How to Make a Successful Let's Play Channel

Starting a let's play channel is an attractive prospect. Playing fun games and creating videos for people to enjoy is a fulfilling experience. While playing games and making videos is fun, however, it's always better to have success while doing so. But what needs to be done for a let's play channel to be successful?

Many let's play channels make the mistake of being too broad and not putting effort into creating high-quality videos. While the barrier of entry to creating let's play videos is low, this doesn't mean that you can just press the "record" button and gain millions of views and subscribers. There are things you will need to do if you want your channel to be successful.

Chances are, you've been told that the let's play genre on YouTube is oversaturated. While there are a lot of let's play channels on YouTube, this doesn't necessarily mean the genre is oversaturated. By taking the appropriate steps, you can put your channel in the position to stand out and be successful.

How to Set up a Let's Play Channel

Setting up a let's play channel is a pretty simple process. Designing a banner and profile picture, writing an "About Me" section- these things are easily done. The biggest mistake most let's play channels run into, however, when creating their channel has nothing to do with the visual aesthetic of the channel.

A big mistake many let's play channels make is not clearly defining their target audience. Often, many let's play channels are created with the objective of playing as many different games as possible. The problem with this, however, is that it can be difficult to encourage users to subscribe, as many videos will not apply to them.

For example, if a user discovers your video because you are playing a certain game, but then they see you upload videos about 3 other games, they will be more inclined not to subscribe. When users subscribe, it's because they want to see more of the same videos- not different videos.

When setting up a let's play channel, stick to 1 or 2 games to start. Over time, you can make some changes to the games you play. However, it's much easier to gain your initial momentum when you focus on attracting a specific audience. Many large let's play channels create videos on a variety of different games, but large and small channels grow differently.

Equipment Needed for Let's Plays

Is there any equipment needed for let's plays? After all, many game consoles come equipped with built-in game capture abilities, and many screen recording PC programs exist. Along with this, many gaming headsets come equipped with decent microphones that can be used to capture voice recordings.

While there are ways to create let's play videos with minimal equipment, there are some benefits to having certain pieces of equipment at your disposal. While equipment does cost a good chunk of money, purchasing equipment is worth the cost. The pieces of equipment you should consider purchasing if you are going to be creating let's play videos are:

• Game capture card
• Webcam (optional)

These 3 pieces of equipment will allow you to create high-quality let's play videos more efficiently. These pieces of equipment aren't technically necessary, but they will make the video creation process a much more efficient process. Remember what I said above- you can stand out quite easily in the let's play space by simply creating high-quality videos.

If you are just starting a let's play channel, then try creating some videos with the equipment you currently have at your disposal. After creating some videos, if you enjoy the process, consider purchasing some equipment so you can create videos more efficiently, and improve the quality of your videos.

How to Make a Let's Play Entertaining

Learning how to make a let's play entertaining is in your best interest as a content creator. Anyone can upload a let's play video, but very few videos will end up being entertaining. By creating entertaining videos, your videos will stand out from the rest, leading to more success. But what makes a let's play video entertaining?

Most of the time, the most entertaining aspect of a let's play video is the commentary. Watching gameplay is part of the experience, but what keeps the attention of viewers is the commentary placed over the gameplay. Look at the comments on a video from any successful let's play channel and most of them will revolve around the commentary to some degree.

The easiest way to make your commentary more entertaining is simply to practice creating more videos. As with riding a bike, learning how to create entertaining videos equipped with good commentary takes time. By creating more videos, you will become a better speaker, leading to better commentary quality for your videos.

Sure, some funny moments and glitches can make a let's play video entertaining. However, viewers will continue coming back and watching more of your videos if they find you entertaining. So, create videos and practice speaking so you can become a better commentator.

Examples of Successful Let's Play Channels

Over the years, many successful let's play channels have come onto the scene. Some channels are successful for a short time, while others are successful for years. Learning from successful let's play channels is important for any content creator on YouTube looking to have a successful channel of their own.

Game Grumps

Game Grumps is a let's play channel that has been around for many years now. Since it first began, the channel has gone through some significant changes. Initially, this channel published traditional let's play videos on popular games. Nowadays, the Game Grumps have branched out and have slightly modified how they operate their channel.

theRadBrad

There are few let's play channels as successful as theRadBrad. Chances are if you've ever looked for videos about a newly released video game, you probably stumbled across a video from theRadBrad. Of all the large channels on YouTube, theRadBrad might produce the most "classic" let's play videos.

TheGamingLemon

TheGamingLemon is a channel that has been on YouTube for many years now. Unlike most let's play channels, TheGamingLemon produces highly-edited videos with added sound effects, transitions, etc. The editing style that this channel uses is not used for let's play videos. However, this proves that you can be creative when producing videos of this type.

Conclusion

You now know how to make a successful let's play channel. Select a target audience, purchase high-quality equipment, and improve your commentary. By doing these things, you will be able to create high-quality videos that can help your channel stand out and gain subscribers.