Valkyrae facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Valkyrae
Valkyrae in 2023
Personal information
Born	Rachell Marie Hofstetter (1992-01-08) January 8, 1992 (age 33) Moses Lake, Washington, U.S.
Occupation	Online streamer YouTuber
Signature
YouTube information
Years active	2014–present
Genre	Gaming vlog react
Subscribers	4.09 million
Total views	774 million
Associated acts	Bella Poarch Disguised Toast Fuslie Pokimane Sykkuno
Twitch information Channel Valkyrae Years active 2015–2020 2025–present Followers 1.3 million

Rachell Marie Hofstetter (born January 8, 1992), known as Valkyrae, is a popular American online streamer, YouTuber, and podcaster. She is a co-owner of the gaming group 100 Thieves. She also started her own media company called Hihi Studios.

Valkyrae began streaming on Twitch in 2015. She became very popular in 2018 by playing the game Fortnite. That year, she joined 100 Thieves as their first female content creator. In 2020, she moved to stream only on YouTube. She gained many followers playing Among Us. This led her to win "Content Creator of the Year" at The Game Awards. She also won "Best Live Streamer" at the Streamy Awards. In 2021, Adweek named her "Gaming Creator of the Year". In 2022, she was on Forbes magazine's 30 Under 30 list.

Valkyrae's Early Life

Rachell Marie Hofstetter was born on January 8, 1992. She grew up in Moses Lake, Washington. Her family has Filipino and German roots. She has three brothers and one younger sister. Her mother helped her get interested in video games from a young age. Rachell went to community college. She also worked at GameStop to support herself. She earned an associate degree in arts and science.

Her Journey to Becoming a Streamer

Starting Out (2015–2019)

Hofstetter during a photoshoot for 100 Thieves in July 2019.

While working at GameStop, Rachell shared her gaming on Instagram. She gained many followers there. Her fans encouraged her to start live streaming. So, in 2015, she began streaming on Twitch. Later, she started uploading her gaming videos to YouTube. She became very well-known in 2018. This was thanks to her playing the game Fortnite. In October 2018, she made history. She became the first female content creator for the gaming group 100 Thieves. In May 2019, she was nominated for a Gaming award. This was at the 11th Shorty Awards.

Moving to YouTube (2020–2024)

On January 13, 2020, Valkyrae signed a special deal with YouTube. She left Twitch to stream only on YouTube. At first, she had about 1,500 viewers at a time. But her streams grew very quickly. By late 2020, she often had over 100,000 viewers. This huge growth happened because she played Among Us. She also played with other popular streamers. These included Disguised Toast, Sykkuno, and Pokimane. She even played with famous people like politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and musician Lil Nas X.

Valkyrae became the fastest-growing female streamer in 2020. She also became the most-watched female streamer that year. In December 2020, she won the Content Creator of the Year award. This was at The Game Awards.

On April 7, 2021, Valkyrae became a co-owner of 100 Thieves. She joined with other owners like Drake. As a co-owner, she received a share in the company. In May 2021, she won Gaming Creator of the Year. This was at the Adweek Creator Visionary Awards. In December 2021, she won the Livestreamer award at the 11th Streamy Awards.

In 2022, Forbes magazine put her on their 30 Under 30 list for games. She was nominated for more awards in 2022 and 2023. On March 11, 2023, she co-hosted the Streamer Awards. This show had over 425,000 live viewers.

In February 2024, she won The Sapphire Award at the Streamer Awards. In May 2024, she played a lot of Grand Theft Auto V roleplaying. She was also named an A100 honoree by Gold House. In July 2024, she was in a MrBeast video called "50 YouTubers Fight for $1,000,000".

Returning to Twitch (2025–Present)

Valkyrae's special YouTube contract ended in January 2025. She returned to Twitch on January 8, 2025. This was also her 10th streaming anniversary and her 33rd birthday. In her first week back, she was the most-watched female streamer on Twitch.

In February 2025, Valkyrae started a week-long live streaming event. It was called Sis-A-Thon with fellow streamer Brittany "Cinna" Watts. On March 2, 2025, the last night of the event, something scary happened. Valkyrae, Cinna, and their guest Emily "Emiru" Schunk were at Pacific Park. A man approached them and became aggressive. He made threats, and the streamers had to call for help. They ended their event early and contacted the police. Valkyrae later shared that everyone was safe but shaken.

Other Things Valkyrae Does

Acting Roles

In 2021, Valkyrae appeared in several music videos. These included "DayWalker" by Machine Gun Kelly. In March 2022, she voiced a character in the TV show Tribe Nine. In December 2022, she voiced Squad Commander Red in Sonic Prime. In 2023, she had a small role as herself in the movie The Family Plan. In January 2025, she voiced the main character, Ratchet, in the animated film Goldbeak.

Business Ventures

In September 2022, Valkyrae became an ambassador for the fitness clothing brand Gymshark. In September 2024, she started her own media company, Hihi Studios. This company aims to create stories for graphic novels, TV, and movies. They especially focus on anime-style content. In June 2025, Hihi Studios announced their first project, a webtoon called Bad Influence.

Helping Others Through Charity

Valkyrae often uses her platform to help others. On April 6, 2021, she played Among Us in a charity livestream. This event was hosted by Jimmy Fallon from The Tonight Show. Many celebrities and streamers joined. The event raised over $25,000 for Feeding America.

In June 2022, she played in a Minecraft charity tournament. This raised money for The Trevor Project. Valkyrae also donated $10,000 herself. In November 2022, she donated $15,000 to No Kid Hungry. In December 2022, she joined "Thankmas". This is a charity event by YouTuber jacksepticeye. It raised over $10 million for World Central Kitchen.

In February 2023, Valkyrae donated $10,000. This was to help victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.

Podcasting

From October 2024 to April 2025, Valkyrae had a podcast called Press Esc. She co-hosted it with artist Alyssa "Alythuh" Dios. The podcast ended because Alyssa moved away.

In July 2025, Valkyrae was announced as a new co-host. She joined the podcast Wine About It with QTCinderella.

RFLCT Skincare and Its End

In October 2021, Valkyrae announced her skincare brand, RFLCT. The brand claimed its products protected skin from blue light from screens. However, there was not enough scientific proof for this claim. Experts said that blue light from screens usually doesn't harm skin.

Valkyrae received a lot of criticism for this. She said she understood why people were upset. She was also confused by the lack of clear information on the website. She wanted to share the research that supported the products. But she was told the research could not be made public.

Valkyrae then wanted to leave RFLCT. But she had a contract. On October 30, 2021, RFLCT stopped selling its products. A statement said they decided to move on from the brand.

Valkyrae's Personal Life

Valkyrae lives in Los Angeles. From 2016 to 2021, she was in a relationship with streamer Michael "Sonii" Sherman. From April 2023 to July 2024, she lived with other streamers. They were Leslie "Fuslie" Fu, Miyoung "Kkatamina" Kim, and Christina "TinaKitten" Kenyon. They were known as "The Roomies."

Images for kids

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  Valkyrae's signature

Awards and Recognitions

Special Lists

See also

In Spanish: Valkyrae para niños

• List of YouTubers