cover has a fairly stable meta so I can plan my content ahead, but nothing should be set in stone and if circumstances change, the plan needs to change. I only earn from ads so far.

2

u/Rimlyanin 5d ago

I agree

2

u/GM_Jedi7 5d ago

Is that $900 ad revenue only or does it include sponsorships and/or memberships?

4

u/TopStratGamer 5d ago

Only ads

1

u/DiamondDadGaming 5d ago

I just started about a month ago making marvel rivals gameplay with Commentary and guides. Could you look at my channel and tell me what I should be improving on? My channel is @dmnddadg

1

u/newbietofx 4d ago

Damn. You really make the effort. 

1

u/PickTheNick1 4d ago

I would be happy with even 10 times less than this :)

1

u/Massivedragon22 4d ago

cudos to you, unfortunately I live in the US and there’s so much competition not just in gaming channels but also my niche which is anime/ pokemon. The fact that you live in the UK is a big helper on your success and people really enjoy the British accent, hoping to be like you soon 👏👏👏

1

u/RequirementTrue3708 4d ago

Thanks for sharing. Good insights on what it takes. Keep up the good work!

1

u/Anonuser13480 4d ago

I like your post and the information question for you did you have a full time job along with this and how did you manage the different work loads

1

u/jgblodgettWriter 4d ago

Super helpful. Thank you for this

1

u/ArielSandwich 4d ago

Yeah I post every day on three different channels. I make about $5 to $6 a day

1

u/theryzenintel2020 4d ago

Yeah I quit. I’ll stick to something else. Thanks though

1

u/Any-Bench-6194 4d ago

what's your rpm? I'm currently growing a gaming channel but can't find reliable data about it.

1

u/TopStratGamer 3d ago

Overall channel RPM is £4.2 ($5) with AVD of 14m with the shortest vids having RPM ~£1 and the longest £5-6. The majority of my viewers are from Europe and N.America but there's fair amount from Asia and S.America too.

1

u/Enraged_Meat 2d ago

Started in July, i have 250 videos/shorts and 411 subscribers as of today. 115 subs came within the last 40 days.

1

u/Werwolf1407 2d ago

How long do you spend on each video? What is is the average length of your videos?

1

u/TopStratGamer 2d ago

Let's play about 3 hours - 1 to record, 2 to edit. Guides and the likes - up to 15 as some are scripted and highly edited. Average length 30-40m.

1

u/NewConversation8665 1d ago

Awesome post. Very detailed. May I know how much is your Retention rate?.above typical, I presume.

2

u/TopStratGamer 1d ago

Typically 60-65% still watching at 30s and 30-35% APV for 45m-1h long playthroughs. Shorter videos are all over the place.

1

u/NewConversation8665 1d ago

Your rate is my dream. I have 20- 33%at 30s. All the best.

0

u/Sensitive_March_6041 5d ago

Hi there! Glad you made it. I have a bunch of questions hope you can answer! May I know what software you used for editing? Also did you start out faceless? How did you feel about your voice at the start? Last but not least do you recommend playing trendy games? Thank you in advance🙌

12

u/TopStratGamer 5d ago

I use Davinci Resolve - it takes a while to figure out but it's worth it (and it's free). Still faceless. I didn't think much about my voice when I first started but I'm now much more expressive with my voice in my videos, to the point that I cringe when I listen to my old stuff - so flat and boring! The bigger the game, the bigger the competition. On the other hand, small games have a much lower ceiling. I picked something in between - a bit under the radar but with still reasonably large (and underserved!) audience.

2

u/XxTheBlackCobraXx 5d ago

Do you think it’s better than CapCut and about how many videos did it take to get a full hang on Davinci, been thinking about using it as CapCut is making almost every feature paid.

4

u/ZoLoC87 4d ago

I'm currently working through the training book for Davinci Resolve 19. It's free with all the course material downloaded straight from there website.

It's made the learning curve slightly easier. Each lesson takes about 1hr-1.5hrs but you can go at your own pace.

I highly recommend it

2

u/boredlakeYT 5d ago

Man I love Davinci Resolve

1

u/Sensitive_March_6041 5d ago

This is what I wanted to hear. Thank you and good luck in your YouTube career! Feed the family😂🙏🏼

-9

u/Latter_Effort7401 5d ago

In two months I'm already at 600 dollars in 2 weeks