Why did Valkyrae leave Twitch?

Rachel "Valkyrae" Hofstetter is currently one of the most successful female content creators in the world. She was one of the most prominent Twitch streamers when she was still associated with the company. However, after five years on the purple platform, Valkyrae decided to switch over to YouTube to broadcast her content.

I'm so happy to announce that I have signed with YouTube!https://t.co/rwCNthmYV2 pic.twitter.com/DFAZS1hfX7

— rae☀️ (@Valkyrae) January 13, 2020

At the time of the switch, it was very confusing as to why Valkyrae made the choice. However, the streamer has always been very upfront with her viewers and soon released a video explaining the logic behind her choice.

Valkyrae had very logical reasons behind her shift to YouTube

In the video she posted, Valkyrae got candid about the reasons behind her shift from Twitch to YouTube. One of the main reasons she stated was financial security.

Due to her signing with YouTube, Valkyrae will be earning just short of $1 million per year. This is a rather attractive offer for her, because she can now financially support her mother without any stress. Valkyrae had been supporting her mother for the past three years at the time of her switch, ever since her mother lost her job.

Valkyrae with her mother (Image via u/inthisfacade on Reddit)

Valkyrae also revealed that financial stability was not the only motivating factor for her switch. Creative freedom also had a huge role to play in her decision. Aside from gameplay streams, Hofstetter also wants to venture into different fields of vlogs, such as fitness and beauty.

Streaming on YouTube offers her that creative freedom, where she does not really have to worry about numbers and viewers as much, as opposed to streaming on Twitch.

Previously, streamers like her 100 Thieves co-creator CourageJD, have also quit Twitch for YouTube for the same reason.

“That was the biggest thing for me, really, not having to worry about numbers anymore… I don’t have to worry subscriber count, or view count.”

Valkyrae believes that the creative freedom she gets on YouTube allows her to focus entirely on the content she produces, so she can create videos she loves without focusing more on the numbers her content would yield.

YouTube streaming's flexible policies have been attracting many streamers in the past few weeks, as many big names like LazarBeam have also made the switch. Only time will tell who the next streamer that shifts from Twitch to YouTube will be.