Where do you usually find Youtubers/Twitch streamers that would like to play your games? I tried looking into Twitch, but I can't search for genres, and if I look manually I can only find top streamers (I would love to talk to smaller ones instead).
On Youtube, they are super difficult to reach, and I don't want to spam their comments, I would like to talk in private. Any suggestions?
YouTube channels can have a business e-mail attached to them. It’s hidden behind a button + a captcha to prevent bot spam. I would try there first.
If that doesn’t work - and you cannot tell if they have accepted your request since they are very unlikely to reply in either case - consider their social media. For one, I’m sure Twitter allows private messages.
Though I haven’t contacted them yet (my game is still WIP), the way I’ve found some smaller YouTubers is to search for smaller indie games. Usually those who come in late to review a famous indie game are also smaller and you can find them using YouTube’s own search filters.
I have not looked into Twitch streamers at all.
You can find lot of smaller channels in comment sections of popular games here on itch.io. Sure most of them are horror game channels, but you should find some variety channels among them.
For Youtube and Twitch i usually search for some games in similiar genre that are currently popular. Look for videos that are posted this week/month and keep scrolling down, you should usually find plenty of smaller channels.
there are a few less intrusive ways to reach out to content creators. On Twitch, you can try using the "Discover Channels" feature to find streamers in your desired genres, or you could try searching for specific hashtags related to your game. On YouTube, you could try using the "Contact" feature to send a private message to the creator, or you could try reaching out to them through their social media accounts. Just be respectful and professional, and don't spam them with constant messages.
Look for streamers that are reading each and single comment! ( < 1-200) views one! Most of them are trying to create content so they would love testing out your game!
In game development twitch section I found one dude that was actively testing / giving feedback to game developers and my number came after 3 hours. But well his input was valueable, but not asking you to be passive but remember decent community takes time to build!
Slow and steady wins the race !
Share as much as you can!
This is all I can say as 31 year old old indie game developer at tastycherrygames.com .
It is funny. Streamers are searching for games to show and developers are searching for streamers that do that. One would think that this works out perfectly... ;-) Well, too many people trying to do that, I guess.
Imho, it helps to have a good game. Or at least an interesting game. In theory, small streamers looking for new stuff to stream should be looking already for your games. And big influencers probably want payment for essentially endorsing your product.
Of course I am neither a dev nor a streamer, but the way I see it, your games are too short to stream. So maybe that is not the optimal strategy to make the game more popular. Or try finding streamers that do like to showcase short games.
Maybe read r/SmallStreamers to view the "problem" from the other perspective.
Btw, I liked the new take on The Little Match Girl.
+1 to what Mid was mentioning with getting YouTubers business emails, sometimes they'll also link their socials and on their socials will have contact info or could DM them there.
Another option is using a tool like https://twitchtracker.com/ or https://sullygnome.com/channelsearch to check out games and what streamers are featuring them.
Veeeeeeery late reply, but this thread still comes up in search so it's worth updating. The advice above still holds: small channels, the business email behind the button on the channel page, and look at who covered a game like yours recently rather than searching by genre. The paradox someone mentioned, streamers looking for games and devs looking for streamers and neither finding the other, is exactly what got me building coverMyGame: devs find channels by what they already covered and send the key directly, creators join free with no subscriber minimum. Not open yet, waiting list: https://covermygame.com/waitlist?side=dev&from=itch
Adding the one route that has actually worked for me, since it is a bit different from searching by genre 🎮
Search the platform for the specific game yours sits next to, not the category. Filter to streams from the last week or two, then skip anyone over about 5K followers. That gives you people who already chose to play this exact thing recently, which is a much stronger signal than a genre tag.
Then, instead of a DM or a cold email, take the X/Twitter handle the streamer links from their own Twitch About panel and reply to something they posted about that stream. It is public, it costs them nothing to ignore, and it does not burn the contact if they are not interested. The business email is worth keeping for a second, warmer ask once they know your name.
Honest caveat so nobody takes this as a proven funnel: I have only run it on two channels so far and neither has replied yet. Fresh and small beats big and relevant, is the theory.
Has anyone here actually compared the routes — public reply, DM, or business email — on which one gets answered?
