YouTube Shorts RPM India Gaming 2026: Why Gaming Shorts Earn So Little and What to Do

Gaming Shorts in India face a triple penalty that pushes RPM to the floor. Penalty 1 — Shorts baseline is already low: All YouTube Shorts earn dramatically less than long-form content due to the pooled revenue model. Instead of direct ad insertion, Shorts revenue comes from a shared pool distributed proportionally by view count. The per-view rate across all Shorts in India averages ₹5-8 RPM — and gaming sits at the lower end of even that low baseline. Penalty 2 — Gaming CPM is the lowest niche: Gaming advertiser CPM in India is ₹30-120 for long-form content. That low CPM baseline means gaming content's contribution to the Shorts revenue pool is smaller than finance or tech content's contribution. When the pool is split, gaming Shorts creators receive proportionally less per view. Penalty 3 — Young Indian audience demographics: Indian gaming Shorts audiences are predominantly 14-24 years old, and advertisers pay significantly less CPM for younger viewers with lower purchasing power. This demographic factor compounds the already-low gaming CPM. Combined result: Indian gaming Shorts creators typically see ₹2-6 RPM in 2026. One million gaming Shorts views earns ₹2,000-6,000 — barely enough to cover the time spent posting.

Breaking down the actual numbers Indian gaming Shorts creators see in 2026. Small gaming Shorts channel (500K monthly Shorts views, Indian audience): Monthly Shorts ad revenue: 500,000 × ₹4 RPM / 1,000 = ₹2,000. Monthly total: approximately ₹2,000-3,000 from ads alone. Medium gaming Shorts channel (5M monthly Shorts views): Monthly Shorts ad revenue: 5,000,000 × ₹4.5 RPM / 1,000 = ₹22,500. Monthly total with occasional long-form views: ₹25,000-40,000 if 200,000 long-form views at ₹25 RPM adds ₹5,000. Large gaming Shorts channel (50M monthly Shorts views): Monthly Shorts ad revenue: 50,000,000 × ₹5 RPM / 1,000 = ₹250,000. At this scale, Shorts become a real revenue source — but getting to 50 million monthly Shorts views requires consistent viral content or millions of active subscribers. For comparison: a finance creator with just 200,000 long-form views earns ₹30,000/month — achieving similar revenue to a gaming Shorts creator who manages 6 million Shorts views. The view requirement for equivalent income is 30x higher for gaming Shorts. This math explains why most serious Indian gaming creators treat Shorts as a growth tool exclusively.

Smart Indian gaming Shorts creators use the format for outcomes other than direct ad revenue. Gaming Shorts as subscriber acquisition: The primary value of gaming Shorts in India is their subscriber growth rate. Consistent gaming Shorts — particularly satisfying clips, shocking moments, and quick tips — grow subscribers 3-5x faster than long-form content alone. Each new subscriber who then watches 30-60 minutes of long-form gaming content per month earns ₹0.8-1.5 per subscriber per month in long-form ad revenue. 10,000 active subscribers driven by Shorts = ₹8,000-15,000/month in long-form ad revenue. Affiliate marketing through Shorts: A gaming Short ending with 'Link in bio for this exact headset' (affiliated product) can drive meaningful Amazon affiliate sales. A Short getting 500,000 views might generate 1,000 bio link clicks and 30-50 Amazon headset purchases at ₹3,000 average × 5% commission = ₹4,500-7,500 affiliate income from a single Short. Super Chats from Shorts-to-livestream funnel: Gaming Shorts that end with 'Join my live stream tonight' convert Shorts viewers to livestream attendees. Super Chats and channel membership revenue from live gaming streams can generate ₹10,000-100,000+ per stream for creators with engaged communities. Sponsorship pitch value: Brands evaluate reach, not just revenue. A gaming Shorts channel with 1 million Shorts views/month is worth ₹5,000-20,000/month in brand sponsorship potential from gaming peripheral and mobile game brands — often exceeding Shorts ad revenue by 5-10x.

While you can't fundamentally change the Shorts pool model, these tactics push your gaming Shorts RPM toward the top of the ₹2-8 range. Create English-language gaming Shorts: English gaming Shorts attract international viewership — US and EU gaming viewers earn 5-8x more per view than Indian viewers in the Shorts pool. A BGMI or Free Fire Short with English commentary and global gaming appeal can shift your effective RPM from ₹3 to ₹8-15 by increasing the proportion of international viewers. Cover gaming hardware and setup content in Shorts: 'My ₹30,000 gaming setup' or 'Best gaming phone 2026 under ₹20,000' Shorts attract tech advertisers alongside gaming advertisers, improving your content's contribution to the revenue pool. These setup-adjacent Shorts earn noticeably more than pure gameplay clips. Use Shorts to drive long-form views: Add chapter hooks in Shorts — 'The full breakdown is in my latest video' — to drive long-form traffic where real RPM (₹25-60 for gaming) applies. For scaling gaming content production, FluxNote can generate gaming tutorial scripts, equipment review scripts, and 'best of' compilation narrations that can be produced as higher-RPM long-form content to complement your Shorts strategy.