Valkyrae beats Pokimane to become the most-viewed female streamer

Fariha Bhatti Published 13/01/2021

After becoming the fastest-growing streamer in the world, Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter has edged past Imane “Pokimane” Anys to emerge as the biggest female streamer on the internet. 

A new report by Stream Hatchet has revealed that Valkyrae topped the streaming charts throughout the year. The 29-year-old has beaten the likes of Pokimane to garner a massive viewer base on YouTube. 

After an incredibly tight-knit race at the top, Stream Hatchel presents Valkyrae as the most-viewed streamer with 24 million hours watched in 2020. According to the stats, the Among Us streamer had a 7,304% rise in hours watched between January and December 2020.

The YouTube Gaming streamer was in close competition with Pokimane, who has dominated the female streaming scene for years. Both the streamers far exceeded the numbers put up by their closest competition saddummy, pekoraCh, and Jinnytty with 20.1, 14.6, and 14 million hours watched, respectively. 

The report further informed that the gap between female and male streamers is starting to close as Valkyrae ranks 63 on top 100 streamers. In an industry crowded with male streamers, Valkyrae’s rank is commendable. 

Valkyrae becomes the most-watched streamer of the year

Valkyrae’s streaming career took a massive turn when she transferred her streams to YouTube in 2014. She played games like Bloodborne and The Walking Dead in 2018, garnering a decent following.

However, the Among Us boost in 2020 made Valkyrae the face of YouTube Gaming. Within one year, Valkyrae went from averaging 5,000 live viewers to peaking 126,000 concurrent viewers on YouTube. The head of YouTube Gming, Ryan Wyatt, acknowledged Valkyrae’s success, as her streams continued to peak new records. 

Let me tell you this, Rae is the fastest growing live streamer in the entire world, and now the biggest female gaming streamer in the world. And I’m here to celebrate this!!!! Keep it up, Rae! https://t.co/Ox9haa3Ulb

— Ryan Wyatt (@Fwiz) October 16, 2020

Collaborations with the likes of Pokimane, xQc, Sykunno, and Corpse Husband only sped up Valkyrae’s journey of becoming the top gaming streamer. Her Rust streams most recently boast around 99,000 concurrent viewers, setting new records on YouTube. 

Valkyrae had a decent following throughout the year. However, Among Us’ contribution to her breakthrough is notable. It’ll be interesting to see how Valkyrae appears once the hype around Among Us has settled. While Pokimane is dominating the female gaming on Twitch side, it’s safe to say that YouTube live streaming is now being led by Valkyrae.

Fariha Bhatti

About Fariha Bhatti

Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.

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