That's a great idea.

I think I will try that.

The money you get from Google from views and ads isn't a whole lot.. Even if you have 200,000 subs and you get 50,000 views on each video you will probably get 500$ the most from Google..   So the way that Youtubers actually make big money is through sponsors.. Lets say I am a fairly popular youtuber with thousands of views.. Sponsors will see that and contact you and offer you deals.. One way is you can promote their products in your videos.. Normally Youtubers with 150,000+ subscribers make around 2-5k dollars a month from sponsors.

If it was that simple yeah but I digress.

You still need that X Factor to make you stand out. And a little bit luck like being the first to stream a game or something like that then you build onto that momentum. Consistency is really hard and you see a lot of one-viral-hit-wonders in youtube all the time because they failed to create an audience that want to see them after.

How many subs do you need in order to make decent money from youtube?

You definitely need a marketing gimmic like some giveaways. Perhaps you can start small and just for for "a game of your choice" give away and work your way up to giving away an actual console, or phone.

But most important for getting a lot of subs is you need a personality that will entertain people. Being a good gamer and a boring person is one guaranteed way to only ever have a low subscriber base.

I don't really subscribe to gamers on Youtube, but I watch streamers on Twitch from time to time. The streamers I return to regardless of the game they're playing, to an extent, are the ones who are interesting people and who actively engage with the viewers. Some streamers just play the game with music turned up loud and never speak. They are terrible streamers and I never visit their streams more than once, and certainly don't follow them.

Im gonna start a channel now to make gameplay vids and inform people on what's going on in gaming.