Valkyrae Interview Highlights: Why You Can’t Fake It on Stream

Valkyrae has spent more than a decade live on camera, and her interviews keep returning to two ideas: be the same person on stream that you are off it, and keep back what the audience doesn’t need. She also made one of streaming’s bigger platform bets, leaving Twitch for YouTube in 2020, then reversed it five years later.

This post is for streamers deciding where to build, marketers weighing a partnership with a live creator, and fans curious how a GameStop clerk became one of the most-watched women in streaming. It covers her start, the YouTube years, boundaries, harassment, advice, brands including the RFLCT skincare line, and her return to Twitch.

Who is Valkyrae?

Valkyrae is the online name of Rachell Hofstetter, an American streamer, YouTuber and podcaster known for variety gaming streams, her co-ownership of the gaming organization 100 Thieves and her media company, Hihi Studios.

She was born on January 8, 1992, and grew up in Moses Lake, Washington, according to Wikipedia, and she is of Filipino and German descent. While working at GameStop she posted about games on Instagram, and by 2015 that account had 15,000 followers who urged her to try Twitch, Vogue Philippines reported. Fortnite gave her a breakthrough in 2018, and that October she became the first female content creator for 100 Thieves.

How did Valkyrae get started?

“I’ve been playing games my whole life, so I decided to start a gaming channel on Instagram … People kept telling me that I should stream on Twitch, so I eventually was just like ‘Sure, why not?’”

— Valkyrae, Business Insider, June 2018

“When I first started streaming, I didn’t know you could do it for a living. I was just doing it for fun. I didn’t really have friends at the time. So, I just did it to escape, and I did it to have fun and meet new people that play games as well.”

— Valkyrae, Vogue Philippines, May 2023

Her mother got her into games as a distraction from tension at home and bullying at school, Vogue Philippines reported. By June 2018 she had streamed full-time for three years and earned enough from subscriptions, donations and sponsorships to pay off her mother’s debt, Business Insider reported.

She built an audience around games on Instagram first, and that audience asked for the stream. If people already follow you somewhere else, ask them what they would watch live.

Why did Valkyrae leave Twitch for YouTube in 2020?

“When I decided to switch over to YouTube, I pretty much was sacrificing everything I had worked for, for stability.”

— Valkyrae, in a 100 Thieves video, as quoted by Dexerto, May 2021

She signed an exclusive live-streaming contract with YouTube on January 13, 2020. ONE Esports noted that her deal followed Mixer’s signings of Ninja and Shroud, a move our Ninja interview covers from his side.

The start was slow: in her first month on YouTube, her streams averaged 1,109 concurrent viewers, Tubefilter reported. Then, from August 2020, Among Us, a social deduction game in which players hunt for a hidden impostor, took off with the biggest creators, and many of them, including Pokimane and PewDiePie, played it with her. From mid-September to mid-October she averaged 31,059 concurrent viewers, and YouTube’s head of gaming, Ryan Wyatt, called her the fastest-growing livestreamer in the world.

“Eventually, I signed to YouTube and then Among Us happened and then that blew up like crazy.”

— Valkyrae, Vogue Philippines, May 2023

She ended 2020 as the year’s most-viewed female streamer and won Content Creator of the Year at The Game Awards. An exclusive deal buys security, not an audience. If you sign one, plan for months of small numbers.

How does Valkyrae decide what to stream?

“The thing that has been really addicting is that not only am I enjoying [GTA Online] — because it’s a bunch of roleplay, it’s improv and you never know what’s going to happen — but the audience loves it as well. I pretty much tell them to treat it like a reality TV show that is unscripted.”

— Valkyrae, Rolling Stone, May 2024

Roleplay is a form of streaming in which players improvise characters and storylines together inside a game. In 2024 she was mostly playing Valorant and GTA V roleplay on NoPixel, a server with more than 20,000 members, Rolling Stone reported, and keeping games such as Hearthstone and Stardew Valley for time off camera.

Explaining to Kotaku in 2024 why films now cast streamers, she pointed to the live format:

“People feel like they know us because we’re streaming every single day. It’s live. It’s not edited … You can’t act on a stream every day, so I feel like they’re recognizing the value of streamers in that way.”

— Valkyrae, Kotaku, February 2024

Pick games where your reactions are the content: unscripted formats give viewers a reason to come back tomorrow, because nobody knows what happens next.

What mistakes does Valkyrae say she made early on?

“The one thing I regret the most is not uploading to YouTube sooner … Kids can’t watch the stream in the middle of the day, so it helps that they have videos to watch when they get home from school or wherever they are.”

— Valkyrae, Business Insider, June 2018

Her early pace also cost her, she told Kotaku in 2024:

“I would work at GameStop and then go home and stream for nine hours, and that was just my routine for a couple of years … And then it turned into just streaming. And then, I started to feel pain in my legs, I started to feel back pain, and I was starting to feel unhealthy. And also, really quiet and lonely. Even though I was making a lot of friends online.”

— Valkyrae, Kotaku, February 2024

Cut your live streams into videos, so viewers in school, at work or in other time zones can find you. And treat nine-hour days as a sprint, not a routine.

How does Valkyrae set boundaries with her audience?

“I had public relationships and when those failed, I recognized that people online were saying things that aren’t accurate, or they’re spreading misinformation … And I’ve recognized over the years that I can’t just be an open book like that.”

— Valkyrae, Kotaku, February 2024

For years she talked about everything on stream, she told Kotaku, from family problems to her father’s death. Now she is more careful about what she shares.

She has also cut back on hours: in September 2022 she said she would stream less often to live a more balanced life, Vogue Philippines reported. She told Rolling Stone why:

“My hobby became my career, so I never want to get burnt out. And there have been a few times where I have felt burnt out from it. So, the last thing you want to do is hate what you do for a living.”

— Valkyrae, Rolling Stone, May 2024

Decide in advance which parts of your life stay off stream, because once the audience knows something, you can’t take it back. Our Pokimane interview shows another longtime streamer drawing the same line.

What does Valkyrae say about harassment of women streamers?

“No matter what you do to cover up, it never ends. There’s always going to be trolls, judging based on your looks, just saying sexist things because I’m a girl and they think it’s funny.”

— Valkyrae, Business Insider, June 2018

One troll, she told Business Insider, made around 30 Twitch accounts to keep at it. Five years later her view hadn’t changed:

“There’s definitely still sexism, there’s still hate … If I would have given up years ago because of the stuff that the people were telling me, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

— Valkyrae, Vogue Philippines, May 2023

In March 2025 the harassment came in person. On March 2, during the Sis-A-Thon, a week-long marathon she streamed with Cinna, she, Cinna and their guest Emiru were followed and threatened by a man at Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier. After Emiru refused to give him her phone number, he moved toward the group making repeated death threats until their cameraman and a security guard stepped in, PC Gamer reported. The streamers ended the marathon, and Santa Monica police took a report. She posted on X:

“No means no. You’re not entitled to anybody. The fact that this man threatened our lives after being rejected while we were in a group, in public and live on-stream just shows the harsh reality women live in. This happens off-camera to women all the time.”

— Valkyrae, on X, as quoted by PC Gamer, March 2025

If you stream in public, which streamers call IRL (in real life) streaming, plan for safety first: someone whose job is to watch the crowd, a way to end the stream fast, and moderation set up before you need it.

What advice does Valkyrae give new streamers?

“The advice I give to a lot of people that are striving to become a streamer or a YouTuber is that you can’t act … It would be too exhausting. It would be impossible. Also, people can tell.”

— Valkyrae, Kotaku, February 2024

Her reasoning, she told Kotaku, is that “If you’re faking it, people can tell if you’re doing it for money.” Her 2018 advice was more practical:

“And definitely don’t quit your job to do this right away … Streaming isn’t a job, it’s more like a charity in a lot of ways, since you’re relying on subscriptions and donations, so it should definitely just be a hobby at first.”

— Valkyrae, Business Insider, June 2018

She also said “you just have to be your own number one fan, because this can be real hard on your mental health.” Build something that sounds like you, at a pace you can keep, before you depend on it for rent.

What does Valkyrae say about brands and business?

On April 7, 2021, 100 Thieves made Valkyrae and CouRage co-owners alongside its founder, Nadeshot, Drake, Scooter Braun and Dan Gilbert, The Verge reported; both received equity. She told Vogue Philippines in 2023: “Being a co-owner in an esports company, that’s insane to me.”

Six months later, on October 19, 2021, she launched RFLCT, a skincare line she co-founded that was marketed to gamers and claimed to protect skin from the blue light of screens, Eurogamer reported. Critics said the evidence didn’t support the claim; Eurogamer cited a Beiersdorf study that found screens emit nowhere near enough blue light to harm skin. Three days later she responded in a voice note on Twitter:

“I also wanted to say that all of the hate and the doubt and concerns and the criticism are all warranted and valid … I also was very upset and confused when I saw the website and there were no links to the studies or credits to the labs or the people that worked behind the scenes to make RFLCT happen.”

— Valkyrae, in a voice note on Twitter, as quoted by Eurogamer, October 2021

On a YouTube stream days later she said she stood by the product and had seen the company’s research, but had since learned it couldn’t be made public; knowing that, she said, “makes me not want to be involved,” Inven Global reported. On October 30, 2021, RFLCT took down its store and announced it was “effectively terminating the RFLCT brand,” PC Gamer reported.

In September 2022 Gymshark made her one of the faces of the brand, with a Times Square billboard, Tubefilter reported.

Putting your name on a product makes you answerable for its claims, so ask to see the evidence and whether it can be published before you sign. If you’re a brand, our guide on how to vet a YouTube creator covers the checks that run the other way; creators can start with getting YouTube sponsorships.

Why did Valkyrae go back to Twitch?

“I view myself as a streamer because I barely upload YouTube videos. I don’t think it works with the type of content I would want to upload.”

— Valkyrae, on her podcast Press Esc, as quoted by Game Rant, January 2025

She signed three YouTube contracts over five years, and when the last ended she returned to Twitch on January 8, 2025, her 33rd birthday. On Press Esc she said YouTube had told her its priority was video, especially Shorts, and that streaming improvements she had hoped for never arrived, Game Rant reported. In her first week back she was the most-watched woman on Twitch by hours watched.

By April 2025 she was streaming to both platforms at once, writing on X that “Multi-streaming has been so great the past few months,” Sportskeeda reported; her one complaint was that Twitch’s rules didn’t let her show YouTube chat on screen.

If most of your work is live, put it where live viewers already are, and keep your audience able to follow you.

What is Valkyrae working on now?

“I’ve been lucky enough to partner with some incredible creatives to market their own IPs and always felt that my community was excited to support me in my own. It feels like the right time for me to champion my own ideas in a new medium that I have not yet explored.”

— Valkyrae, on launching Hihi Studios, Variety, September 2024

Hihi Studios develops graphic novels, TV and film with an emphasis on anime-inspired stories, Variety reported. Its first release, the Webtoon series Bad Influence, launched in June 2025.

Since July 2025 she has co-hosted QTCinderella’s podcast Wine About It. In July 2026 TIME named her to its TIME100 Creators list, and on July 27 she hosted the Los Angeles red carpet premiere of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. That month she also announced on X that she would teach a course at Streamer University 2026, Kai Cenat’s creator boot camp, The Times of India reported; compare our Kai Cenat interview. On Wine About It she explained the class:

“So, I was thinking about my class, the title will be ‘How to elevate your brand past streaming’ because I do think that’s something that I have done really well in. It’s kind of taking those opportunities that streaming has allowed and doing more than just streaming.”

— Valkyrae, on the Wine About It podcast, as quoted by The Times of India, July 2026

What creators can learn from Valkyrae

Sources

• This 26-year-old Fortnite streamer says she paid off her mom’s debt with her Twitch earnings, Business Insider, June 2018
• 100 Thieves streamer, Valkyrae, leaves Twitch for exclusive YouTube deal, ONE Esports, January 2020
• YouTube Exec Ryan Wyatt Says Valkyrae Is “The Fastest-Growing Livestreamer In The Entire World”, Tubefilter, October 2020
• Valkyrae and CouRage are now co-owners of 100 Thieves, The Verge, April 2021
• Valkyrae reveals stress about leaving Twitch viewers for YouTube: “I abandoned them”, Dexerto, May 2021
• Streamer Valkyrae faces backlash for new gamer skincare range, Eurogamer, October 2021
• Valkyrae says she saw RFLCT blue-light research, but can’t show us: “The research isn’t fake!”, Inven Global, October 2021
• That controversial gamer skincare line is no more, PC Gamer, October 2021
• Thanks to a deal with Gymshark, Valkyrae can now be found on a Times Square billboard, Tubefilter, September 2022
• Livestreaming Phenom Valkyrae Is Redefining Celebrity On The Digital Landscape, Vogue Philippines, May 2023
• Valkyrae On The Family Plan, Working Retail, And How To Stream Authentically, Kotaku, February 2024
• How Valkyrae’s Imaginary Relationship With a Killer Clown Became a Streaming Hit, Rolling Stone, May 2024
• Gaming Streaming Star Rachell ‘Valkyrae’ Hofstetter Launches Anime-Focused Media Company Hihi Studios, Variety, September 2024
• Valkyrae Reveals One Reason Why She’s Leaving YouTube for Twitch, Game Rant, January 2025
• Three women livestreaming on Twitch harassed by man who then goes for them while making repeated death threats, PC Gamer, March 2025
• Valkyrae opens up about her issue with Twitch despite being one of the most-watched female streamers of 2025, Sportskeeda, April 2025
• Rachell ‘Valkyrae’ Hofstetter’s HiHi Studios Sets ‘Bad Influence’ Webtoon Series, Variety, June 2025
• TIME100 Creators: The Most Influential Digital Voices of 2026, TIME, July 2026
• Streamer University 2026: Valkyrae’s ‘d*mmy mommy’ classroom idea sparks curiosity ahead of Kai Cenat event, The Times of India, July 2026
• Valkyrae Opens Up About The Spider-Man Spoiler Heard Around The World, Kotaku, August 2026
• Valkyrae, Wikipedia, October 2026

What to do next

If Valkyrae’s rule that you can’t fake it on stream changes how you judge creators, check whether their live and edited work feel like the same person, not just their follower counts. Our methodology explains how we look at what creators actually publish, and our creator lists put it into practice.

For answers to the same questions from other streamers and YouTubers, browse more creator interviews, including our Ludwig interview: he also went back to Twitch after his YouTube contract ended.