Still think gaming is a male hobby or profession? Guess again.
Although gaming has previously been dominated by males, the number of female gamers is increasing, with stats from 2020 showing that women account for approximately 40 percent of all gamers in the U.S.
What about female streamers? As of April 2021, there were eight female streamers in the Top 200 Streamers Of Twitch.
While that number is small, it is an increase from the previous year and it doesn’t mean that there aren’t popular female streamers who have tons of popularity. Let’s check out some of the best who are making waves online.
Top Female Streamers
Valkyrae
Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter is the biggest female streamer. She won the Content Creator of the Year award at the 2020 Game Awards. Valkyrae is the most-watched female streamer of 2021 so far.
She has accumulated approximately 12.2 million hours of watch time on YouTube gaming and she earns about $150,000 per month with her YouTube videos.
How did she start out? Interestingly, Valkyrae began her career with American video game and electronics retailer GameStop, which sparked her love for games.
She then joined Twitch and became a full-time streamer. Playing the Fortnite game is what threw her into the spotlight, thanks to her gaming skills that make people stop and pay attention.
What makes her so popular? It’s been said that Valkyrae has a rare soberness in the online game scenario, as compared to other female gamers.
She’s a hard worker who’s been streaming every day for years and is outspoken against online threats she’s received, which has made her relatable to young girls and women.
Valkyrae is becoming a household name, and she’s not only limited to gaming. She’s appeared as a heroine in Machine Gun Kelly’s music video for their song, “Day Walker” and she’s also going to have her own web talk show, called “Q and Rae”. She’s the co-owner of 100 Thieves, an esports company.
Pokimane
The Queen Of Twitch, Imane “Pokimane” Anys, has the biggest following on Twitch than any other female steamer. At this time of writing, she’s got 7.6 million followers!
While she has encountered a bit of a rough time in the past as a result of hundreds of thousands of people being banned on her Twitch chat for their inappropriate comments, this hasn’t slowed her down. She manages to laugh it off and keep coining it with her streaming!
This streaming queen used to be a League Of Legends cosplayer and quit her Chemical Engineering degree to stream on Twitch full time. She’s now got content on other platforms, such as TikTok and YouTube.
Since starting to stream back in 2013, she soon became one of the most followed streamers and won the Best Streamer Of The Year Award at The Shorty Awards in 2018. She’s got three channels on YouTube, and although she’s known for her League of Legends and Fortnite streaming, she loves to engage with her followers on other topics.
Pokimane has a net worth of between one and two million, and this is as a result of her content on YouTube and Twitch as well as income she earns from sponsorships and ads.
What makes her so popular? People love watching Pokimane’s streams because she’s charming but laid back, a combination that makes her streams very enjoyable to watch.
iHasCupquake
Tiffany Garcia, otherwise known as iHasCupquake, has been around for a long time. She started uploading videos to her channel back in 2010 – and during this time she’s gained over two billion views!
She started her career with World of Warcraft and League of Legends videos, but since uploading videos about Minecraft she shot to stardom. At the time of writing this, her YouTube channel has over six million subscribers. She also has a Guinness World Record for being the most-watched female gaming creator on YouTube.
Interestingly, in her pre-streaming days Tiffany had a regular desk job and was feeling like she wanted something more out of life, so when her friends suggested she check out YouTube, she was game. A few months later, she got hired to create video content for a company called Machinima.
She was so outgoing and comfortable on screen that she immediately started gaining followers. She soon decided to start her own video channels, and she runs three: iHasCupquake, which is about DIY and gaming; TiffyQuake, which is about makeup, fashion, collabs, and vlogs; and ToyBoxCollectibles, which includes game reviews and features her husband.
Not just intriguing thanks to her bright and bold hair color, Tiffany is popular because of her personality. She’s got a crazy zest for life and tons of positivity, both of which are sure to make you feel amped to chase your own dreams.
Loserfruit
Loserfruit, whose real name is Kathleen Belsten, is the second most followed female gamer on the Twitch platform. Since starting out as a live streamer in 2013, she’s gained more than eight million fans. On Twitch, she has over 2 ½ million followers and on YouTube she has almost 3 million subscribers.
She uploads to three YouTube channels: Loserfruit, which is her main one; Lufu where she does vlogs; and Loserfruit Daily, which is her second channel devoted to gaming.
While she started out streaming lots of games, she really became popular when she streamed hot games like Call of Duty and Overwatch. Thanks to her exceptional gaming skills, Loserfruit has many accolades to her name. She’s attracted brands like Fortnite and e.l.f Cosmetics for collaborations and she’s the second gamer to ever have her own Fortnite skin.
Although she loved gaming from the age of three, Losefruit has said that streaming took a bit of time to take off and make her popular. It was when she started uploading her videos to YouTube that she started gaining more followers and making a name for herself.
One of the things that makes Loserfruit so popular is that she’s committed to valuable causes. She aims to create a community of kind people and she strives to use her platform to uplift others. She’s also said that she loves working with e.l.f because they’re vegan and cruelty-free, both of which are Loserfruit’s passions.
Stacyplays
While you might know Stacy Hinojosa as a Minecraft gamer, she’s popular for many reasons, such as her energetic game commentary style and how she calls her fans Potato Flakes.
She’s been running her YouTube channel since 2013 and is very prolific about it – you’ll notice that she uploads a new video every other day. She loves doing videos about Minecraft, and her channel has acquired approximately 2.1 million subscribers.
Before she became known as a professional streamer and online personality, Stacy used to have a variety of jobs, such as waitressing and being a golf course attendant. It was when she took a job for online platforms like Teen that she met her best friend and gamer, Joey Graceffa, and they started gaming together.
Stacy started her YouTube channel for fun and started uploading videos of her Minecraft game. She has referred to herself as the accidental YouTuber because she stumbled into gaming without expecting to be so popular, but now she’s got over a million subscribers and she’s collaborated with multimedia companies to launch new games.
Gaming aside, Stacy is also a Harper Collins author who’s written a four-book series that’s inspired by Minecraft.
Why Are Female Streamers Becoming More Popular?
Not just skilled at what they do and proving that they can make it in a male-dominated field, female streamers are also taking the opportunity of how the gaming platform is undergoing some important changes.
For example, during 2020 a new live streaming genre called “just chatting” became more popular than gaming content on Twitch. This content is based on live video diaries. An example of a female streamer who participates in “just chatting” is Pokimane.
In addition to the above, there are more games that are popular on Twitch which are less about being competitive and more about entertainment value. The entertaining nature of games and videos is what makes them so valuable and interesting for subscribers.
Related Questions
What are the most popular YouTube niches for 2021?
The most popular channels include those related to food, gaming, fashion, entertainment, health and fitness.
Are most gamers young?
In the U.S., 38 percent of video gamers are between the ages of 18 and 34.
Conclusion
If you’re interested in becoming a streamer, you’re sure to be inspired by some of the best female streamers that we’ve featured in this article.
Whether they stumbled into streaming by accident or pursued a passion for gaming from the start, they’re proof that girls can do anything that boys can.
