Nice article! I sometimes leave streams in the background while I’m working because it feels like I’m working on a group project and it just keeps me focused in general.
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Many of my viewers share this experience and claim it helps them feel more productive!
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I’ve been streaming development unlisted for my server boosters, I’m planning on streaming my first public dev stream Friday! Thanks for writing this Cheeky 
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Sorry, but this isn’t a gigantic sample base. If I got 1M+ monthly, my code would get stolen. I don’t trust the internet enough to stream developing of my game. Somebody could be using my code without my knowledge because the other assets aren’t ripped!
Again, it is a minimal risk at the absolute most. If someone steals your code, they are not going to create anything out of it. Worrying about people stealing your code and making your game from it is completely irrational. Also, 1M+ unique Twitch viewers is going to be hard to achieve. If you’re really worried about people stealing certain code, just don’t work on HTTP-based stuff on stream!
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I’ll be there to check it out 
I was a little concerned about this too. To combat my concerns I reminded myself that someone who steals code looks like a complete jerk and won’t gain anything good from it. I also designed my game to have a some backend scripts the rest of game requires to actually work that are never shown to viewers, effectively making the other code useless.
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Even if someone copied an entire script, they would have little to do with it.
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Good point! Streaming could potentially help with motivation.
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It most definitely does! Letting people see your creations is super fun
I’ve wanted to do something like this, but there are a few security concerns that have stopped me from doing it:
- If your game isn’t released yet or your update isn’t released yet, what’s to stop someone from simply copying snippets of your code from the stream (like a proprietary algorithm for example), adding in their own bits of code so that they can essentially steal the game/update idea and launch it before you do? First to market advantage is very real and very important.
- If you have any anti-exploit measures in your server-side code, potential exploiters can see the methods you use to detect cheats and easily counter them.
- You have to be extremely conscious about not opening any files that have API keys and the likes in them. While you shouldn’t be storing sensitive information in code files and instead have them in datastores or some special file that you know not to open because it’s obvious, humans make mistakes. And such a mistake would result in someone on your stream potentially skewing your analytical data or somesuch that otherwise would not have happened because there’s no way for the general public to access your code base.
What are ways to get around these problems? I’m of the view that this is not a good thing to be doing if you want to run a successful small business on the platform. It’d be like if you were a restaurant, and you livestreamed how you make your oh-so-good chicken that everyone pays money to eat.
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I might try this!
Thanks for the info altough I don’t want someone watching me while im developing, but i will try with some music to vibe in
I currently don’t stream, but my biggest concern would be not doing things right. Granted, I am just a beginner-intermediate developer, but my worry would be making 5000 mistakes in one line, doing things in efficiently, not seeing obvious things, etc, and being embarrassed in front of thousands of people.
These are some fair concerns, though I’d be more concerned about someone finding and exploiting a vulnerability in my code that I didn’t even know about (if I don’t know about it, it’d be even harder for me to fix unless I can get my hands on the exploit itself, which in most cases might not even be likely!)
I do that everyday still and its fun People are super helpful.
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Ultimately, exploiting is a cat & mouse game. There will always be ways for exploiters to circumvent whatever anti-exploit measures you put in place on the server, which is why developers often don’t reveal how they stop a given exploit - to delay exploiters bypassing their anti-exploit. This is why I’m concerned about revealing how I stop certain exploits on livestream.
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I strongly disagree here.
If you’re in a competitive market, it can and will happen. It has happened with some front page games in the past. The average player won’t care, but your competition will.
As I stated in a reply below, programming is a cat and mouse game. You want to delay exploiters bypassing your mechanisms for as long as possible, and part of doing that is by simply not showing how you do it.
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I agree to that point. In a competitive market with top-tier developers, there is a major risk. However, 99% of developers are not developing in this competitive market, and even then, most games’ code is useless without assets and a framework. I am not an incredibly known dev and I program publically and don’t worry about code being stolen.
And yes, I agree that it can help exploiters who watch your stream. For me, I take that risk, however, I do develop certain parts off stream. Development streaming does not mean making your entire game 24/7 on stream. My streams are 2 hour installations working on 1 feature and fixing bugs.
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Honestly I might start streaming development again in the summer this inspires me
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I’m gonna starting watching your streams right now. Watching other people make stuff shows you stuff you shouldn’t be doing.
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