Popular streamer Rachell “Valkyrae” Marie Hofstetter has announced that she will return to Twitch after streaming on YouTube exclusively for five years.
Valkyrae is one of the best-known and popular streamers in the industry. She began her career on Twitch in 2015 and came into the spotlight when she started playing Fortnite competitively. The streamer joined 100 Thieves as the organization’s first female content creator and is currently a co-owner there.
In 2020, Valkyrae left Twitch when she signed an exclusive contract with YouTube. In the same year, the streamer saw a massive surge in her popularity. She also won a Game Award for Content Creator of the Year. Now, after five years, Valkyrae has announced that she will return to Twitch while her fans wonder whether she’ll continue to stream on YouTube as well.
The streamer Valkyrae announced on her X account that her first stream on Twitch will be on her birthday, on January 8, 2025.
In the tweet, Valkraye stated that she will celebrate 10 years of streaming while also announcing a special marathon. Valkyrae didn’t give any other details about her return or her future plans beyond it. She was asked by fellow streamer Ludwig Ahgren whether she would multi-stream her content. Valkyrae replied “What’s that?” hinting that the streamer could be leaving YouTube behind altogether. But nothing has yet been set in stone publicly.
Valkyrae also replied to a comment by Imane “Pokimane” Anys on her tweet and asked her whether she was free on January 8. Valkyrae declared that her friends would join her during her return stream, and the popular Pokimane may be one of them. This isn’t new for the streamer as she has collaborated with numerous other content creators over the years.
On December 29, 2024, Valkyrae explained to her fans in a Press ESC podcast episode why she was leaving YouTube. The streamer stated that livestreaming on YouTube is hard because content creators are competing with all of the many videos available on the platform.
She elaborated that YouTube is a video-first platform and isn’t made specifically for streaming live. This is why she feels it isn’t the right choice for her as a streamer to continue making content there. Valkyrae was asked on the podcast whether she would multi-stream her content. The content creator stated that she would only be livestreaming on Twitch. However, that doesn’t mean she’ll be leaving YouTube for good.
What Valkyrae didn’t touch on is that YouTube has seemed reticent to continue paying big money to streamers to keep them exclusive to the platform. Even if Valkyrae had been happy with her streaming experience on YouTube, she may not have been given the opportunity to continue their exclusively.
While inconsistent in her ouput, Valkyrae also makes videos that involve tours, vlogs, and more. Fans can expect to see more of these videos on her YouTube channel, though she likely won’t stream there as much anymore. Valkyrae also announced she’d hold a Japan stream, which will likely take place on Twitch.
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