Livestreaming has become the new way to connect with your audience one to one and know about them. Apart from new and engaging features like reels, one thing that Instagram to Facebook to Youtube has is the option to do a live stream everywhere. In case you are a content creator this feature is extremely beneficial for you!
So here is a Step by Step Guide of how to live stream games on YouTube
Step 1 – Installing OBS
The first step is to install OBS which is Open Broadcaster Software. This software is an open and free cross-platform for streaming and recording. It is built with Qt and captures your game’s output after which it streams it on YouTube.
The setup of OBS is pretty simple and comes with a whole number of advanced settings that you can configure.
In case you have a low-end system, it can be tough for you to stream effectively. But you still have the option to adjust the settings as well as the quality of the recorder to match your specific needs.
Step 2 – Grab the stream key and set up OBS
Once the OBS is installed you need to right-click the avatar on your YouTube’s settings.
Then select “Creator Studio” after which you will find your stream key in the “Live Streaming” section. The “Live streaming” section is present under the “Encoder SetUp”.
Next, open up the OBS, after which you can start the auto-configuration wizard. As soon as it gets to the “Stream Information” pane, switch from Twitch to YouTube.
Then paste it in the stream key from Youtube’s settings. You must make sure that the stream key is kept secret this is because anyone with the key can live stream on your channel. In case your key gets out, you always have the option to reset it from the YouTube dashboard.
Step 3- Setting up the stream information
The stream information will have to be set up for every live stream. The differentiating feature of YouTube from Twitch is that on YouTube live streams will be the same as videos. The videos will need thumbnails, description, title as well as metadata which goes in a regular video.
Along with this you also have the option to make it public, unlist or make the live stream private. These options are available for testing out the stream settings before it goes live.
Just below the “Stream Options” you can disable or enable DVR and make the stream archive in case you are done and choose latency settings.
There is an option to add a delay if you are facing a problem with stream sniping.
Next under the “Advanced Settings”, you can arrange the chat options that also include the turning on slow mode as well as preventing non-members from chatting.
Finally, you can hit the “Start Streaming” option in the OBS. Once you do this, you will see you are live in the YouTube dashboard.
If incase your monetization is enabled, you can also switch on the ads on stream and allow the viewers to donate in chat. To make the streaming easier, you can also do the following-
Use a second monitor, this way you can monitor the stream as well as read the chats at the same time.
