YouTube star Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter is planning to follow in Imane “Pokimane” Anys’ footsteps by streaming less often so she can focus on other things in life that are important to her.
The 100 Thieves co-owner opened up about it on her secondary Twitter account. “I love streaming!” she said. “But I’m trying to live a more active life, hang out with friends off the PC, focus on health, and do work outside of gaming!”
Quitting isn’t on the horizon. Instead, she’ll stream the minimum hours she’s required to on her contract and live a more balanced life until an exciting game comes along.
Valkyrae discussed it more during her stream on Sep. 4 and said Pokimane’s decision influenced her. “Pokimane actually uploaded a video about why she took a break, and honestly, it resonates a lot.”
“We’ve been in the industry for so long. We’ve been full-time streamers for over eight years,” she said. “When we first started streaming, I was streaming, I had multiple jobs, and I also streamed nine hours a day, every single day.
The YouTuber soon added: “It just kind of [takes a toll], you know?”
Her dedication to the grind has been unwavering. She started streaming on Twitch in 2015, five years before switching to YouTube, and has been streaming regularly ever since.
Still, rather than quit, she plans to stream less often, have each stream planned out rather than grinding them while being starved for content, and focus on quality.
Valkyrae understands she’s “very lucky” to be in a position where she can take the pedal off the metal. “I think I’m in a fortunate position where I don’t need to grind streams anymore,” she said. “There’s a lot of streamers out there that have to grind every single day just to get by.”
But, she’s put in the work to make that happen. Although she has no plans to ride off in the sunset anytime soon, she wants to make the journey more enjoyable.
