Rachell ‘Rae’ Hofstetter, better known as Valkyrae, is an online gamer famous for posting entertaining streaming videos on YouTube. Rae currently has 1.63 million followers on YouTube and 2 million followers on Instagram. Valkyrae achieved fame due to her Fortnite streams and her participation in global Fortnite tournaments.
In October 2018, Rae’s career received a further boost after she joined the Drake-owned gaming group, 100 Thieves. Sykkuno is a YouTube and Twitch streamer who gained fame for collaborating with members of the gaming collective, Offline TV. The half-Chinese, half-Vietnamese gamer currently has close to 1 million followers on his YouTube channel and 847K followers on Twitch.
This piece will look at Sykkuno and Rae’s relationship, Rae’s past relationship, and Rae’s publicized switch from Twitch to YouTube.
Sykkuno and Rae have been flirting a lot online, but it’s unclear whether they are dating
Sykkuno and Rae are one of the most shipped gaming couples in the world. There are tons of fan videos showing the couple flirting during their streams. However, there is no evidence of a relationship between the pair. They haven’t posted anything about dating on any of their socials.
Sykkuno has already made history in the online love department as he was the first person ever to get all loves in the online dating game Rajjchellor.
Rae and her ex Michael Sherman broke up twice to focus on growing their careers
After dating for a few years, Michael and Rae announced their breakup in December 2018. Valkyrae explained that the breakup happened because the couple wanted to focus on their careers. However, Rae and Michael remained close, and within no time, they were dating again.
Unfortunately, their second attempt at trying to make their relationship work failed. Rae explained in a vlog posted on 28th March 2020 that the couple’s relationship ended because of the same reason:
“I’m going crazy with content right now because it’s helping distract me from Michael not being around anymore. I hope he is doing okay. Still love and care about him a lot… We had a public breakup last year and it was for the exact same reason. We tried again, and he has got to do his own thing. If you love someone let them go and if it meant to be in the future, it is meant to be.”
Rae is reportedly the fastest growing live streamer on YouTube
The massive hype around the game ‘Among Us’ has helped many streamers gain popularity. Valkyrie has benefited massively from streaming the game on YouTube, and according to YouTube executive Ryan Wyatt, she is the fastest growing live streamer in the world. Rae recently tweeted out figures showing that between 15th September and 14th October, her channel had over 11 million live views.
It’s such a massive achievement for someone who didn’t plan on being an online streamer. Valkyrae was a GameStop employee who played games for recreation. She started her online career by sharing gaming content and information with her Instagram followers. Rae kept declining fan suggestions that she try out streaming, but she eventually gave in. Rae revealed in a video posted on 13th January 2020 that online streaming turned her life around:
“After the longest of days, it’s what inspired me to keep going. And through my difficult moments, this community has always been there for me. These past few years every aspect of my life has changed. Because of you all, I have been able to give back to others, especially the ones I love… I am so excited to keep moving forward.”
Rae’s main motivation to move from Twitch to YouTube was to guarantee financial stability
Online streaming platforms such as YouTube and Twitch are currently engaged in a struggle to sign the best gaming content creators. In January 2020, Valkyrae announced that she’d left her legions of followers on Twitch to stream exclusively on YouTube. Rae explained in a video posted in late January that the promise of financial stability inspired her to sign the deal:
“I just wanted the sense of security. Like financial security. Continuing to stream and play games like I always have as a hobby and not having to worry about numbers. I think that’s the biggest thing as a streamer… It can be really stressful because the bills you owe are consistent and the pay is not. So having that financial security, continue to do what I already do just on a different platform seems like a dream come true.”
Valkyrae is still part of the 100 Thieves gaming collective though she left the streaming house in February 2020. She explained in her vlog showing out her new apartment that she didn’t fall out with the group. However, she needed time alone to focus on gaming and fitness. She also needed to separate her home and work life.
Rae desires to make a positive impact with her gaming, especially in the area of woman empowerment. She told BusinessInsider that she endeavors to collaborate with female content creators:
“I like playing with other girls because I get to show other people that girls can dominate as well… And usually the streamer I play with are all really good, and I get to see other girls commenting on the videos and it’s all about girl power and it’s just heartwarming to see.”