Is it best to always record the most popular game?

I wouldn't try to do that if possible. If you're recording for example a stereotypical popular shooting game, odds are your viewers won't find your video through all the other content of the same game when searching on YouTube.

On the other hand, if you're really into the game and show it in your recording it might work. Or if you're first out (like get a review copy from publisher) with a video, and there is no ban on publishing the video before a certain day.

 

The most populair is also the one who has the most video's on youtube and therefor harder to get views. The games that are less populair but still has audience or those who are curious will get more.

 

I record the games I like to play, want to play and asked to play... ^_^

 

It's up to you if you want to record the newest AAA titles but you won't in any way make it to the first page of search only from the big 1 mill + youtubers doing the same game. You can still play it for your subscribers but you probably wont bring anyone new to the channel unless you promote it or it's really different from the other videos. Its best for us smaller fish to play more indie games to help grow BUT thats not to say you can't grow playing the bigger games, its just really hard.

 

It depends on what you're viewers come to you for, if they go to you for you, then it doesn't matter what game. If they come to you because they want to see the latest games, they most likely aren't a loyal viewer anyway. Keep in mind that playing the game everyone else is playing, you'll be struggling to turn up in the search which is where a huge amount of views can come from. (I should know, having held #1 position for "how to make a fireworks show in minecraft" before the video got taken down :/)

 

Just play the games you want and be yourself. I have noticed that most of the time if people relate to you then they will watch whatever game you happen to be playing.

 

Although that is good when you have established fan base. If you're trying to attract new viewers playing Super Mario 64 it's not happening unless you show it to people yourself, you're not going to show up on search unless you're a massive channel.

I'm about to start playing TWD games for my channel but I don't expect any bump in subs because of the series just because of how saturated for a regular LP of the game is.
We're in probably the most saturated market on youtube, just because you and I work hard and make good videos doesn't mean we get views. SEO and retention does. Sometimes I wish it wasn't that way but it is.

 

when it comes to recording popular games that just came out or just popular in general it can gain a lot of views at first but it can also make viewer abandonment more common cause its not the person they are looking for. in other cases its the simple thing that everyone does it at the same time therefore your video has to be good in competition and get to the top of the search bar to get a successful video

 

I agree it is harder to try and get people to watch your content unless you play the most popular games. But you really need to ask yourself do you want people who enjoy watching you play the game or people who happen to just come to your channel because you are playing the most recently released game on YouTube right now.

It's really depends on the type of channel community you want to build. The only other piece of advice I can give you is to watch and study your channel's YouTube analytics as well as video retention. This will give you an idea of what people are watching on your channel and for how long.

Then you can adjust your channel strategy for what type of videos and how long they should be. Then as your views and subs go up start asking them what the would like to see more of...

Hope this help and I wish you luck

 

Honestly its up to you whether you want to play New AAA titles or games that are obscure/non mainstream or games that you like in general. But im going through the same thing honestly, and its tough to figure out. The new games(AAA Titles) are being covered by almost every gamer on YouTube to be honest so you might not get views but there is a slim chance people will view them and be curious to check out the video if they want to see more of the same game. If you do obscure games or games that haven't really been covered then when people to go to search that game they'll find your videos and if they are good then they will check you out and you might get a fan base that way, but since the game isn't popular your not going to get many views but will build a steady stream of views over time (if your videos are good). Then you got games that you like and love to play which if you are enthusiastic about them and you are entertaining enough your fans will come to watch regardless of the game EX GameGrumps. Doing a game that's not too mainstream but is still popular might be a good way to go. But if you are starting out try some mainstream games to build some fans i guess.

 

Alli have to add to these wonderful people is that if you find a popular game to make videos of on your channel go for it! but be careful and make sure its a game you enjoy. i recently had grat success with TROVE from Trion. i got alpha access thanks to Freedom! and made class spotlights on all the available classes. these are the most viewed videos on my channel and likely the worst and ones i am not proud of, purely because i did not enjoy the game at all and ended up start my final 2 videos with "as you all know i dont really like this game so this may be my final class spotlight" which is particularly bad.

 

Yeah like Zypher said you should only play games you like and/or are interested in. If you aren't interested in the game or if you act like you arent interested in the game people aren't going to be interested in you. If its a game you haven't played yet you could always play it before recording it to see how you like it or you could do a "one off" to see how it goes and if you want to do more then turn it into a series or something. That's the best advice i can give really I'm still trying to figure things out myself. Well hope things go well for you!

 

My look of youtube is, try to play games before ANYONE ELSE DOES. Then your content becomes exclusive and only your channel has that content, so people will only go to your channel. That is why PewDiePie and Jacksepticeye has alot of views. They get alot of games before anyone else gets them. But if you dont have that opportunity, try to find a game that you think a majority of the people subed to you and watch your videos will like, and less then 10 other channels have.

 

Yeah Zavage is right playing games that no one has covered/hasn't covered yet, itwill help you get s a steady stream of views in the long run. Although most games are being covered on YouTube and finding a game that no one else has done is really tricky. Also like Zavage said you should play games your audience might like and if you don't have an idea then just make a video poll or something or a social media poll to see what they want. Oh and don't forget try to play games you are interested in, even if you arent interested; as long as you act enthusiastic and generally interested about it then people will be interested in you! If you want to do videos on a game search it up on youtube first, if there arent that many channels doing it or there quality/commentary of the video is bad you might be able to take advantage of the situation! Hope this helps

 

If you do play and record the most popular game (No man's sky for example) be UNIQUE and try to get your video out there first. Try to make it Click worthy *BUT NOT CLICKBAIT* But I would suggest playing and recording unique games that are fairly unknown (make sure you like the game though XD) to record so you yourself can be unique

 

I think its better to record like this games what u like to and want to play.
Yeah, the viewers and subscribers are important to , but newer play thouse games what u dont want, play always thouse games what u like and want to play.

 

Yeah never play a game you dont like lol, the only exception i could think of is for your fan base to get amusement out of your suffering like Dark Souls or something lol.
--- Post updated ---

Yeah being yourself is really helpful when it comes to YouTube, like people say there's only one of you. Yeah having good thumbnails can make almost any video click worthy but dont make it spamy though by putting boobs or something dumb like that lol. Ive been putting stuff related to the game and jokes ive made in the video. Yeah if you are interested in a game search it up first whether its new or its an indie game or whatever and based on how many channels or videos that are doing it then make your decision on whether to record the game or not.

 

I've tried that once where I always played what people wanted and in my opinion it didn't work out, because I didn't enjoy those games, so from now I play only games that I enjoy to play or games that people recommend and I like them too. So, it's not good idea to play a newer game if you don't like it and do it for views - video won't come out enjoyable and may get really rude feedback.

 

It would end up costing a decent chunk of money to keep with the latest games. I would focus on making tutorials/guides if a game is getting hyped up possibly. Figure out what the gaming community wants, and fill that need for them if possible. Let's plays are somewhat harder to get noticed for, but you can try out your options first.