Streaming games on platforms like Twitch, YouTube Live, and Facebook has started gauging audiences on another level. People enjoy streamers battling their way to victory in their favorite battle royale/PVP games, enticing them to try them on their own, too.
This has motivated many to start their streaming hustle, taking it full-time to enjoy the perks of sharing gaming moments with viewers while earning big bucks.
But, everything isn’t fair and dandy in this digital realm. In recent years, there have been many privacy and ethical breaches concerning live streaming and gaming.
Many Twitch streamers have complained that their in-game names were copied, and stolen; aka online identity theft. At the same time, others would have their DMs filled if they accidentally revealed their usernames, even for a split second.
Such inconveniences urge us to explore new ways to remain anonymous in games while live streaming so that your privacy and mental well-being are always protected.
1. Play Games with Pseudonyms
Before we learn how to hide usernames while streaming, we need to clarify something. You need to always choose a display name unrelated to your actual name. While this might seem obvious, many people have committed this grave mistake in the past, leading to serious consequences.
Think of using pseudonyms as a precautionary step so that even if your username gets leaked, your real identity remains intact. We know this is us being extremely careful, but you can’t rule out the level of introspection that these online geniuses can possess, either.
For example, a person going by the name “JarredSmith1980” is 10x times more likely to be bugged, tracked, and hacked than an alias that goes like “IamHeisenberg.” Reference to Breaking Bad? Sure! Reference to self? Never.
Using your real name, date of birth, etc., in the username can allow anyone to expose your private details. Remember, data scraping is much easier now than it was a few decades ago.
2. Adjust your In-Game Settings to Streamer Mode
Nowadays, the majority of games allow you to fix your in-game settings to “Streamer Mode.” This allows for a much easier and smoother experience for both, the watching party and the one playing games.
What streamer mode does is hide your gaming name or HUD from the viewers, allowing privacy and anonymity on gaming platforms. Most shooter titles also allow you to generalize gamer tags like “Player1” so that nobody can truly get to you.
Examples of games that include streamer-friendly settings are Fortnite, Call of Duty, Valorant, Overwatch, etc. These games will help you hide your identity while you enjoy moments with the chat.
3. Use Streamer Software Settings
Today, many popular streaming and broadcasting software come equipped with options to safeguard your privacy.
Take OBS Studio for example. You can add a new image or text source to your game capture and place it exactly where your username is to hide it instantly from the viewers.
You can also add a “blur” or “censor” effect to the area of your screen with private information to avoid showing it to the camera. This is a very helpful tip to remain anonymous, especially for games that don’t allow you to hide the details otherwise.
While all such tactics are workable, it is recommended to test your stream before you go live to the public.
In Streamlabs OBS, you can do this by starting a private YouTube stream. This is a solid way of testing out any filters or crops that you’ve applied to your game capture plus other streamer settings before game time.
4. Do Live Gaming with a Secondary Account
Creating a separate gaming account for streaming purposes may sound like an expensive choice. But, we assure you that it is highly crucial in helping you stay undetected in gaming livestreams.
The trick is to create a secondary account only for streaming purposes that doesn’t link any personal accounts, emails, phone numbers, or other private details with it. Always remain safe with linking sensitive info as hackers lurch onto streamers like bees on a sugar trap.
In addition to being on your non-main account, you should also ensure to turn off any game or system notifications as these can leak your private data to others. For Windows and Mac, use the following steps to turn off notifications.
Windows:
- Go to “Settings” > “System” > “Notifications.”
- Disable notifications for specific apps.
Mac:
- Go to “System Preferences” > “Notifications.”
- Turn off alerts for unnecessary apps.
For Steam, go to “Friends & Chat” > “Settings” > “Notifications” and turn off all notifications.
5. Avoid Verbal Cues and Slip-ups
The last thing you want is to name-drop yourself or someone else in your close circle while you stream live games. This single mistake can ruin all your efforts to hide the username, so always be careful of such slip-ups and avoid them while streaming.
Don’t say your username, account name, password, or any other details on the stream that could identify you or leave you open for potential hacks.
Use push-to-talk when playing with other teammates to stop yourself from sharing private information by mistake.
Some gamers and streamers like to use voice-changer tools as well to add another layer of privacy.
However, we are against its use. We believe your voice/face should always be authentic to gauge the audience with the personality you possess. Otherwise, what’s the purpose of streaming?
6. Implement Anonymity-Friendly Tools
The last tip we have for you is to implement anonymity-friendly tools and platforms in your streaming setup. Today, many tools can be helpful to maintain and safeguard your privacy.
For instance, Strexm or OWN3D can help you create professional overlays that can mask usernames and sensitive information.
Then, there are other kinds of online tools like invisible character generators. With these, you can create a blank space character you can add to your gaming username to make it more unique from others. Viewers will see your username with space and when they search, they won’t find you because keyboard space is different from invisible character.
An invisible character is basically a Unicode character that machines identify and recognize as a proper character not just as a blank space. These blank spaces or invisible characters can also be used to hide your username.
This way, it will be difficult for the hackers to pin you down among other players on the platform. Pretty cool stuff, right?
Final Thoughts
Streaming games on platforms like Twitch, TikTok, YouTube Live, and Facebook has increased in popularity, leading many to start their streaming careers.
However, privacy and ethical breaches are also at an all-time high, with streamers experiencing online identity theft, stolen in-game items, and much more.
To protect privacy and safeguard against potential hacks, it is recommended to hide your username by following the steps mentioned in this post.
