Summary
- Valkyrae reclaimed the top spot on Twitch as the most-watched female streamer in her first week back.
- She received over 706,000 hours of watch time despite limited streaming hours.
- Valkyrae’s switch from YouTube back to Twitch was due to Twitch’s focus on live content aligning with her goals.
Rachel “Valkyrae” Hofstetter has made an impressive return to Twitch, reclaiming her spot as the platform’s top female streamer in just a week. Twitch streamer Valkyrae’s swift rise reflects both her long-lasting impact on the streaming community and the excitement surrounding her return to Twitch.
Valkyrie started streaming in 2015 on Amazon-owned streaming platform Twitch and became famous due to her Fortnite content. In 2020, she became the focus of the streaming community by signing a two-year exclusive deal with YouTube, which was a big step in her streaming career. After completing this agreement, she expanded her partnership with YouTube with two more agreements. In December 2024, however, Valkyre surprised her audience by announcing the completion of her third and last YouTube contract and her decision to return to Twitch. She scheduled her first stream on the platform for January 8, 2025.
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100 Thieves co-owner Valkyrae had a great first week back streaming on Twitch, positioning her as the most-watched female streamer on the platform. Streams Charts data show that during the last week, Valkyrae received over 706,000 hours of watch time, leaving behind other popular figures, such as VTuber IronMouse, who was once the record holder for the most subscribed Twitch streamer. Still, what makes her achievement even more impressive is the fact that she managed to achieve all of this with a rather limited streaming frequency. Valkyrae went live for 47 hours in her first week, which is far from the totals of some of the competitors within the top 10, like IronMouse, who streamed for 60 hours.
Valkyrae’s Twitch Comeback Proves Audience Loyalty
Even though Valkyrae’s concurrent viewer count was not higher than that of others like by_Owl, Emiru, or HappyHappyGal during the period of January 8-14, the gross amount of watch time indicates the solidity of her audience and her dominance in the field. Accepting the outpouring of support, multi-talented streamer Valkyrae expressed gratitude, calling it “the warmest welcome back to Twitch.” She even teased another stream on the same day, which shows that she is not going to slow down anytime soon after such an amazing beginning.
It is worth mentioning that Valkyrae recently explained why she moved from YouTube back to Twitch. She said that YouTube is giving priority to video content, especially “shorts”, which has left its streaming features less developed over her five years on the platform. Valkyrae noted that competition with YouTube’s huge video library did not align with her focus as a streamer, and felt that Twitch’s focus on live content was better aligned with her goals.