EXPERIENCE POINT #1 - The Fickle World of Streaming (Patreon)

So for those of you who have followed the channel (and myself) for a long time, you'll know that I've got a long and very mixed relationship with streaming. 

I Finished A Video Game started off as a little website (which I'm sure I'll share some posts from in here eventually) where I reviewed games that I played and never really expected anything of it. Eventually, enough people asked me to stream my playthroughs and IFAVG quickly morphed into a Twitch stream first and foremost.




Now I did this for just over a year and frankly, had quite a lot of success with it. I was in the top 1% of streamers worldwide and was growing quite a large community that, game depending, could sometimes be 50+ viewers strong.

The issue was that it made me absolutely miserable. Streaming can be like a drug where you get instant gratification but are left with after-effects that really make you question if it's worth it. Without even going into the amount of time that it took up, the sheer pressure to continue to grow the stream but keep your existing viewers happy turned what should have been something relaxing, into a grind that genuinely drove me mad at times.






In August 2021, I decided to pack it in and switch back to doing what I actually enjoyed - which was writing about games and not trying to entertain people. IFAVG shifted back to its original purpose but this time as a YouTube channel.

Obviously, that decision was one of the best that I've ever made and the success of the channel has massively vindicated the decision to abandon live content - but I've always been tempted to go back and see what it would be like. Would things be different now or would it simply descend into the same grind again?




 After trying a few streams on YouTube recently, I think I've arrived at a middle ground. I think the idea of doing streams sounds fun - but only to mark big milestones or as special one off events. That feels like a natural and normal time to put a casual stream together and miles away from that weekly grind I used to be trapped in.

The idea of streaming regularly, especially given this isn't my full-time job, just fills me with a sense of dread and I honestly believe it runs counter to what people want - which is lengthy scripted videos.

Really I think this is me closing the book on that style of IFAVG content - finally moving on and accepting that it's just really not something I think I do well, or that people want! It's time to double down on what works and that is extremely long videos about games nobody has ever heard of.


Streaming is dead - long live the lengthy retrospective.