How Much i Earn from Playing Games on Youtube?

Hi my name is Kari-Pekka and i run a small gameplay channel on youtube, named Kari-Pekka. I play indie games, horror games and much more on my channel. With 6356 subscribers and 3.5 Million views, as of writing this post. I wanted to share how much you can earn by playing games on youtube, whether it motivates or discourages you is up to you.

How much i earn from youtube?

How much you earn from youtube depends on many factors, watchtime, ads shown, time of the year and many more. I will delve deeper in to this later on.

• Monthly: 250 € - 350€
• Yearly: Around 3400~ €
• Channel lifetime earnings (2 Years): 6970 €
• Highest paying month: 550 €
• Lifetime RPM: 3,5 Million views / 1.99 €
• I earn 0€ from donations or memberships

What is RPM and what determinates RPM?

RPM means revenue per mille, in other word how much you earn by 1000 video views. What determinates how much you get paid by 1000 views comes down to these factors:

• How long does a viewer watch the video? More watch time = More revenue
• How many ads are shown? More ads shown = More revenue
• What time of the year is it? Some months will show less ads and people spend less money overall on items. So this means some months will be much lower RPM than others.
• How many people click the adverts and how many buys through the advertisements? If people buy or click the advertisement you will earn much more, than a simple ad view.
• What is your channel niche? Some channel niches like cars, sales, investment, photoshop tutorials, among others may pay better than a gaming channel.
• If a viewer uses ad blocker you will make 0€ from that viewer.
• What country is the video viewed from? Some countries are much poorer or wealthier than others. Lets say that someone viewing from America may bring in more ad revenue, than someone watching from Africa.
• Is your content advertisement friendly? Some content might be not suitable for advertisements and adverts will be turned off from that video. Video can also be sensitive, but have limited advertisements.

What videos have made me the most?

In these examples you will see how much the RPM/View duration really matters and why the views play only a small part on how much you can make.

• My Omori walkthrough video has made 2,555 €. The video has 360k Views and RPM of 7,11 €.
• My second highest earning video is my Backrooms walkthrough. It has made 2001 €, With a view count of 1.5 Million, RPM 1.30€.
• My third highest earning video is POSTAL 4: No Regerts walkthrough. It has 133k views and revenue of 353€, RPM 2,46€.

How can you earn from youtube?

You need to apply to the youtube partner program. To apply you must meet the following requirements: 500 Subscribers, 3000 watch hours in the last 12 months or 3 Million youtube shorts views.

Is making a gaming channel worth it?

Yes if you enjoy creating the content and you like to do it as a side income or a hobby. Otherwise, no. You may get lucky and grow it in to a full time business, but that should not be your goal, it is not realistic. There is so much competition on youtube gaming, that your chances are really small. Instead i would recommend finding a niche that has high demand and little to none competition.

I have gotten very lucky with few of my videos, but i am struggling to make my other content seen. I will continue on my content creation journey and maybe, someday i can become full time on youtube.