Choosing the Best Video Games To Livestream

By Harry Guinness

If you’ve ever considered playing video games live on Twitch or YouTube Gaming, you’ve probably wondered which are the best games to stream. There are a couple ways to approach finding the best livestreaming game for you, so let’s break it down. First, of course, you’ll want to get your ultimate gaming setup, so you can get into the right game.

What makes a great livestreaming game?

The best games to stream on Twitch depend on why you want to get into video game livestreaming. If you’re looking to be a professional livestreamer earning money (potentially millions), you have to make entirely different decisions than someone who’s just looking to Twitch stream for fun. In either case, though, you have to choose a game you’ll actually enjoy playing. No one wants to watch someone suffer through a boring play-through.

For example, if you’re looking to make money streaming, it makes more sense to play very popular games, as there are more people interested in watching them. On the other hand, if you’re just streaming for the pleasure of it, you can play any old favorite and see who’s interested.

With all that in mind, let’s look at some of the top games to stream right now.

The popular choices

Some games have been big on Twitch for a few years. These really popular games have lots of dedicated streamers and fans, which means getting your channel to stand out can be a challenge. But if you do manage it, lots of people are ready to watch you play.

Here are a few of your options:

• “League of Legends” is one of the biggest video games in the world. Teams of five players battle to push through to the enemy base and destroy their “Nexus.” It’s fast paced, competitive and incredibly tactical.
• “Grand Theft Auto V“’s online mode is incredibly popular on Twitch. Up to 30 players at once can explore the game’s open world and engage in cooperative game modes, like heists, or competitive ones, like stunt races, all while attempting to build their criminal empire.
• “Valorant” is a team-based first-person shooter, where one team is trying to plant a bomb called a “Spike” and the other is defending their base. Each player can choose to use one of 18 “agents,” all with different advantages and disadvantages.

Something up and coming

Some games are always pretty popular on Twitch, while others, like the recently released “Elden Ring,” blow up and have hundreds of thousands of people watching just days after their release. If you can spot a game that’s trending upward, streaming it just before it gets incredibly popular can be a great way to get lots of viewers to your channel.

Take “Elden Ring.” It was always going to be a pretty big deal. It’s a fantasy RPG developed by the makers of “Dark Souls,” one of the most beloved games series of the past decade, in collaboration with George R.R. Martin, author of “Game of Thrones.”

If you want to find other sleeper hits, keep an eye out for upcoming games that look like they’ll quickly have a lot of fans, or at least people curious to watch livestreamers play on Twitch. You can also use sites like TwitchTracker to see how the popularity of different games change over time. If you see a game you love working its way up the ranks, jump on it!

An older classic

Old classic games—or their sequels—are perhaps the best options if you’re looking to stream video games live and get an audience. Even if a game isn’t cracking the top Twitch livestreams, it can still have a devoted fanbase who are interested in checking out new streamers.

Some of the games that fall into this category are:

• “Age of Empires II,” a real-time strategy game that, while released in 1999, still usually ranks in the top 110 video games on Twitch each week. It consistently averages thousands of live viewers over 33 channels. Those are some good odds of getting your channel seen.
• “Sid Meier’s Civilization VI,” the latest entry in the epic turn-based strategy game series, is another great option. It’s always hugely popular on Twitch week after week.
• “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time,” widely considered one of the best video games of all times, is another game from the late ’90s that is regularly in the top 200 on Twitch. Why not play it again, but this time with an audience?

Whatever you feel like playing

Some of the biggest gaming streamers built their fanbases not by playing the most popular, most successful games, but by playing small, weird, independent games that they enjoyed. Just because a game isn’t on our list, doesn’t mean you can’t grow a successful Twitch channel streaming it.

Why not find something you think is fun and share it with other gamers?

Do I have to stream on Twitch?

While Twitch is the biggest name in video game streaming, it isn’t the only option. There’s also YouTube Gaming live. If you’re starting out, you should try both platforms and see which you prefer.

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