Pokimane Tells Fans What's Next In An Emotional Update

Pokimane has returned from her most recent break with an update that might not be what fans were expecting. The streaming star took an extended hiatus starting in July, where she stayed away from Twitch and social media. Fans were expecting her to return to streaming soon, as she announced her streaming setup was almost complete in late August. Now, Pokimane has released a YouTube video explaining why she took a break and what she is planning on doing moving forward.

The video started with a clip from 2016, where Pokimane responded to the question of if she would prefer a career as a streamer or engineer and she simply responded, "Whatever can make me happy." Pokimane began by explaining all of the reasons why she took the break. One of them was simple burnout, but she also said that she hadn't taken care of some simple things after moving, like decorating her new space or even finding a nearby grocery store she likes. She continued, saying that since she started streaming at 17 and began doing it full-time, she has been in a constant loop of putting herself out there and taking feedback from viewers. This resulted in her making content that she believed people liked, but not content she necessarily enjoyed herself. This is just part of the reason why Pokimane's content may change moving forward.

Pokimane explained that she felt like she wasn't being creatively fulfilled. "What I want for myself is to feel like I have that space and room to grow and evolve in the ways that I want to change, not in the ways that people want me to change, or only the ways that people respond to," she said in the video. Pokimane said it wasn't possible to make those changes when she is constantly glued to the screen, reading comments all the time.

In addition to feeling burnt out, Pokimane said she doesn't feel the push to stream and play games for extended periods of time, at least not at the frequency she has in the past or that people might expect from someone who streams full time.

Pokimane concluded the video by explaining her plans moving forward. She said that she isn't sure how frequently she will be streaming in the future, but that she'll likely hop online around two to three times per week. She said she will likely be more active on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, enjoying the freedom of making smaller posts that aren't eight hour streams. She also said that she really enjoys IRL streams and vlogs, and plans to do more of that in the future.