How to stream your gaming sessions On PC, Xbox One, PS4, mobile, and the Switch

Video game streaming is something many enthusiast and casual players want to partake in, but getting a stream up and running on your preferred gaming platform can be a chore. Streaming gameplay involves sharing the games you play and your reactions in real time with a remote audience. It’s like bringing the entire internet into your game room while you’re trying to beat that last boss.

WINDOWS PC

Currently, the most popular streaming platform in the world is Twitch, but there’s competition in the form of YouTube Gaming on mobile devices and Mixer, a Microsoft-owned streaming service used for Xbox and Windows.

Here’s how to stream your gameplay from any device you might be playing on, whether it’s a PC, the Xbox One, a PlayStation 4, a Nintendo Switch, or even Android or iOS. The only thing I won’t be able to teach you is how to get better at video games and / or be entertaining. That requires practice.

Before we dive into the specific setups for each platform, here are the most basic prerequisites for starting a stream, no matter what you’re gaming on: a gaming device, an external microphone or gaming headset, a webcam, a fast internet connection (both upload and download), Twitch / YouTube Gaming / Mixer accounts, and, obviously, at least one game title.

Streaming with Twitch

If you’re trying to reach a large audience (or be discovered and find the love of your life), your best bet is Twitch. Be prepared: if you want to broadcast your video game sessions to the biggest game streaming service in the world, you’re going to have to install a couple apps.

First, you have to sign up for a Twitch account and copy your stream key, a unique code that’s used to link and stream to your profile from the free broadcasting apps Twitch recommends. (Be sure not to share it.)

Now, decide whether or not you want a “basic” stream, which consists of a live video capture of whatever you’re playing, in-game audio, and your webcam and microphone. In that case, you can download a simple broadcasting app like Open Broadcast Software (OBS). It’s a powerful app, despite not having the prettiest user interface. Once installed, you’ll be prompted to enter your stream key so that OBS can communicate with your Twitch channel and actually, you know, stream something.

From there, you can select your source if you want OBS to stream from a specific window, your whole desktop, or whenever it detects a full-screen app (a game). Other options like audio levels, stream quality, and the like are available from the sub-menus.

If you want a more “professional Twitch partner” aesthetic, I’d recommend downloading Streamlabs’ version of OBS instead. It’s also open-source software, but it has a much more user-friendly interface for beginners and overlay templates for donations, branding, Twitch emotes, and even transition animations.