10 Easy YouTube Gaming Video Ideas
If you haven’t been on the internet for a while, gaming is booming. Just open YouTube trending page or Twitter and you’ll see what we mean. Don’t get us wrong, gaming was always popular albeit in some communities. But in recent years, the gaming industry completely flipped on its head. People used to play games as a guilty pleasure, hiding away in dark corners in the fear of being called immature for enjoying a game of Call of Duty.
But the past couple of years have changed this mindset. Gaming is now not a just leisure activity, but a viable career option. Whether it's as a content creator or as an esports player — there are many ways to make money with gaming. Undeniably, one of the easiest and the most popular ways to start a career in gaming is via YouTube.
And despite popular belief there’s so much more to gaming content than gameplay videos. In this article, we will explore the different types of videos that can grow your gaming channel and make it a viable source of income.
YouTube Gaming Video Ideas to Grow Your Channel
Challenges
Challenges produce GOLD content! Doing unique challenges in your favorite games provides a certain level of unpredictability in your live streams or recorded videos. It makes the audience want to watch more, increasing your watch time and views — a metric that pushes your videos to more people. Some examples of game challenges can be:
- Completing 10 number of levels in 30 minutes
- Eating a chili every time you lose
- Singing while playing a game
The best part is you can bring your own personality in these challenges, show off your talent, and provide extra entertainment to the audience.
Q&A
Though this is mostly a non-gaming related idea, Q&A videos are appropriate for every type of channel. They add a human touch to your content and help your audiences understand more about your daily life. We recommend doing these Q&A videos every month to keep your viewers updated about your life and your channel’s future. An ideal way to do this is encouraging viewers to submit questions to you on your social media channels and answer those in the video.
Live Streaming
This is one of the most common things that gaming channels do. Streaming helps you connect with your audience in real time, answer their questions, and sometimes receive money too! Live streaming a game is just you playing a game in real time. You can choose to showcase your face along with the game or just show how the game is played. Today, there are several apps that help you live stream with ease. For instance, Turnip is a live streaming app that helps you stream trending games easily. It comes with features such as overlays, face cam, and effects that make your live stream professional.
Game Highlights
You don’t always have to live stream every game you play. Sometimes you can record a gameplay video off stream and stitch together the best moments for a highlight video. Or better yet, repurpose your ‘Let’s Play’ videos and live streams to create short clips/videos with the best moments.
Tutorials
Do you know how to cross a particular mission in Grand Theft Auto? Or a secret level that only a few people know about? Then share your unique knowledge with your audience, they’ll love it! Tutorials can teach your audiences anything — whether it’s a new game or a new hack. They are pretty easy to make too, you will just need to screen record and show how you go about playing the game.
Reviews
Whenever a game hits the market, people are on the lookout for reliable reviews to help them decide if the game is worth buying or not. And your videos can help them make that crucial decision! Creating game review videos can be a bit expensive though as you have to buy new games frequently. But don’t worry, if the audience finds your video useful, you will make that money back in no time. So go ahead and express your opinions about a new game ASAP!
Listicles
Listicle videos are nothing but a list of things/recommendations to either entertain or educate your viewers. For instance:
- Top games of 2020
- Top battle royale games
- Top gaming phones under Rs. 10,000
In these types of videos the audience will primarily click to know something rather than to know your personality, so keep your listicles short and sweet for maximum impact.
Reaction videos
If you can churn out good jokes and observations on other people’s content then reaction videos are your sweet spot. Reaction videos can range from you critiquing another creator’s game reviews to you reacting to their live streams. Remember the key to great reaction videos is editing! The majority of your video should consist of your reaction rather than the original video. This is not only important for viewer’s entertainment but it also ensures that another creator’s video isn’t used in its raw form.
Commentary
Commentary gaming videos work in two ways. You can either record your commentary over an existing game play video or you can cast someone else’ live stream on your channel while you provide live commentary. The second option requires more complicated software as well as permissions from other creators. This is one of the simplest YouTube gaming video ideas when you are just starting your channel.
Testing products/unboxing
Finally, if you regularly buy new gaming gear (mics, phones, monitors, consoles) you can create unboxing and ‘first impressions’ videos every once in a while. These videos also increase your chances of getting sponsorships from brands in the gaming space.
In a nutshell
Whether you’re just starting out as a gaming content creator or you’re already a small creator, try out these 10 unique YouTube gaming video ideas to bring variation in your content, attract a wider audience, and grow your channel!