The Truth about being a Gaming Content Creator?

I became a gaming content creator to share my love of cozy games and to show other millennials that you’re never too old to start. Not for follower counts, likes and fame. I want the flexibility and a healthy work-life balance, that lets me enjoy my life and hobbies.

What is a Cozy Gaming Content Creator?

So before we begin I want to address a question I get asked the most, “What actually is a gaming content creator?”.

I often find myself defending my business because I get called a wannabe gaming influencer. But I see it like this – an influencer is someone with millions of followers like Pokimane, Gab Smolders, and lilsimsie. A content creator is someone who offers educational or informational content, solves a problem, or fulfills a need.

For me, that looks like cozy game recommendations and reviews plus, providing insights into being a gaming content creator.

I’m not interested in being popular. I’m a country girl who lives a slower-paced life. I don’t fair well with viral content. I’m happy with slow and steady growth. It’s manageable.

So, if you’re interested in becoming a gaming content creator, I’ve got 4 tips to get you started. These tips cover running a business, planning your day, streaming your gameplay and editing your videos.

1. Treat your content creation like a business

You should be acting as if you are ALREADY a gaming content creator.

Posting one video you thought was funny and waiting for it to take off isn’t a business strategy.

Yes, playing video games is the best part of my business and the reason I love what I do. However, most of my time is spent writing game reviews and listicles, filming footage, and networking with game developers and agencies.

When I first started this blog I had zero experience in blogging and never played indie games. I mostly only played Animal Crossing New Horizons and AAA titles.

Now I play hundreds of indie games because that’s what I wanted to learn about, the industry I wanted to be a part of. That’s where all the cozy games and gamers are.

To fully embody the business I wanted to have I had to play the games I wanted to talk about and plan out my days as if I was already a successful cozy gaming content creator.

That means doing the boring things too like my own bookkeeping, invoices and receipts, writing and reading contracts, tax returns and outsourcing work to freelance writers and designers when I don’t have the skills or time to do so myself.

If you can approach your content creation like a business, you’ll be ahead of thousands of other creators who are just waiting for a video to go viral. This means setting clear goals, developing a strategic plan, and consistently working towards growth. By treating it professionally, you’ll build a solid foundation and increase your chances of long-term success, rather than relying on luck.

2. Plan for the day you want to have

So, what I like to do, is start by structuring my day. Doesn’t sound very cozy but it’s incredibly important otherwise I’ll procrastinate and get nothing done. I write down either the morning of or the day before, how I want my day to go.

As this is my business I get to work how I want, do what I want, and plan my day around my life rather than the other way around, which so often happens when you’re working a 9 to 5.

My weeks go from Saturday to Friday. I know that’s an odd day to start a week on but I work Wednesday to Friday in my day job so Saturday is when I can throw myself into my content creation.

So a general Saturday morning for me kinda goes like this:

Daily Schedule

• 6:00 am – Wake up, get washed, and turn my PC on – Why am I turning it on at 6 in the morning you ask? Because it is a potato and takes 30 minutes to load everything.
• 6:30 am – Eat breakfast while I check my emails, delete hundreds of spam brand offers, and shift through to find the genuine ones. I only check my emails once a day unless I’m actively working with a brand.
• 7:30 am – Write up a schedule for the day if I haven’t already done so. Often this is in my notebook or with the Notes app on my Android phone, just somewhere I can access quickly.
• 8:00 am – I say goodbye to my partner who’s off to his full-time job and put on any washing, do the dishes from breakfast, and make my lunch for later.
• 9:00 am – I film whatever talking head or behind-the-scenes footage I need. Mornings work best for me because that is when my office gets the most light.

Filming footage can take 2-3hrs depending on how much content I need for the week. If I need to play a video game that will take much longer. Realistically, I can film 2 YouTube talking-to-camera pieces and get b-roll footage for TikTok and Instagram Reels in 2-3hrs to last a whole week.

It’s the editing that takes time.

Oh and if you’re wondering where I fit my gym time in… I don’t. My day job is physical enough, so it’s kinda like going to the gym 3 days a week. When I go full-time self-employed then I’ll consider getting a gym membership.

There are definitely days when I just do nothing.

If my partner is off we try to have a lovely day out somewhere, go for a walk down the coast or visit a National Trust property. Mostly we stay in and play videos games. Him on my old Switch and me on my OLED.

We like playing our separate games but chilling in the same room together. Sometimes we play a cozy co-op game together. More recently I’ve got him into Palia.

3. How to film and edit videos for YouTube and TikTok

There are 2 ways I film my videos – with my camera, the Sony Vlog Camera ZV-1F, and with my mobile, the Pixel 6.

I have the Rode VideoMicro Compact Microphone plugged into my camera but I rarely use it. My main mic is the Fifine XLR which stands on a Tonor Arm Stand.

I often film b-roll with my phone because it’s just easier than disconnecting my camera from my setup. All my short-form videos for Instagram and TikTok are filmed with my phone but for YouTube, I use my Sony.

I break my editing down into 4 stages:

First Edit

This is the assembly and rough cut which takes 2 hours. I pull the video into Davinchi Resolve and chop out all the dead air, rearrange clips into a cohesive video and play it back. A lot of times when I’m filming I ramble a lot, forget what I wanted to say and have to add it in at the end of the video. So it’s important to reorder the edit and try to tell a fluid story.

Filler Edit

The filler stage is where I add zooms, titles, sound effects, and b-roll. It takes less than an hour for the most part. I’m slowly moving away from lots of b-roll though. I find it’s easier to just talk to the camera or show my desktop capture like when I need to show my gameplay.

Final Edit

I like to add music to my videos. I think it adds warmth and character. So I pull my sound and music from Epidemic Sounds. I’m on a yearly plan now because I use it so much. Not just for YouTube videos but for my Twitch Streams too. I always add music last. It used to take me a long time but now I have several tracks I reuse.

Re-Watch

Don’t skip this step. I like to let my edits breathe before a rewatch. Whenever I edit a video and rewatch it that same day I always regret it later. I unfortunately end up doing this if I’m pushed for time.

For example, I’ve had brands who’ve been unclear about their expected time scales and I’ve found out on the contract that they want the deliverables in 2 days time. I’ll later see a weird cut between shots that didn’t quite overlay properly and I can’t go back and edit it out if it was my own channel. So this step is crucial if you’re editing for other people.

4. How to Stream on Twitch and TikTok

I have a streaming desk setup. By that I mean I have it ready to go whenever I need it and don’t need to play about with settings. I use OBS (Open Broadcaster Software), which is free to download, to capture my camera footage and desktop. I can switch between scenes depending on what I want to film like a talking head or gameplay.

It’s taken me a long time to get my streaming software good to go so I can just click record or stream without worrying about settings. Though, things do go wrong. But I blame my old hardware and not my lack of tech knowledge.

I also multi-stream now. Which means I stream to multiple different platforms at the same time. So I can be Live on Twitch, TikTok, YouTube and Facebook at the same time if I want. I use Restream to do this for me because if I tried to host multiple streams on my potato PC then it would crash and burn in dramatic fashion.

I have the Professional Plan which is $490 annually. But you can get $10 credit to try it for yourself with this link.

Once I’ve taken an hour for lunch I get stuck into the editing process. Currently, I can edit one YouTube video in 4-5hrs and a short video, say for TikTok or an Instagram Reel, can take 1-2hrs. But I have been known to take a full 8-hour day editing videos.

I’m slowly learning to become less of a perfectionist because I want to make more and more content, and I can’t do that if I spend an entire day editing. My goal is to learn how to use Premiere Pro but now I use Davinci Resolve for long form and CapCut for short form.

In Summary

Being a gaming content creator isn’t a popularity contest. It’s possible to run a successful content business and still make time for you and your hobbies.

I can see myself still doing this well into retirement. I just love the whole process, from playing my cozy games to filming, editing, writing and streaming. But more than anything I love connecting with my community on Discord and Facebook and in the comments of my videos.

Without your support, I probably would have found an excuse to quit within the first year.

So thank you if you’ve ever watched one of my videos, commented on a blog post, and joined my community. Your support and loyalty mean more to me than I can ever put into words.

You are why I continue to be a cozy gaming content creator.