YouTube RPM: Gaming (2026)
Gaming ranks 7 of 8 categories by RPM. Below: estimated earnings for 1,000, 100,000 and 1 million views by audience country.
| Audience country | RPM | 100K views | 1M views |
|---|---|---|---|
| Türkiye | $0.1–$0.6 | $10–$60 | $100–$600 |
| United States | $0.5–$4 | $50–$400 | $500–$4,000 |
| Other countries | $0.17–$1.4 | $17–$140 | $170–$1,400 |
Source: Earnoscope estimate, MilX — YouTube CPM & RPM 2026 · 2026-09-23. Figures are estimates.
Why gaming RPM is low
Gaming is one of YouTube's most-watched categories but sits at the bottom of our rate table by RPM: $0.50–$4 per 1,000 views for a US audience. Two things drive that. Audience age: a big share of gaming viewers are young, with less spending power. And supply: so many gaming videos go up every day that ad inventory is plentiful and cheap.
The range is also unusually wide, an eightfold spread from $0.50 to $4. A review of a new release or a hardware-focused video can earn far more than an edited stream VOD. With a Türkiye audience the range is $0.10–$0.60.
Worked example: a US gaming channel with 2 million views a month
| Item | Calculation | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Long-form | 2,000,000 × $0.50–$4 ÷ 1,000 | $1,000–$8,000 |
| Shorts | 5,000,000 × $0.03–$0.10 ÷ 1,000 | $150–$500 |
| Total | $1,150–$8,500 | |
| Per year | × 12 | $13,800–$102,000 |
This channel gets ten times the views of the finance example on our finance page and lands in a similar revenue range. That is why most gaming creators lean on live streams, memberships, donations and sponsorships alongside ads.
Gaming in our channel data
Eighty of the 250 most-subscribed global channels we tracked on 13 October 2026 were gaming channels, with a median of 42.2 million long-form views a month. Short videos made up 39% of their views, the lowest share of any large category in our data: gaming audiences still watch long. Among the top 250 Turkish channels, 57 were gaming. Categories are assigned automatically from YouTube's topic tags, so a few channels may sit in the wrong bucket.
What moves gaming RPM
- Audience age: channels with an adult audience earn more per view.
- Release windows: publishers spend heavily around big game launches.
- Length: gaming videos easily pass 8 minutes, which allows mid-roll ads.
- Language and violence: strong language and graphic scenes can lead to limited ads.
How much does a gaming channel make per 1 million views?
Why do so many gaming creators stream?
Compared with other categories
Midpoint RPM for a United States audience.
Other categories
Related guides
Sources
- YouTube Help: Understand ad revenue analytics (RPM and CPM definitions)
- YouTube Help: Manage mid-roll ad breaks in long videos — mid-rolls on videos 8 minutes or longer
- YouTube Help: Set your channel or video's audience — no personalised ads on made-for-kids content
- MilX: YouTube CPM and RPM rates 2026 — US category ranges
- VloggingPro: YouTube RPM 2026 — US finance, education and entertainment ranges