Why Valkyrae Fans Are Worried About Her Retirement

100 Thieves streamer Rachell "Valkyrae" Hofstetter has had a long and winding career that led her from GameStop employee to the queen of gaming she is today. She's established herself as one of the biggest streamers on the internet and has the YouTube contract to prove it. She's also received some backlash for her skincare line RFLCT, which is designed to protect users from the effects of blue light — something which many have been quick to point out doesn't pose a significant health risk — but her career is still going strong. She now has over 3.6 million subscribers on her primary YouTube channel, regularly streaming to an average of over 16,000 (via Playboard).

All that time in the public eye hasn't come without a cost, however. Valkyrae has tragically had to deal with anxiety, depression, obsessive fans, and physical health issues due to the stress of her career. She even chose to leave the house where she was living with fellow streamer Pokimane, largely due to the diminishing feeling of safety after a stalker leaked the address. That's why fans were so concerned when Valkyrae joked that she might be putting a cap on her streaming career in a recent stream.

In an early December YouTube stream, Valkyrae described a girls' night out which went until 4 AM, followed by a late night stream that left her feeling too tired and burnt out to socialize with new people and competently play GTA on stream. She stated, "I understand that you zoomers can stay up all night and eat your hot Cheetos and your paprika sticks ... but listen, okay. Granny Rae can't do stuff like that no more." She went on to tell her viewers that her birthday would be on January 8, and that at that point, she would be "over the hill." She then stated, "It's almost time to retire."

Her tone made it clear that the streamer was joking, but fans in her live chat were quick to voice concern. YouTube user Carl Andrew Tagaban wrote, "Will she retire after her contract with YouTube?" Timothy Carroll commented, "You better not surprise us with retirement, we need time to process something like that."

Valkyrae then went on with the rest of her stream and didn't return to the idea of giving up her profession, but her fans made it clear that they were not ready for her retirement just yet.