LetsHugo became known with Minecraft, but now mainly showcases Just Chatting on Twitch. Now he realizes that gaming pays off on YouTube.
Which streamer is it about? LetsHugo is a German-speaking streamer from Luxembourg who experienced rapid growth between 2022 and 2023. In a recent stream, he showed how much he earns with his gaming channel on YouTube.
The streamer explains that he has been relatively inactive with gaming content on his channel. In hindsight, he can’t understand this because it’s “free money.” Videos with over 170,000 views earned him between 600 to 700 euros. A video with 47,000 views, in which LetsHugo is insulted by Trymacs, still brought in 183 euros.
Why is this particularly interesting for him? The videos are not specially produced for YouTube but are excerpts from his streams. They are compiled by an editor and subsequently published on YouTube – so, relatively low effort can be used to repurpose the same content and cash in twice.
Whats particularly interesting for LetsHugo is that gaming videos seem to be almost more lucrative than the videos on his main channel, even though he puts much more effort into those. The streamer says he feels “duped.” He wasn’t even aware of how easy it is to earn money this way.
He always thought he needed to create the “best video in the world.” How worthwhile gaming videos are, he knows through his Twitch colleague Papaplatte: Together they organized a “XXL Olympics.” Papaplatte turned it into a 2 1/2 hour video, which received 1.6 million views and earned him over 21,000 euros.
While the Luxembourger is still a long way from such numbers, he seems determined to get a piece of the gaming pie.
Just Chatting Reigns on Twitch
Why is this interesting? Many streamers on Twitch are currently having the opposite experience: gaming is hardly paying off for many. Just Chatting is by far the most watched category in recent years (via SullyGnome). Streamers use it to show reactions, interact with their fans, or for formats such as unboxing gifts from viewers.
Papaplatte, one of the most successful streamers on German Twitch, even reported that many of his colleagues are actually afraid of showing gaming. As soon as they switch from Just Chatting to a game, they would lose viewers, according to Papaplatte.
Many content creators have firmly integrated “Just Chatting” into their streams and chat with the viewers for a while before transitioning to a game. The proportion that Just Chatting makes up seems to be steadily increasing over the years:
- In 2019, the first full year the category existed, Asmongold showed 0.6% Just Chatting and 91.9% World of Warcraft. Five years later, he streams on his second account, and Just Chatting makes up almost 60% of his content (via TwitchTracker).
- For Gronkh, Just Chatting made up a little over 25% of his streaming time in 2019; by 2023, it was over 45%. In the current year, he seems to be having a lot of fun gaming again with strong survival titles like Palworld and Enshrouded. The proportion of Just Chatting stands at 36% for 2024 so far (via TwitchTracker).
- Jynxzi is currently the absolute standout on Twitch, even though his content is completely contrary to the mainstream: He shows almost exclusively the shooter Rainbow Six Siege. In 2019, he was not involved in Just Chatting at all; in the current year, the category has made up 11% of his streams (via TwitchTracker).
Even though the examples mentioned are just snapshots, a trend towards more Just Chatting is evident. LetsHugo himself showed almost only Minecraft in 2019. The block game made up 91% of his streaming time. However, in 2024 he spent 47% of his time on Just Chatting, followed by over 16% IRL (via TwitchTracker). Now he is achieving success with gaming – but on a completely different platform.
The concept of uploading stream excerpts on YouTube and profiting from it twice has established itself in recent years. YouTube is generally considered the more lucrative platform. However, videos produced with great effort are not necessarily rewarded by the algorithm. That’s why many big YouTubers are currently going to Twitch.
