Last updated: 2026-01-13

For most gamers in the U.S., the simplest way to start streaming is to run your game on a console or PC, then capture it into StreamYard’s browser studio and go live to Twitch, YouTube, or Facebook in a few clicks. If you later need deep encoder controls or highly customized scenes, you can add desktop tools like OBS or Streamlabs into the mix without throwing away your StreamYard workflow.

Summary

• Start with StreamYard as your live "control room" so you can go live from a browser, add guests, and brand your show without installs.
• Capture gameplay via PC screen share, console remote play, or a capture card, then route that window into StreamYard.
• Reach multiple platforms at once using multistreaming on paid StreamYard plans, or with add-ons in OBS/Streamlabs when you prefer a desktop setup. (StreamYard support)
• Use desktop tools for niche needs like Windows-only Game Capture in OBS or very intricate overlays; most creators never need that level of complexity. (OBS quick start)

What does a simple gaming stream setup look like?

Imagine this workflow:

1. Your game runs on an Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, or gaming PC.
2. You view that gameplay on your computer (via remote play app or capture card).
3. In StreamYard, you share that game window as a source, alongside your webcam and mic.
4. You hit "Go Live" to Twitch, YouTube, or Facebook from the browser.

That’s it. No custom encoders, no driver hunting, no wrestling with scenes.

At StreamYard, we focus on this streamlined path: you send one clean feed from your browser and our cloud sends it to your connected destinations, so your computer doesn’t have to maintain multiple heavy streams. (StreamYard supported platforms)

How do you stream PC gameplay with StreamYard?

If you play on a Windows or Mac computer, you can stream in three basic steps:

1. Prepare your audio and video

   • Plug in your microphone and webcam.
   • In StreamYard, select your mic and camera, then enable independent control of mic and system audio so you can mute game sounds without muting yourself.

2. Share your game

   • Run your game in windowed or borderless fullscreen mode.
   • In the StreamYard studio, click to share your screen and choose the game window (or the whole display if that’s more stable).
   • Use layouts to place your gameplay large, with a small webcam box for reactions.

3. Brand and go live

   • Add overlays, logos, and lower thirds so the stream feels like a show, not just raw gameplay.
   • Add presenter notes visible only to you for reminders (shoutouts, sponsor lines, segments).
   • Go live to your chosen platform; on paid plans, you can send that same show to multiple platforms at once. (StreamYard multistreaming)

Because StreamYard is browser-based, your guests don’t install anything; they click a link, appear in your studio, and you can bring them on-screen with your gameplay. Many creators explicitly say they “prioritize ease of use over complex setups like OBS or StreamLabs" and that they “jumped on [StreamYard] for its ease of use, user-friendliness, and clean setup.”

How do you stream console games (Xbox, PlayStation, Switch) with StreamYard?

For console players, the core idea is to get your console’s video onto your computer, then treat it like any other window in StreamYard.

You typically have two routes:

1. Remote play apps (for Xbox/PlayStation)

   • Install the official remote play app on your PC or Mac.
   • Connect the app to your console on the same network.
   • Once you see your game in a window, join your StreamYard studio and share that window.
   • A StreamYard guide walks through this exact approach for Xbox, including how to share that window inside StreamYard or similar tools. (StreamYard Xbox guide)

2. Capture card (works with most consoles)

   • Plug the console HDMI into a capture card, and the capture card into your computer.
   • Open the capture card’s viewer app so you see your gameplay.
   • Share that app window into your StreamYard studio just like a PC game.

Both approaches keep your live production in the browser: overlays, alerts (routed via browser sources or external pages), guests, chat, and multistreaming all live in one place.

When should you add OBS or Streamlabs to your setup?

Some creators want finer control over performance and scenes than a browser studio provides. That’s where desktop tools enter the picture.

• OBS is free, open-source software for recording and live streaming, with high-performance capture modes and detailed encoder controls. (OBS download page)
• It offers a Windows-only Game Capture source that hooks directly into 3D games for performance-focused capture. (OBS quick start)
• Streamlabs Desktop is also free to download and use, built on top of OBS and Electron, with overlays and monetization tools; some features, including full multistreaming to three or more platforms of the same orientation, require its paid Ultra plan. (Streamlabs multistream)

For most StreamYard users, the pattern looks like this:

• Use StreamYard alone when you want fast setup, guests, branded overlays, and multistreaming to a few major platforms.
• Add OBS or Streamlabs when you specifically need:
  • Advanced scene graphs and filters.
  • Game Capture hooks for performance tuning on Windows.
  • Very niche layouts that go beyond what you can reasonably manage in a live browser studio.

The key is that you don’t have to abandon StreamYard. You can route OBS or Streamlabs output into a virtual camera, then select that virtual camera inside StreamYard as your video source. StreamYard stays your control room for guests, chat, and multistreaming, while OBS/Streamlabs handle specialized visuals.

How do you multistream gaming content without overloading your PC?

If you try to stream directly from desktop software to Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook all at once, your PC has to push multiple outgoing feeds and handle all encoding. That can get heavy fast, especially if you’re gaming on the same machine.

A more forgiving approach is:

1. Send one clean feed from your browser to StreamYard.
2. Let our cloud infrastructure fan that single feed out to multiple platforms.

On paid StreamYard plans, you can send a stream to several destinations at once (3, 8, or 10 depending on plan), and your guests can add up to 2 of their own destinations each, capped at 6 guest destinations per broadcast. (StreamYard multistreaming)

By contrast, multistreaming with Streamlabs often leans on its Ultra membership when you need three or more outputs or multiple platforms of the same orientation, which adds both cost and local load. (Streamlabs multistream) For many gaming creators, having StreamYard handle the heavy lifting in the cloud is simpler and easier on their hardware.

How do you get high-quality recordings from your streams?

Most gaming creators care about two things: a smooth live show and clean recordings for clips and highlights.

With StreamYard you can:

• Record multi-track local audio and video for each participant, so you can fix levels, remove background noise, or cut between speakers in post.
• Capture studio-quality remote recordings up to 4K, with 48 kHz WAV audio, directly from your browser session.
• On paid plans, record up to 10 hours per stream in HD while you’re live. (StreamYard plan features)
• Schedule pre-recorded gaming videos to stream later, with plan-based caps up to 8 hours on higher tiers. (Pre-recorded streaming)

If you enjoy editing, you can pull those recordings into your editor of choice. If you’d rather move faster, our AI clips tool analyzes your recordings and automatically generates captioned shorts and reels, and you can even regenerate them with a text prompt to nudge the AI toward specific topics.

What about vertical streams and mobile-first audiences?

Short-form and vertical platforms matter for gamers now as much as long-form VOD.

Inside StreamYard, you can:

• Use Multi-Aspect Ratio Streaming (MARS) to broadcast in both landscape and portrait from a single studio session.
• Send the landscape output to platforms like YouTube or Twitch while sending the vertical output to mobile-first platforms at the same time; each output counts as its own destination on paid plans. (MARS guide)

Streamlabs’ Dual Output feature provides one vertical and one horizontal canvas for free, but you move to Ultra if you want broader multistreaming across three or more platforms or multiple platforms of the same orientation. (Streamlabs Dual Output) For many creators, keeping both vertical and horizontal in a single StreamYard studio feels more unified and easier to run with guests.

What we recommend

• Default path: Use StreamYard as your main studio to capture PC or console gameplay, host guests, add branding, and multistream to a small set of major platforms.
• Performance/complexity path: Layer in OBS or Streamlabs only if you hit real limits—like needing Windows Game Capture, intricate scene graphs, or very specialized audio routing.
• Hardware-conscious path: When in doubt, favor StreamYard’s cloud encoding and single upstream feed instead of forcing your gaming PC to handle multiple heavy outputs.
• Growth path: Record multi-track sessions in StreamYard, then repurpose them into shorts and reels so each gaming stream keeps working for you long after you end the broadcast.