By Sagar V. Mankar 
Popular content creator Rachel “Valkyrae” Hofstetter has made a spectacular comeback to Twitch, quickly establishing herself as the platform’s most-watched female streamer within just one week of her return.
According to Streams Charts data, Valkyrae accumulated over 706,000 hours of watch time between January 8-14, 2025, surpassing established streamers like VTuber IronMouse, who previously held the record for the most Twitch subscribers. What makes this achievement particularly impressive is that Valkyrae streamed for only 47 hours during this period, significantly less than her competitors, such as IronMouse who streamed for 60 hours.
Despite not having the highest concurrent viewer counts compared to streamers like by_Owl, HappyHappyGal, or Emiru, Valkyrae’s total watch time highlights the strength and loyalty of her audience. Expressing gratitude for the overwhelming support, she described her return as “the warmest welcome back to Twitch.” She even teased additional streams, signaling her intent to maintain this momentum.
Journey Back to Twitch
Valkyrae’s streaming journey has been remarkable:
- Started on Twitch in 2015, gaining fame through Fortnite content
- Moved to YouTube in 2020 with an exclusive deal
- Completed multiple YouTube contracts over five years
- Announced her return to Twitch in December 2024
- Began streaming on Twitch again on January 8, 2025
Valkyrae explained her decision to leave YouTube, citing the platform’s shifting priorities. “They’ve specifically told me that their priority is Shorts,” Valkyrae revealed. She noted that despite requesting changes to YouTube’s streaming features over her five-year tenure, the platform’s focus remained primarily on video content, particularly short-form videos.
Twitch’s leadership has also excited about the return of major creators like Valkyrae, Ludwig, Sykkuno, Myth, TimTheTatman, DrLupo, Fuslie, Swagg, Sykkuno, LilyPichu, BruceDropEmOff, DisguisedToast over the past few years. Pontus Eskilsson, Twitch’s VP of Global Partnerships, highlighted the platform’s community-driven experience as a key reason for their comeback. “While we offer industry-leading partnership programs and monetization, we know that isn’t what drives creators. To really thrive, these creators need the engaged audience and real-time discourse that makes livestreaming such a unique and popular format. They come for their communities and friends across shared passions. This continues to be what Twitch is built on, and why we are the leading livestreaming service,” Eskilsson explained to Dexerto.
With Valkyrae’s return, Twitch continues to strengthen its position as the leading livestreaming platform, offering unmatched community interaction and growth opportunities for creators.