If you’re thinking about streaming as a serious business endeavor, you’re in the right place.

So, how to build a community by playing video games? It requires you to be authentic, provide value, engage with your audience, and show integrity – all while playing video games you enjoy. Let’s dive deeper into what this means below.

Today I want to introduce you to some community-building concepts as observed from MugsTV — A video game content creator on Facebook Gaming with the welcoming tagline — “Hugs with Mugs.”

Brian, the guy behind the streamer nickname MugsTV has recently crossed the 200k follower mark on his Facebook page. He also has an active discord server, a Facebook group, and a premium Facebook group for his paying members.

Disclaimer: I am a subscriber of Mugs. I follow him for many months. Neither Mugs nor anyone associated with him asked for this article, and it only reflects my own opinions.

So, with that out of the way, let’s dive in and see what we can learn from how Mugs is growing his community.

Authenticity Speaks Volumes

Mugs treats his subscribers like family or friends. If you ask him a question while he isn’t entirely focusing on not getting killed in the game, you will get an answer.

I’m 99% sure that if I were ever to meet Mugs face to face, I would find that he interacts with people the same he interacts with his subscribers — by being open and inviting.

This behavior is not exceptional, and yet many beginning streamers do not understand this basic concept — be open to conversation and connection. Generally react to your potential audience. It’s not a community without connecting.

That is the first pillar of good community-building — authenticity. Without it, you can’t build trust. Without trust, you can’t make anything that lasts.

Taking The Job Seriously

In the streaming world, the audience divides its attention into many genres, one of which is the shooters. Call of Duty is usually the game of choice for streamers in this video game “niche.” It is what Mugs is playing most of the time.

So, when a new day begins, you will usually find mugs streaming from 7.30 AM nowadays. He starts his streams drinking coffee in a mug because, of course, he will, and then starts practicing.

When I started following him, I was amazed by this practice. I didn’t even know that such “games” for practicing your targeting existed. It made me rethink all of my 200+ hours into Mass Effect.

Starting your day with a target practice is what the Pros do. Mugs makes it seem so natural to practice before playing.

The other practice that puts Mugs way up there with the pros is his ability to learn and adapt. This community’s fans have a nickname for Mugs — Professor Mugs — and for a good reason. In some streams, Mugs decides to go over different guns, compare stats, show tools that help select the best gun at X, etc.

That is the second pillar of good community-building — providing value. The people who follow Mugs are usually gamers themselves. Watching Mugs analyze a weapon helps them make better choices when they go to play themselves.

Humor Sells

Well, it’s true. And you know what? Mugs is a funny guy! When I usually watch him, it’s already evening for me here on the other side of the world. Watching Mugs light me up and makes me smile.

Judging by the comments on his streams, people feel the same way.

Granted, not everybody has a natural talent to make jokes, and Mugs is undoubtedly not a stand-up comedian. Still, he feels comfortable in front of a camera, and that’s probably one thing that helps flow jokes better.

That is an alternative second pillar to good community-building — providing entertainment. Many TikTok creators gain fame from content that they created to put a smile on someone’s face — nothing more.

Engagement and Reciprocity

Whenever Mugs has a question, he is not afraid to posit it to his audience and give them a straightforward way of answering — “type 1 in chat for X.”

You could also write down your unique answer, and that’s fine too.

When people donate money in the form of stars or subscribers, Mugs is thankful. Never did he take it for granted.

That is the third pillar of good community building — engagement. Think of ways to let people participate in some way. Let them type something in the chat or react to an event in some way.

Integrity and Character

I want to share with you some comments that people wrote in Mugs’ subscriber group:

It just goes to show you how much Mugs is not only loved but respected.

You don’t have to be someone special or do something grandiose — you need to make your principles known and stand behind them when push comes to shove. I’ve seen Mugs block people on the spot on more than one occasion for the sake of cheating, being rude, racist, homophobic, etc.

That is the fourth pillar of good community-building — Integrity. Show people your true colors and let them decide what they want. Don’t let them walk all over you, but still, make sure to answer them respectfully. Or shut them down when they are behaving unacceptably.

Conclusion

Hopefully, by going over the thing Mugs is doing in his streams, you now have a better idea of how to manage your streaming community.

We talked about four pillars to a building a community:

1. Authenticity.
2. Value
3. Engagement.
4. Integrity

The last thing I’ll say is that you must be consistent. Unless Mugs has declared otherwise, I fully expect to transition from my workday to a stream to enjoy some giggles and shooting every weekday. Give your followers the same certainty about your schedule. And if you can’t do this full time, that’s fine — stay consistent within the time you do have.

You will be amazed by what sticking to even one time every week at the same hour can do.

I hope that was helpful to you. Please type any questions you may have in the comment section or tell me about your favorite streamer and what they are doing right for their community.