If you love video games and want to share your gaming ex­pe­ri­ence with other gamers, then you probably already know about Twitch. With 15 million active users every day, and live video from more than two million different players a month, the streaming platform is the undis­put­ed number one in the gaming world. However, Twitch’s range of functions goes far beyond streaming video games: the service, which was bought by Amazon for almost a billion dollars in 2014, has long become a social setting for pro­fes­sion­al streamers and simple computer game en­thu­si­asts. The pre­req­ui­sites needed to stream on Twitch and how to set up your own channel are explained in this Twitch stream tutorial.

What kind of content is Twitch suitable for?

First and foremost, Twitch is con­sid­ered the first choice for PC video game fans, PlaySta­tion, Xbox, and Nintendo console fans. As a result, most of the monthly broadcast trans­mis­sions are streams for these formats. There are no genre re­stric­tions on Twitch, which means you have freedom of choice as both a viewer and a streamer. Of course, streaming a game that is already popular is a good idea if you want to get as many users as possible in­ter­est­ed in, and viewing your content.

A large pro­por­tion of Twitch’s regular traffic are streaming channels that are otherwise char­ac­ter­ized by direct ref­er­ences to video games. For example, many game de­vel­op­ers operate their own channels, as well as magazine pub­lish­ers that deal with gaming topics, gaming hardware, etc. Twitch streams e-sport events including in­ter­views, panel dis­cus­sions, etc. Gaming con­ven­tions are also becoming in­creas­ing­ly popular to stream.

O6vlP6F2cNQ.jpg To display this video, third-party cookies are required. You can access and change your cookie settings here.


Although Twitch’s focus is on gaming, the platform is becoming more popular among users with other interests too. Content cat­e­gories like IRL (in-real-life), creative, fitness, or music provide space for topics beyond the computer world – whether politics, cooking, health, crafts, fashion, or music. A more detailed overview of the de­vel­op­ment and im­por­tance of streaming on Twitch is available in our basic article on “What is Twitch?”.

Twitch streaming: technical re­quire­ments

Before you set up your own Twitch channel and select streaming settings for your videos, you first need to make a good technical framework. When it comes to hardware, there are three basic areas to consider:

  • System per­for­mance: Broad­cast­ing a twitch stream consumes ad­di­tion­al system resources, so you need to be sure you have enough computing power. For example, Twitch rec­om­mends at least one Intel Core i5-4670 or a com­pa­ra­ble AMD model and eight gigabytes of RAM for streaming PC games. The operating system requires at least Windows 7. You do not have to go into a lot of detail with gaming consoles - as long as you know the system is correct - since their hardware setup is often pre­de­fined. Checking that the version you have is supported by the streaming platform is usually suf­fi­cient.

  • Webcam: In principle, you can stream or upload content that does not feature a person visually. It is not necessary to make yourself visible to the audience when recording live. However, there are hardly any suc­cess­ful channels on Twitch that do not feature the physical person playing. When they are visible, the streamer’s emotions are much clearer when the audience can im­me­di­ate­ly see you and can react to you. Cor­re­spond­ing webcams that deliver HD-quality images are already available in the low double-digit dollar range.

  • Mi­cro­phone: Although the most important component of a live video – par­tic­u­lar­ly when it comes to video games – is picture quality, you should not un­der­es­ti­mate the im­por­tance of decent sound quality. Music as a back­ground for streamed Twitch content is not uncommon, but using it all the time can quickly lead to boredom among the audience. With your own audio com­men­tary, you can give your channel a little extra something and you can use a simple headset mi­cro­phone to record it. However, if you want to go for something of a higher standard, we recommend using a stand-alone USB mi­cro­phone.
l6C2XGei_j8.jpg To display this video, third-party cookies are required. You can access and change your cookie settings here.


You also need to have enough bandwidth on an existing Internet con­nec­tion. Otherwise, your Twitch stream will run very haltingly, or not transmit to potential viewers at all.

Streaming on Twitch: how it works

Once you have the hardware you need, you can start setting up your Twitch account and linking to the streaming software (also called broad­cast­ing software). In the latter scenario, you can choose between different options like Bebo, Gameshow, or XSplit Game­cast­er by OBS studio used in this switch stream tutorial. For a listing of the most common tools, visit the official Twitch page.

Step 1: install streaming software

Start by choosing a streaming software and then visit their website to download the in­stal­la­tion files. The OBS studio used in this tutorial is available to download for free from ob­spro­ject.com. This open source program, whose source code can be extended and cus­tomized by anyone, runs with Windows, macOS, and Linux. Just select the ap­pro­pri­ate version you need and start the in­stal­la­tion process by double-clicking the file or shell command after down­load­ing.

Image: OBS Studio: download
OBS Studio not only supports streaming on Twitch, but can also be used for live broad­casts on other platforms like YouTube gaming, Mixer, or Smashcast

Step 2: creating a Twitch account

The next step is to create a user account with Twitch. To do this, go to the Twitch homepage and select the register button located at the top right of the nav­i­ga­tion bar. The reg­is­tra­tion, which only requires a username, password, and valid e-mail address, is free of charge. There is also an option to choose a paid Prime sub­scrip­tion, which links the platform to Amazon’s Prime offer, among other things. After entering your in­for­ma­tion, you will receive a con­fir­ma­tion e-mail, including a ver­i­fi­ca­tion link. Click on this link to complete the reg­is­tra­tion.

Image: Twitch registration menu
Instead of creating a com­plete­ly new account for Twitch, users can connect their Facebook account to Twitch

Step 3: setting up your Twitch channel

Once you have completed the reg­is­tra­tion progress, you can log in with your newly-created Twitch account and start designing your personal video channel. To do this, open the settings in the user menu by clicking on the triangle symbol in the nav­i­ga­tion bar. This will take you to your profile menu, where you can set the display name (which can be the same as your username) and the profile picture for your Twitch channel, and submit up to 300 char­ac­ters of personal biography or channel in­for­ma­tion.

Image: Twitch-Stream: display name and profile picturelenetstanShut­ter­stock
Display name, profile picture, and a biography help you keep visitors to your channel informed and engaged

To configure your Twitch channel, go to the ‘channel’ and ‘videos’ tab. There you can change basic settings in these four areas:

  • Channel design: Under the menu option ‘channel design’, you have the option to create a banner that will be visible to Twitch users when your channel is offline. Click on ‘browse’ and upload the desired image file by spec­i­fy­ing the storage location and con­firm­ing the selection. For the entire player to be filled by the banner, you will need an aspect ratio of 16: 9.

  • Automatic hosting: Twitch offers the ability to host other streamer’s broad­casts on your channel. By doing this, you can provide your followers with content when you are offline. The hosting feature also offers the option to view someone else’s stream and provide your own audio com­men­tary for your viewers. Enable automatic hosting if you want to au­to­mat­i­cal­ly send out foreign channels when they are online. The desired channels are defined by the ‘host list’ (random or priority order).

  • Parental controls: If you are streaming content that is in­ap­pro­pri­ate for younger viewers, you will need to tag your channel ac­cord­ing­ly by selecting ‘adult content’.

  • Chat: Twitch au­to­mat­i­cal­ly helps you moderate your channel chat. The AutoMod examines viewers’ comments for in­ap­pro­pri­ate ex­pres­sions, swear words, or racist remarks, and filters out anything illicit. You can set the filter level from 0 (only blocks phrases and terms defined by you) to rule 4 (highly moderated by the AutoMod). In addition, you can select that only confirmed Twitch users may leave comments. Clicking ‘block links’ will au­to­mat­i­cal­ly delete posted URLs unless they come from you, mod­er­a­tors, or admins.
Image: Screenshot of the menu option ‘Twitch settings: channel and videos’
Suc­cess­ful­ly streaming on Twitch requires in­ter­act­ing with your audience often, so you should allow yourself enough time to configure your channel settings

Step 4: con­fig­ur­ing you Twitch channel

After you have created the basis for your channel in the previous step, you can now focus on your channel design. You will find the dashboard in the user menu. As well as being able to post messages to your chat feed, the overview menu also provides you with access to viewer sta­tis­tics and a list of all your viewers. However, an important tool for con­fig­ur­ing your channel is the ‘stream in­for­ma­tion’ section of the menu, which allows you to change settings in the following five areas:

Title Your title tells the twitch community in 140 char­ac­ters what your channel is all about. Use keywords that will come up easily in searches, making your channel easy to find.
Live update Your followers will receive a no­ti­fi­ca­tion as soon as you begin broad­cast­ing (if they have selected to receive these updates).
Game/category Assign your channel to a category on Twitch, so that you are visible to users browsing that category. Al­ter­na­tive­ly, you can list your channel in the category for the game you are playing.
Com­mu­ni­ties You have the option of spec­i­fy­ing up to three com­mu­ni­ties whose members’ broad­casts you are willing to stream.
Language Specify the language of your Twitch stream. You can also restrict comment and chat language settings by selecting ‘restrict language’.

Step 5: linking broad­cast­ing software to Twitch

To set up the final settings necessary for a live broadcast, start OBS Studio (or whichever streaming software you have decided to use). In the settings menu, look for the term ‘stream’ after which you can begin con­fig­ur­ing it to your Twitch channel.

Image: OBS Studio: settings menu
Twitch is reg­is­tered as a streaming platform by default with OBS Studio

You can leave the default settings for your stream and platform, as well as the automatic server selection – OBS always selects the Twitch server best suited to your streaming ac­tiv­i­ties. The setting ‘Stream Key’ is par­tic­u­lar­ly important, as it es­tab­lish­es the con­nec­tion between the streaming software and your channel. To be able to enter this key, you will need to return to the Twitch dashboard and open your settings.

Image: Twitch-Dashboard: Streaming key
The stream key generated by Twitch is the equiv­a­lent to a user ID, but can be replaced at any time by a new (reset) key in the event of any problems

Select ‘Stream Key’ and then ‘Show Key’. The following dialog box will pop up and inform you not to share your key with others (not even Twitch employees, mod­er­a­tors, or admins). If you close the message box by clicking on ‘I un­der­stand’, Twitch provides you with the key that you can then copy-and-paste into the cor­re­spond­ing line in OBS Studio. With ‘Apply’ you can save the entry, and your link is complete.

Tip

It is possible to au­to­mat­i­cal­ly record your Twitch streams. To do this, just check the ‘Save previous transfers’ checkbox in the stream key menu. Your transfers will be archived for up to 14 days as VOD (video on demand). Twitch transfers from partners and prime users can be stored for up to 60 days.

Step 6: start your Twitch channel

Starting a stream on Twitch is easy. In the OBS studio interface, right click on the ‘sources’ box and add the desired recording devices(S) (video game, window, browser, etc.).

Image: OBS Studio: menu option to select the recording source device
The order of recording source devices de­ter­mines which elements are visible in the fore­ground (such as layer tech­nol­o­gy in image editing)

Click on the ‘Studio Mode’ button to preview. You can use this to align all the elements perfectly, as long as you use several trans­mis­sion com­po­nents, like recording game scenes in com­bi­na­tion with a webcam recording of yourself. If you are happy with this setup, you can begin streaming by clicking the ‘Start Streaming’ button. If you want to stop streaming, click ‘Stop Streaming’.

Image: OBS Studio: Controls menu
OBS Studio does not just offer the ability to stream, but also includes its own recording function so that you can store video material locally

How to stream on Twitch with a PS4

If you want to showcase Twitch PS4 games in your stream, you do not need separate broad­cast­ing software, just the Twitch app. These can be found in the PlaySta­tion Store. Simply use the search function and enter “Twitch” in the search bar, and then download it. Once you have installed the ap­pli­ca­tion, there are just a few steps left to go through to get your console hooked up to the streaming platform:

  1. Begin playing the game you want to stream.

  2. Press the SHARE button on your PS4 con­troller, and select ‘Transfer Game’ from the pop-up menu.

  3. In the next window, select Twitch as your chosen streaming platform

  4. You will be asked to log into Twitch or create a new account if you don’t yet have one.

  5. After logging in, you will get access to the broad­cast­ing menu, where you can then configure your Twitch stream. Among other things, it is possible to activate the live recording with the PlaySta­tion camera and the sound trans­mis­sion through the mi­cro­phone. Ad­di­tion­al­ly, you can decide whether the viewers’ comments are displayed in the screen (in this case, the game will play in the minimized window).

  6. Finally, set the title and quality for the stream on Twitch and start the broadcast by selecting ‘Start Livestream’.
Note

To stop the stream, just press the Share button again and select ‘Stop Trans­mis­sion’.

How to stream Xbox One games on Twitch

Xbox One has its own Twitch app, which means that you do not need spe­cial­ized software to stream it. You can download this app for free from the Xbox store. You can find the app by searching for Twitch in the search bar on the app. You can then download the app and follow these steps to start streaming on Twitch with your Xbox One:

  1. Log into a PC or mobile device with your Twitch account. If you do not already have an account, then make one first.

  2. Once you are logged into the streaming platform with another device, open the Twitch app on your Xbox One and press the ‘Login’ button.

  3. You will be prompted to go to the http://twitch.tv/activate link on the external device and enter the six-digit code that the Twitch app will present to you on the game console.

  4. The Twitch account is now linked to your Xbox Live account. Be sure to set your Xbox Live status to ‘online’ to stream (otherwise your twitch stream will be hidden from other users). Also, check your Xbox’s general settings to allow other users to see your online status.

  5. To configure your stream, press ‘Transfer’ and then ‘Next’. Twitch au­to­mat­i­cal­ly runs a per­for­mance test on first launch to determine the optimal bitrate for your broad­cast­ing. In the next few steps, you can activate the Kinect camera and the mi­cro­phone.

  6. Finally, give your Twitch stream an ex­pres­sive title before selecting the desired game and putting the stream online using the ‘Start Transfer’ button.
Tip

If you use the voice control feature of your Xbox, you can easily start your stream using the ‘Xbox Transfer’ command. If you want to switch off the Twitch stream later, the words “Finish Xbox Trans­mis­sion” will do the job.

Go to Main Menu