Streaming video games, whether for recreation or profit, is now a popular way to share video games with other people and let them experience what you are experiencing simultaneously. After all, people experience things differently from others.
However, unlike PCs, video game consoles don't have a program like OBS Studio and NVIDIA Shadowplay that will let you stream your gameplay to others as easily.
Thankfully, Sony has a solution for that for PlayStation consoles, though in a slightly roundabout way.
A vendor sells PlayStation 4 (PS4), PS5 and Xbox game consoles at a shop in the central market of Iran's capital Tehran on January 24, 2021.
How To Stream Video Games Through PlayStation Consoles
PlayStation console owners can stream their games to people through YouTube or Twitch. However, they need to link their PlayStation Network (PSN) accounts to their respective Twitch and/or YouTube accounts first to stream from their consoles.
Fortunately, the step to link PSN accounts to these popular streaming sites and actually streaming from PSN consoles didn't change even when Sony released the PlayStation 5. As a result, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 users can use the same steps detailed in this article to stream their video games to people through their consoles.
Linking And Streaming To YouTube
Linking a PSN Account to a YouTube account is the more difficult but more comprehensive of the two. According to IGN, successfully linking a PSN Account to a YouTube account could take as much as 24 hours for YouTube to verify your account, preventing you from streaming your video games through YouTube until then, even if it says it's verified.
Read More: WhatsApp Might Have a Self-Destructing Group Chat Feature Soon
However, linking the two accounts together is worth the effort. Once fully verified, you can change several settings on your streams through the YouTube Creator Studio. From there, it will let you choose if your stream can be publicly viewed or if only certain people can watch you play.
Here's how you can stream to YouTube through your PlayStation console:
- Go to Settings and select Users and Accounts.
- Select Link with Other Services.
- Select YouTube from the list of streaming services and then select Link Account. Doing so will open the console's web browser and open YouTube.
- Log into the YouTube account you wish to link your PSN Account with.
- Follow the on-screen instruction to complete the linking process
- Wait for 24 hours or until you can start streaming through YouTube.
- Press the Share or Create button on your PlayStation controller and select Broadcast Gameplay.
- Choose YouTube from the list of streaming services available to you.
- (optional) Open the YouTube Creator Studio and fiddle with the settings you wish to change.
Linking And Streaming To Twitch
Linking your PSN Account and streaming to Twitch is the easier and simpler of the two, but it is also less flexible than YouTube is when it comes to limiting who can watch your stream.
As such, this option is best for gamers comfortable enough with random strangers watching them play or streamers that already have a high Twitch following.
The steps to linking a Twitch account to a PSN account are the same as lining one to a YouTube account. However, you can stream almost immediately once the two are linked to each other.
From here, streaming from a PlayStation console to Twitch is simple, per Twitch:
- Press the Share or Create button on your PlayStation controller and select Broadcast Gameplay.
- Choose Twitch rather than YouTube from the list of streaming services
- Give your stream a title and customize your overlay position, and, if available, add in your PlayStation camera's feed to let your audience see your reactions live
- Click Go Live and start streaming
Related Article: How To Transfer Data From an iPhone to an Android Phone
