I think it’s a fair assumption to say that most software developers love gaming. If you’re one of the rare software developers who hate gaming, this article is not for you. For the rest of us gamers, I think many of us started development at a young age, thinking that we would one day make cool video games. Then, reality hits that software development isn’t the glamorous career you thought it would be. The 30-Year-Old Programmer Burnout The 30-Year-Old Programmer Burnout About 10 years into my career, I heard about a phenomenon coined “the 30-year-old programmer burnout” first mentioned in a HackerNoon article by Richard Kenneth. To summarize his ideas, you start out in computer science excited to learn languages and build software, but the excitement is quickly destroyed as you spend more time in a corporate office. HackerNoon article HackerNoon article They say that “do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life,” but you soon realize that making a job out of your passion can turn your passion into burnout. Although programming is considered a science field, I think it’s more of a creative field with logical limitations. Instead of being artistic, where coloring outside the lines can enhance your art, programming lets you be creative, provided you can write code that makes logical sense. Software development is more creative than scientific, which is why it can be difficult to motivate yourself to work when you’re burned out. Programmer burnout is similar to writer’s block, but programmers are not given the time off to recover. It’s a fun career and can be financially rewarding, but eventually, you move into management for the money and status. Every software developer turned manager I’ve known has shared with me their disappointment in moving from being creative to being a middle manager controlling people and building spreadsheets. It leads to quick burnout. By your 30s, you begin to tire of the corporate politics and creative limitations. Meetings generate more meetings, and before you know it, you are burned out on the career you were so excited to be in after college. Creativity is replaced with status reports and scrum meetings. Weekends are no longer for your personal projects but for escaping your work life. Programmer burnout has long been a dire phenomenon for professionals, but it’s been amplified by the massive tech layoffs in recent years. As much as corporations push for artificial intelligence (AI) to be the best thing to happen to humans, it’s also replacing jobs, including jobs for junior developers. Corporate cutbacks have hit long-term developers with decades of experience. If you’ve experienced layoffs, you might be disenchanted with the entire field and look towards an alternative – this is exactly what I did, and I turned to Twitch streaming. As with any change of career, it takes time and determination. You might not think that Twitch is right for you, but I think it’s important to show that people in an industry for a long time can change to an extremely different field and be successful. “Success” is relative, but my journey continues to get better every week. Twitch income varies wildly. Some streamers make millions a year, while others make a few hundred dollars (or less) a month. Midsize streamers make low five figures a month, which is my goal. To start, you should only expect enough money to buy you a fast-food meal. After a year, provided you continue to make Twitch streaming a priority, it’s reasonable to think that you could be making four figures each month. You can’t tell anyone that they will make a definitive amount. The amount you make depends on the category on Twitch and the viewers you attract. If you’ve ever thought about Twitch streaming, here is some advice and a look into my humble beginnings. Getting Started With Twitch Streaming Ideally, you start streaming because you’re curious and want to try it out while you have a job, but AI destroyed my career, so I did not have that option. I do have a bit of an income from freelancing, but I saved up to try out streaming. It should be noted that Twitch streaming is a slow grind, and success is not instantaneous. You can be successful, but it could take years. Generally, persistence and likability are key, but some streamers don’t see success for several years. If you plan to make a career of streaming, you should have a hefty savings account if you do it without making money from a job or other opportunities. You first start streaming to try it out. If you enjoy chatting online and gaming, you will likely enjoy streaming. If not, you might find streaming a chore. You should treat streaming as a new career, so make it a job. Every day, you should be thinking about how you can improve your stream. Getting started with Twitch streaming requires a large learning curve, so I put everything I learned into an ebook for Twitch streaming beginners. You might already watch streamers, but you do not know what you need to run a stream until you start streaming. You need specific hardware, software (OBS to be more specific), and accounts across other platforms to add the fun extras you see on other streams. ebook for Twitch streaming beginners ebook for Twitch streaming beginners Here are a few items that you need before you get started: Mic: You can use a headset to save money instead of buying an expensive microphone. If you buy a mic, you’ll also need to buy an arm to hold the mic close to your face.
Headset: I use a headset with a mic, but you need a headset even with a mic to hear your stream sound.
OBS: OBS is the de facto standard in broadcasting software for streamers. You’ll need to configure the software too.
Streamlabs and/or StreamElements: Both these sites offer extensions to display games and emotes on-stream. The sounds and effects you see on other streams come from these two sites’ extensions.
vTube Studio: Only necessary if you plan to be a vTuber.
Time: You can start with a couple of hours two or three times a week, but most streamers put in at least 4 hours per stream three or four times a week. Stream length will affect your audience growth.
Art: You need an artist for overlays, emotes, and any other graphics. You can find pre-made graphics on Etsy, but Vgen.com is popular for streamer art. Mic: You can use a headset to save money instead of buying an expensive microphone. If you buy a mic, you’ll also need to buy an arm to hold the mic close to your face. Headset: I use a headset with a mic, but you need a headset even with a mic to hear your stream sound. OBS: OBS is the de facto standard in broadcasting software for streamers. You’ll need to configure the software too. OBS OBS Streamlabs and/or StreamElements: Both these sites offer extensions to display games and emotes on-stream. The sounds and effects you see on other streams come from these two sites’ extensions. Streamlabs Streamlabs StreamElements StreamElements vTube Studio: Only necessary if you plan to be a vTuber. vTube Studio vTube Studio Time: You can start with a couple of hours two or three times a week, but most streamers put in at least 4 hours per stream three or four times a week. Stream length will affect your audience growth. Art: You need an artist for overlays, emotes, and any other graphics. You can find pre-made graphics on Etsy, but Vgen.com is popular for streamer art. Vgen.com Vgen.com Finding Your Twitch Audience Be ready to stream to potentially nobody in the beginning. You still need to be entertaining. Here are some stats from my Twitch dashboard for the first couple of weeks I streamed. My statistics aren’t too bad. I started playing Dark Souls to build an audience. The general advice from long-term streamers is to play a game that you enjoy. I find that’s true to an extent, but you should also be a bit strategic. Play a game that you enjoy, but also that other people enjoy. Also, don’t expect growth if you play a game with hundreds of streamers and several big streamers dominating the category. For example, browse Fortnite or Valorant and you’ll see hundreds of people playing to no one in chat. Find a category with less competition. Twitch’s dashboard gives you suggestions in the “Research” tab after you start streaming based on the games you play. Use this to find other games. Build your audience on other platforms, because it’s difficult to gain visibility on Twitch alone. I used YouTube Shorts, but you can also upload clips to TikTok. My YouTube shorts do well, but the same clips get barely any views on TikTok. Many of my Twitch followers came from YouTube. Twitch has a clip maker, so you can clip your content and upload directly to both TikTok and YouTube, making the entire process simple if you don’t have any video editing experience. Twitch Monetization You can monetize almost immediately on Twitch, but there is a catch – you must be an affiliate to cash out. You can take sub money and bits (Twitch’s version of money), but you can’t send the money to your bank account until you have an average of 3 viewers per stream, 25 followers, and at least 4 hours of stream time in the last 30 days. This means you must grind to affiliate even if you have viewers sending you money for subscriptions. Luckily, getting to affiliate status isn’t too hard. It took me 2 months to get the viewers and followers for affiliate status. The catch-22 is that you must run ads. Long-term Twitch streamers can’t agree on whether having ads runs off viewers when you’re new to streaming. If you don’t run ads manually, new viewers will see ads when they first land on your stream. I think this activity does frustrate new viewers, but you can run mid-stream ads so that new viewers don’t get ads when they first find your stream. Twitch has higher tiers after you gain affiliate status. As a beginner, you will take some time to get to each tier. The next three tiers are Partner, Partner Plus Level 1, and Partner Plus Level 2. The real benefit at higher tiers is a higher cut of the money (it’s 50/50 at lower tiers, but 70/30 at Partner Plus Level 2). Bigger payouts are from sponsorships. Again, sponsorships won’t likely happen until you have more concurrent viewers. Once you hit three-figure concurrent viewers, sponsors will approach you to play their games. It’s possible to make five figures a month on sponsorships, so it should be a goal if you determine that playing games on stream is something you enjoy. Is It Worth the Effort? The answer to this question depends on you. You can enjoy a career as a Twitch streamer while also having another job. You can split your time between streaming and a part-time job to feel more financially secure. I took the plunge and feel liberated from the corporate world, but I also have freelance contracts to make some money while I continue to build my audience. I believe that having a full-time job is no longer a comfortable space to be, and you should have several forms of income to protect yourself and avoid cashing in on investments when unforeseen circumstances hit you, like layoffs. Give Twitch streaming a try, and if you need some more advice, check out my ebook titled “Tips for Twitch Streaming Success: What I Wish I Knew Before I Started Streaming on Twitch.” Tips for Twitch Streaming Success: What I Wish I Knew Before I Started Streaming on Twitch Tips for Twitch Streaming Success: What I Wish I Knew Before I Started Streaming on Twitch

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Programmer Burnout: From Software Developer to Twitch Streamer

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