Last updated: 2026-01-10

For most gaming podcasts in the US, start with StreamYard: it runs in the browser, records local and cloud tracks, captures system audio on Windows, and keeps remote guests painless to manage. If you care most about uncompressed 48kHz WAV and built-in AI editing in one tool, Riverside is a reasonable alternative for more post-production-heavy workflows. (StreamYard, Riverside)

Summary

• StreamYard gives gamers a browser-based studio that records each participant locally, supports AI noise removal, and requires no installs for guests.
• On Windows, you can share your game with system audio directly from Chrome, while using your mic and camera for a video podcast layout. (StreamYard Help)
• Paid plans offer unlimited local recording hours and optional separate cloud audio tracks, plus AI-powered clips for highlight reels. (StreamYard Help)
• Riverside suits gamers who prioritize uncompressed 48kHz WAV and 4K local video with built-in AI editing, but multi-track hours are capped by plan. (Riverside, Riverside Pricing)

Why does podcast recording software matter so much for gamers?

Gaming podcasts have unique needs. You’re juggling live gameplay, party chat, Discord, remote guests, and sometimes live chat from Twitch or YouTube—all while trying to keep audio clean and latency low.

Good podcast software does three things for gamers:

1. Captures everything you hear and say – game audio, your mic, and guest voices.
2. Protects your recording from bad internet – by using local or multi-track recording instead of relying on a single livestream file. (StreamYard Help)
3. Keeps guests and co-hosts friction-free – nobody wants to install heavy apps or fight with drivers just to join an episode.

StreamYard leans into those priorities with a browser-based studio: your friends join from a link, each person is recorded locally, and paid plans remove practical hour caps for local recording so you can run long gaming sessions without worrying about quotas. (StreamYard)

How does StreamYard fit into a typical gaming podcast workflow?

Here’s a simple way a two-host gaming podcast might run an episode with StreamYard:

• You and your co-host both open StreamYard in Chrome.
• You send your co-host a link; they join from their browser—no install required. (StreamYard)
• You share your game via screen share, plus system audio if you’re on Windows.
• StreamYard records each person locally on their own machine, plus a cloud mix.
• After the session, you download separate tracks (local and, on higher tiers, cloud audio tracks) and make light edits in your editor of choice. (StreamYard Help)

For gamers, the big advantages are:

• No heavy client eating GPU/CPU while you’re trying to maintain frame rate.
• Local per-participant files that aren’t ruined if someone’s connection stutters.
• AI background-noise removal and echo cancellation to tame keyboard, fans, and room noise, with documented audio up to 256kbps for streams/recordings. (StreamYard)
• 4K local recordings and 48kHz WAV audio per participant, so your master files are ready for serious post-production if you want it.

Because StreamYard intentionally focuses on recording, live production, and repurposing—not RSS hosting—your final files hand off cleanly to dedicated podcast hosts for publishing to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. (StreamYard)

How do you capture game audio and your mic together for podcast recordings?

This is the top practical question gamers ask.

On Windows with Chrome, StreamYard supports sharing program or system audio, so you can:

1. Launch your game.
2. In StreamYard, click Share → Screen.
3. Choose the game window or desktop and enable Share system audio.
4. Use your regular USB/XLR mic as your StreamYard audio input.

StreamYard’s docs note that program/desktop audio sharing is currently supported in Chrome on Windows, not macOS, so Mac gamers often add a virtual audio device to route game audio into StreamYard. (StreamYard Help)

A few practical tips for clean results:

• Separate Discord/party chat from game audio where possible, so you can adjust levels independently.
• Lower in-game music to keep space for dialogue.
• Use headphones, not speakers, so your mic doesn’t re-record the game feed.

If your entire format is audio-only and heavily produced, Riverside’s uncompressed 48kHz WAV capture is attractive, but you may still use a virtual audio setup to capture game audio the way you want. (Riverside)

Browser recorders vs native apps: what about latency and performance?

Gamers are understandably sensitive to anything that might tank FPS or introduce delay.

Browser-based studios like StreamYard and Riverside offload a lot of work to the browser and cloud instead of running a full native compositor on your machine. In practice, that often means:

• Lower CPU/GPU overhead than many native streaming/recording apps.
• Less driver wrangling—your mic, webcam, and screen share show up as standard browser inputs.
• Predictable performance across different PCs, since everything rides on Chrome rather than custom engines.

The trade-off is that screen sharing and system audio routing follow browser and OS rules. For example, StreamYard’s docs highlight that full-desktop audio sharing is supported in Chrome on Windows, not on macOS. (StreamYard Help)

For fast-paced shooters or competitive play, many creators keep the game itself on a high-refresh monitor with V-Sync and overlays tuned, then let the browser studio run on a second display. The outcome is usually smoother than bolting everything into one complex, native scene-graph setup.

Recommended settings for recording game chat and system audio

Once you’re comfortable with the basics, dial in a few settings:

• In-game audio: turn SFX down 10–20% below your voice; keep music low.
• Voice chat (Discord/party): route to a separate device or virtual output so you can balance it in your editor later.
• StreamYard input: choose your primary mic; let the browser capture system audio from screen share for the game feed.
• Noise control: enable StreamYard’s AI noise removal for fan/keyboard rumble; it’s designed to clean background sounds while preserving speech. (StreamYard)
• Recording format: rely on local recordings for your master files; they’re captured at the source device, so glitches in the live feed don’t ruin the final tracks. (StreamYard Help)

If you’re editing afterwards, this combination—local tracks plus cleanly separated game/system audio—gives you flexibility without drowning in complexity.

Can you record remote guests while live-streaming gameplay?

Yes—and this is where StreamYard’s live-first design is especially useful for gamers.

On paid plans, you can:

• Go live to Twitch, YouTube, or multiple platforms at once while recording in the cloud.
• Invite remote guests with a link; they join in your StreamYard studio, on camera or audio-only.
• Capture local recordings per participant during the same session, giving you higher-quality masters than the live VOD alone. (StreamYard Help)

After the stream, you can:

• Pull the main recording for quick YouTube VOD.
• Download separate local files for each participant to clean up crosstalk, balance volumes, and release the audio podcast version.
• Use StreamYard’s AI Clips to quickly generate highlight moments for TikTok, Reels, or YouTube Shorts, instead of scrubbing through a three-hour VOD. (StreamYard)

Riverside can also record and then repurpose content with AI, but its plans cap multi-track hours per month—2, 5, or 15 hours depending on tier—so long, frequent gaming streams require more careful quota management. (Riverside Pricing)

Which tools provide separate tracks and uncompressed audio for post-production?

If your editing workflow is track-heavy—precise leveling, noise reduction per voice, editing out crosstalk—you should pay attention to both separate tracks and audio format.

Here’s how StreamYard and Riverside approach it:

• StreamYard

  • Records separate local audio and video per participant, with unlimited local recording hours on paid plans (within storage limits). (StreamYard Help)
  • Offers individual cloud audio tracks for each participant on higher tiers, captured as separate files for editing. (StreamYard Help)
  • Documents up to 256kbps audio bitrate for podcasts and supports uncompressed 48kHz WAV audio at the recording level, plus 4K local video capture for high-end post-production. (StreamYard)
  • Pairs intentionally with full-featured editors for deep cuts, rather than trying to replace them.

• Riverside

  • Records uncompressed 48kHz WAV audio and up to 4K video per participant, with local-first recording and cloud upload. (Riverside)
  • Uses a monthly quota for multi-track hours (e.g., 5–15 hours on paid plans), which can matter if you run long, frequent gaming shows. (Riverside Pricing)
  • Adds built-in AI editing and repurposing tools (Co-creator) for users who want more automation in one app. (Riverside)

For most gaming podcasts, StreamYard’s combination of local tracks, 48kHz WAV support, and AI-powered clipping delivers more than enough quality while keeping your live-show and recording workflow straightforward.

What we recommend

• Default choice for gamers: Use StreamYard as your main recording studio if you care about easy guest joins, strong local + cloud recordings, and comfortable live-streaming to Twitch or YouTube.
• When Riverside may fit: Consider Riverside when uncompressed 48kHz WAV plus built-in AI editing in one app outweighs live-first production or when you rarely exceed its multi-track hour caps.
• For heavy editors: Treat StreamYard as the capture and live-production layer, then hand off its 48kHz WAV and 4K local files to a dedicated DAW or NLE for deep edits.
• For growth and repurposing: Lean on StreamYard’s AI Clips and ecosystem-friendly approach to quickly spin your long gaming sessions into shorts, promos, and podcast episodes without locking into an all-in-one stack. (StreamYard)