The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were the first home consoles to feature the ability to stream directly from the console itself. Having that functionality is great, as it lowers the barrier dramatically for those interested in trying their hand at streaming. That being said, console streamers are at a distinct disadvantage from those who have their consoles connected through a PC.

With a PC, console streamers get access to all of the bells and whistles that viewers expect, from some semblance of an overlay, to on-screen notifications, to multiple scenes, When streaming from a console, you’re stuck with the limited options you have for microphones, cameras, and overlays. Microsoft got better as the generation went on, as they added support for different cameras and allowing for custom overlays through Lightstream Studio. However, that feature seems to have gone by the wayside as part of Mixer shutting down.

In particular, that PlayStation 4 streaming template can be a death sentence. I think when viewers see that default PS4 streaming overlay as they browse through Twitch, their first impression is that this is a “lesser” stream, even if you might be the most charismatic person in the universe.

Streaming from a console is totally fine for practice. But if you really want your channel to grow at this juncture, you’re in a much better position to do so by capturing your gameplay through a PC. Will this change as we transition into the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5?

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