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Destiny (Twitch streamer) discusses how money is made through Twitch streaming
- Thread starter crimsonheadGCN
- Start date
Ouch, some perspective is needed here.
What exactly are they gonna write off to avoid paying taxes every April? Do you have any idea how much expenses you need to relieve a tax burden for someone who makes more than 6 figures? Hell, I fucking max out my allowable IRA and 401k just so I have less of a check to write every April, and that includes my mortgage interest.
That is true, so I can't hate
Parents make $260k combined and my degree pays $90k+ out of college
I sometimes work over 100hrs a week and I don't break 50k a year. 70k + is a good living for a lot of people especially doing something they enjoy.
Work smarter, not harder.
I imagine it'll be like the lottery winners who are broke after 5-10 years.
100k is amazing if your not dumb with your money. Me and my wife make 80k wih two kids , new house , new car and I can buy whatever I want for hobbies.
Saying 100k is just ok , especially for one person is silly
bloodyroarxx
Member
Seems like for qet rich quick people the real nightmare comes during tax season.
Both Towelliee and Lethalfrag have said that if you arent careful you will get bent over the counter by the IRS.
Both Towelliee and Lethalfrag have said that if you arent careful you will get bent over the counter by the IRS.
Yeah it's like any entertainment sport where the top earners are handsomely paid and everyone else is wasting their time
Hopefully better off than some guys I know who are still stuck in basic retail or fast food a decade after graduation.
That being said, I know how bad young people are with finance education.
I used to resell Nike's and Jordan's on eBay, sole collector, etc. And the IRS will come knocking very quick and you better hope you have your shit together.
DJSebolski
Member
At this stage if you are a new streamer you have no chance. Big streamers already suck up majority of viewers.
Someone with the level of dedication it takes to run a successful Twitch channel can probably go on to success in other fields.
Phrozenflame500
Member
I don't really think anyone who streams Twitch and is successful has "zero" skills. You have to have good people skills, be funny and all that jazz, but you also have to be a good marketer and a good networker. Look at big YouTuber's who appear in advertisements, have sponsorship deals, run collaborations with other content creators, make connections within the industry and strike marketing deals with the newest releases.
This is less pronounced with Twitch streamers, but still present. Go to any major Twitch streamer (particularly e-sports ones) and I can guarantee you somewhere either on-screen or in the description they'll be advertising their sponsors.
Not to mention being e-famous is a non-stop constant battle of PR, one wrong tweet or comment and a shit-storm be brewing. Some times you get abuse for no reason whatsoever.
So while streaming might not bring any academic or technical skills (although most of them probably end up with good knowledge of audio/video production), it does bring many important practical skills that any good university guidance counselor will tell you are massively important and useful in any "real" career you enter.
StrongBlackVine
Banned
I think it would kill my enjoyment of games to be forced to play what other people want for views/donations/likes/whatever.
bloodyroarxx
Member
I disagree, 90% of these people that watch are all apart of a hive mind with repeated memes and what not.
diablos991
Can’t stump the diablos
But how much are you investing?
There are many variables when you consider early retirement plans and other investments.
There are many varibales that make $100k an OK salary.
I also have a new house, new car, and fund my hobbies just fine with a kid on the way. But I have an aggressive retirement plan that makes my income just OK.
No way I would work 60+ hours a week and have no benefits to achieve those plans when they are doable in 40-45 per week just fine.
If only they were taught anything about finance education.
School never teaches you how to write a check, but TV will teach you how to swipe a card. Sad.
Investing is something we need to do. My wife gets retirement and tenure for b3ing a teacher and we both have empliyee paid insurance which helps alot
But yeah, we need to invest more into retirement for sure
johntown
Banned
I agree with this. You see a few of the top streamers do something that works and others copy an follow.
Whether that is the streamer coming up with these ideas or outside consultants remains to be seen.
Popular Twitch streamers get plenty of offers from various companies. I would not be surprised if some of the smart ones hired professionals to help build their channels more. If I was a top streamer I would do something like that.
Its extremely crucial to invest in your retirement. If your employer matches your 401k, make sure you at least max out their contribution and that includes your IRA. more you can put in will lower your taxable income. My future after my career is over always worries me in thinking I won't have enough money to live comfortably in my golden years.
lowhighkang_LHK
Member
Yup. People also need to realize making 100k from twitch isn't the norm either. These high salaries are outliers.
SonicXtreme
Member
the benefit of making 70k from streaming is you can live anywhere, you aren't cuckolded down to paying $2100 a month for rent, you can live in a cheap ass part of the states and save a lot more during those 5-10 years. taking up a lifestyle of streaming could also mean savings in other avenues, i spend hundreds and hundreds per year on gas, if i could work from home i would certainly move someplace which could lower those two expenses hardcore, resulting in that 70k stretching out further (obviously with its own set of cons but there are many pros to consider as well)
school and career paths are always gambles. just because one person gets lucky and makes 75k a year 5 years out of school doesn't mean another with the same piece of paper doesn't make 40k 5 years out of school. Lots of high paying jobs are acquired via connections which while made through hard work still come through chance and luck to a large degree. sometimes just knowing one person will make the difference between that 75k and 40k job. just as the dude making 70k streaming had some luck thrown in with his hard work; more people will make less than that trying the same avenue.
point being be grateful for whatever you can succeed in and don't be afraid to take advantage of it now if it's the road that seems best.
TheSlySoul
Member
Holy cow donations and subscriptions makes lots of money.
Interesting, thanks for sharing this.
If you're willing to hustle doing all this stuff for well over 60 hours a week, it can't be all that hard to get a degree and a normal job that will only work you for 40. Not to mention that they're learning all this stuff about AV and community engagement that makes them marketable for types of PR and marketing jobs.
Adam Prime
hates soccer, is Mexican
LOL that's exactly what he's doing!
TheSlySoul
Member
Single and no other sources of income it is pretty good. Depends on where you live really. 70k is bad in California but good in Louisiana.
SonicXtreme
Member
and you can live anywhere if you stream. if you wanted to be smart about it you'd find the best COL / QOL combined with good tax rates, bang out a few years and build up a nice ass nest egg for your next adventure when the bubble pops at which time you'll have lost...nothing, you'll just have to change career directions (as most people do quite a few times in their life anyway)
Adam Prime
hates soccer, is Mexican
... What the hell kind of people are DONATING to streamers? That's unreal to me. Kids with their parents credit cards? Someone please explain why you would DONATE money to someone who clearly has enough money to support all these first world luxuries?
SonicXtreme
Member
who is SPENDING $100 and more on dumb phone games like age of war? idk but their wallets are fucking bleeding all over man, no shame in trying to catch a piece
ChosenPredator
Banned
damn gaf doesn't really like twitch/youtube success it seems.
Congratulation to anyone who gets to that point because it's realyl flipping hard to even touch that point.
Congratulation to anyone who gets to that point because it's realyl flipping hard to even touch that point.
Adam Prime
hates soccer, is Mexican
Lol I guess so... A fool and their gold...
I chipped in $5 to a couple of streamers which I found entertaining and want to continue watching.
They don't get nearly as much viewers as Destiny though, and don't run ads.
StrongBlackVine
Banned
Not sure who donates to guys, but lonely desperate men donate to women if the twitch chats I see on Live From PSN are anything to go by.
TheSlySoul
Member
Donators I get the logic. What I do not get are these people who spend hundreds of dollars to destroy something and film it.
sineclamor
Member
It is kinda weird just how "let in" you are to some streamers' private lives. When I look at money for the month, where it's going and so on, I frequently think oh yeah, wouldn't cancel that sub unless I really had to, xyz just went full time/has medical expenses, etc. It's kind of a strange case where you're really letting someone know, month after month, I really like this place, this chat, these games. The genuine gratitude you get back from streamers and their community is kind of addictive.
Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!
Member
In addition to working 60 hours I would imagine the peak times you stream are the times everyone else is off work...after 5, weekends etc. You probably wont be maximizing your views if you work M-F 9-5. It would kinda sucks living that kind of life.
elaborate if you can because I'm ignorant, I know some people who were sneaker heads and made hella bank like this but I never remember anything about taxes lol
riskVSreward
Member
I play with my friend who is really good/high ranked on Destiny and he streams pretty much every night. Destiny has been grinding on me for a few months now, there's a bunch of other stuff I like to play. Meanwhile he kinda remains beholden to Destiny because that's what his viewers tune in for. If we play Mortal Kombat, or Guilty Gear and both stream, I tend to get more viewers because even though I am a much smaller profile streamer than he is, it makes sense for my audience and not his. Even Halo where he is equally as skilled doesn't get him as many viewers because there isn't as much interest in Master Chief at this point.
He still enjoys Destiny but feels like it's starting to grind on him. He's too small for subs but can get anywhere from $5-$50 in donations a night a few times a week. I told him he can't let his name become synonymous with Destiny but it's proving difficult to escape. Play something else on a given night, forget about views/donations... Play some more Destiny, maybe get a little drunk, and the doors are flying off the wall.
He still enjoys Destiny but feels like it's starting to grind on him. He's too small for subs but can get anywhere from $5-$50 in donations a night a few times a week. I told him he can't let his name become synonymous with Destiny but it's proving difficult to escape. Play something else on a given night, forget about views/donations... Play some more Destiny, maybe get a little drunk, and the doors are flying off the wall.
Very true. I used to follow Cilantrogamer who became a huge Minecraft streamer for a good year. His personal life took over and he just got sick of Minecraft and took a couple of months off. Now he streams random games from time to time and barelg breaks 100 viewers. Twitch viewers can be super fickle, but some are also really loyal.
BannedEpisode
Member
Not worth it as a main source of income unless you are super passionate about it.
The risk of having some 12 year old call a swat team on you for laughs isnt worth it. Im amazed nobody has been killed yet that I know of.
The risk of having some 12 year old call a swat team on you for laughs isnt worth it. Im amazed nobody has been killed yet that I know of.
bloodyroarxx
Member
Just to add to this, since both are more recent "events"
Crumps2 and Lethalfrag are on both sides of this.
Crumps2 did what ended up like 3? months of beating every popular Final Fantasy game on stream and had donation incentives for other RPG's which went REALLY well but he also plays MLB The Show on steam. He had to stop playing RPG's on stream, he had just started Xenogears which people donated for and was getting a fraction of his MLB numbers. at the end of his cast he had to say "hey listen I know you guys are here but you are mostly my regulars and unfortunately that wont pay the bills." the next night he had something like double the max number of people who watched him play XG within the first hour of of going back to MLB. Thats a HUGE cash differential and that wasnt even his max viewers for that night
Frag on the other hand was always playing FTL or Binding of Issac mostly and getting great numbers and because he (I dont remember exactly) but was getting complacent and I guess stale? He understood that hey I'm going to play other games from now on as opposed to always those games and he absolutely realized he was going to lose views therefore money because of it.
Twitch people typically flock to certain channels to see certain things.
I only know one single game streamer and he always floats around 500-750(Calebhart). Clearly the shirtless rule hurt his viewer-ship more then his game selection!
What single game streamers are you referring to? LoL players, Hearthstone? Do they have significant viewer-ship that dies if they try other things or is it sub 1k?
hearthstone for sure. Reynad's viewer count would drop a lot when he played CS:GO. I haven't seen him play it in a while for comparison.
still got a thousand viewers tho.
The bolded is absurd. No skills?
1. Running his own website
2. Running social media sites
3. Running a youtube channel
4. Comfortable talking with sponsors
5. Knowledge and experience dealing with streaming hardware & software
6. Proof of years long work dedicated to making a living for himself
7. Ability to talk in front of a camera comfortably
8. Experience dealing with a fan base
These are all skills that could net you a job outside of streaming himself, and doing this all on your own shows an ability to be self motivated. Seriously how in the world can you even begin to say this guy or people like him would walk away from these things with nothing. As if they are 30+ year old HS grads with nothing to there name.
Not to mention the variety of people he has as contacts in all likelihood from dealing with sponsors, tournaments, etc. etc.
I don't even like this guy, but even I can see he is not wasting his time.
It's totally true that he is putting in a ton of hours and getting no benefits which reduces the perceived value of his salary, but even still he is making a plenty comfortable salary for himself that if managed wisely would treat him just fine. He also benefits from being able to live in Nebraska, or at least I know that was the area he was living back when I followed SC2. So his career has not forced him to move to San Fran or some other metropolitan area where cost of living is much higher.
Of course he could of been a software engineer and got a job in silicon valley that pays twice or thrice as much theoretically, but he is making a perfectly good living doing something he enjoys. As much as I dislike his persona, props to him for making something like this work for him.
That really depends. Not all of these streamers are doing the art, website running and managing the sponsor deals themselves. Some of them are on 'teams' that handle the business side for them, some of them pay other people to run the sites and cut the YT videos and publish them, and most of them pay people to do the art for their channels and emoticons etc.