Niche data
How much do gaming YouTubers make? 2026 data from 4,424 channels
Published 4 November 2026Updated 1 November 20266 min read
A typical gaming YouTuber with at least 1,000 subscribers makes an estimated $1,888 to $6,879 a month from YouTube ads, as of 1 November 2026. That comes from 4,424 gaming channels Branzly tracks, which get a median of about 1.35 million views a month, priced at the $1.40 to $5.10 RPM range our earnings calculator uses for gaming.
Gaming pays little per view but gets a lot of views. A gaming channel with 1 million or more subscribers has a median estimate of $4,883 to $17,789 a month. Under 10,000 subscribers, the median is $20 to $74.
How much gaming YouTubers make by subscriber count
| Subscribers | Channels | Median monthly views | Median views per recent video | Estimated monthly ad revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1K to 10K | 191 | 14,570 | 2,623 | $20 to $74 |
| 10K to 100K | 478 | 101,946 | 11,924 | $143 to $520 |
| 100K to 1M | 1,654 | 838,527 | 89,626 | $1,174 to $4,276 |
| 1M and over | 2,101 | 3,488,061 | 275,453 | $4,883 to $17,789 |
| All channels | 4,424 | 1,348,794 | 128,114 | $1,888 to $6,879 |
The biggest jump comes at 100,000 subscribers. The median gaming channel in the 100K to 1M band gets about 838,500 views a month, more than eight times the 10K to 100K band. Past 1 million subscribers, monthly views roughly quadruple again.
The top 10% of gaming channels in our sample get 11.7 million or more views a month. At gaming rates that is $16,412 to $59,788 a month from ads.
What a single gaming video earns
Using the median views per recent upload in each band, a typical new gaming video earns roughly:
- 1K to 10K subscribers: about 2,623 views, or $4 to $13 in ad revenue.
- 10K to 100K subscribers: about 11,924 views, or $17 to $61.
- 100K to 1M subscribers: about 89,626 views, or $125 to $457.
- 1M subscribers and over: about 275,453 views, or $386 to $1,405.
A gaming channel with 50,000 subscribers posting four videos a month at the band median would make about $67 to $243 from those uploads. The band's median monthly total, 101,946 views, is about 8.5 times the views of one new upload, so a typical channel either posts often, gets steady views on older videos, or both.
A new finance video in the same 10K to 100K band earns $39 to $133, more than twice the gaming figure, even though it gets fewer views.
Gaming and finance: same income, very different views
Gaming has one of the lowest RPM ranges Branzly uses. Finance is priced at $5 to $17 per 1,000 views, more than three times gaming's $1.40 to $5.10. Yet a gaming channel with 1 million or more subscribers ends up with almost the same estimated income as a finance channel of that size: $4,883 to $17,789 a month for gaming against $5,260 to $17,885 for finance, as we showed in how much finance YouTubers make.
Views make up the difference. The median gaming channel in the 1M+ band gets about 3.49 million views a month, 3.3 times the 1.05 million of a finance channel the same size. Across all channels, the median gaming channel gets about 7.7 times the monthly views of the median finance channel.
Gaming channels earn their money through volume: many more views at fewer dollars per view. For a creator choosing a niche, that means gaming income depends on reaching a large audience, while finance can pay similar amounts from a much smaller one.
The gaming YouTubers with the most monthly views
These are the ten gaming channels with the highest estimated monthly views in our data.
| Channel | Country | Subscribers | Estimated monthly views | Long-form share | Estimated monthly ad revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capybluh | n/a | 4.26M | 284.7M | 4% | $398,535 to $1,451,807 |
| nobrainjames | n/a | 5.45M | 216.9M | 28% | $303,619 to $1,106,042 |
| Jie GamingStudio | n/a | 4.13M | 181.8M | 4% | $254,485 to $927,052 |
| Scalpo | India | 7.03M | 158.9M | 100% | $222,396 to $810,156 |
| IBella | US | 5.69M | 157.5M | 24% | $220,526 to $803,344 |
| camman18 | US | 11.4M | 144.3M | 4% | $202,056 to $736,061 |
| Dannika | Peru | 5.51M | 140.0M | 12% | $195,949 to $713,813 |
| Vindooly | Australia | 10.1M | 131.4M | 76% | $183,938 to $670,060 |
| IShowSpeed | US | 62.1M | 105.7M | 48% | $148,019 to $539,211 |
| MrBeast Gaming | US | 61.0M | 95.9M | 96% | $134,326 to $489,330 |
Seven of the ten post mostly Shorts, with a long-form share under 50%, and six are at 28% or less. Capybluh, Jie GamingStudio and camman18 are at 4%. Shorts pay far less per view than long videos (see our guide to Shorts RPM), so for these channels the real figure is likely to sit well below the range shown.
Scalpo, Vindooly and MrBeast Gaming mostly post long videos, so their ranges are closer to what the model intends. MrBeast Gaming makes nearly all long-form content and gets about 95.9 million views a month on about 61 million subscribers.
Capybluh, with about 4.26 million subscribers, gets more estimated monthly views than IShowSpeed with 62.1 million.
Shorts-led gaming channels get more views
Gaming is more Shorts-heavy than finance. Of the 4,424 channels, 749 had Shorts as most of their recent uploads. Their median is about 1.77 million monthly views, against 1.32 million for the 3,674 channels that mainly post long videos.
On our model that puts Shorts-led channels at $2,484 to $9,048 a month and long-form channels at $1,845 to $6,722. The model applies the same RPM to both, though, and Shorts views earn much less, so the long-form channels may well earn more in practice.
Sponsorships for gaming channels
Ads are only one income stream. In our sponsor data for January to October 2026, brands Branzly files under Gaming made 2,479 deals with 208 channels. The most active was Gamersupps, with 1,860 deals across 116 channels, or 16 per channel, the highest repeat rate among the most active YouTube sponsors of 2026. The controller brand Scuf made 273 deals with just 11 channels, whose median size was about 1.72 million subscribers.
How we got these numbers
We took the gaming channels in Branzly's channel reports and kept the 4,424 with at least 1,000 subscribers, a public subscriber count and a monthly view estimate. Subscriber counts are current YouTube figures as of 1 November 2026. YouTube requires 1,000 subscribers before a channel can earn ad revenue. Monthly views are an estimate rebuilt from the views on each channel's latest uploads, since YouTube does not publish monthly figures for other people's channels. Revenue is those views divided by 1,000, multiplied by $1.40 and $5.10, the gaming preset in our calculator, which assumes Tier 1 audience rates and counts all views.
We removed MrBeast's main channel from the named table, because it is tagged Gaming in our data but is not a gaming channel, plus Adam Hidayat, whose recent view data contained an error, and three channels with no recent video data. The figures cover ad revenue only, not sponsorships, merchandise, memberships or affiliate income. YouTube rounds public subscriber counts to three significant figures.
What to do with this
- Run your channel through the ad revenue forecaster and compare your monthly views with the median for your band.
- If you post mostly Shorts, use the low end of the range as your guide, and check single videos with the video earnings calculator.
- Add sponsorship income. Price your offer from average views with the sponsorship calculator, and see which brands sponsor gaming creators on the sponsor leaderboard.
- Track which gaming channels are rising fastest in our gaming growth rankings.
To estimate what your own gaming channel earns from ads, run it through the YouTube earnings calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How much do gaming YouTubers make per 1,000 views?
Branzly's calculator uses an RPM of $1.40 to $5.10 per 1,000 views for gaming, which is what the creator keeps after YouTube's share. A gaming video with 100,000 views would earn about $140 to $510 from ads at that rate. Shorts views pay much less, so Shorts-heavy channels sit at or below the low end.
How much does a gaming YouTuber with 100K subscribers make?
Gaming channels with 100,000 to 1 million subscribers get a median of about 838,500 views a month in Branzly's data, as of 1 November 2026. At $1.40 to $5.10 per 1,000 views, that is roughly $1,174 to $4,276 a month from YouTube ads, before sponsorships, memberships or merchandise.
Who is the highest earning gaming YouTuber?
By estimated monthly views, Capybluh leads the gaming channels Branzly tracks with about 284.7 million, as of 1 November 2026, which suggests $398,535 to $1,451,807 a month at gaming rates. Almost all of its recent uploads are Shorts, so its real ad income is likely well below that range.
Do gaming YouTubers make less than finance YouTubers?
Per view, yes: Branzly uses $1.40 to $5.10 per 1,000 views for gaming and $5 to $17 for finance. Gaming channels get far more views, though. Channels with 1 million or more subscribers end up with similar median ad income in both niches, about $4,883 to $17,789 a month for gaming.
How does Branzly estimate gaming YouTuber earnings?
Branzly rebuilds each channel's monthly views from its latest uploads and multiplies views divided by 1,000 by a gaming RPM of $1.40 to $5.10. This article covers 4,424 gaming channels with at least 1,000 subscribers, as of 1 November 2026. The figures are ad revenue only and leave out sponsorships and merchandise.
Sources and further reading
The figures in this article are estimates based on Branzly's own channel and sponsorship data and on publicly available data. They are general information about creator earnings, not financial, legal, tax or medical advice, and they are not tailored to your circumstances. Speak to a qualified professional before making decisions based on them.
YouTube earnings calculator
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