Valkyrae has revealed the major reason behind leaving YouTube for Twitch after five years of streaming on the Google-owned platform.
On Sunday, December 29, 100 Thieves co-owner Valkyrae announced that she is leaving YouTube for Twitch after five years.
Valkyrae was among the first Twitch streamers to move over to the Google-owned platform, having signed her initial contract back in January 2020.
Her return to Twitch has left many wondering what made the YouTube star decide to switch platforms, and she has since revealed one major reason behind leaving.
Valkyrae reveals why she’s leaving YouTube for Twitch
During the December 29 episode of her podcast, Press Esc, Valkyrae expanded on her thoughts about streaming on YouTube.
“YouTube is always going to be video first, right? [They’re also] focusing on shorts. They’ve told me. They’ve specifically told me that their priority is Shorts,” she said. “There were things on the streaming side of things that I wanted changed, that didn’t change and I’ve been there for five years.
“No matter what, YouTube is a video-first platform. So, if you’re streaming on YouTube, you’re competing with every single YouTube video.”
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Valkyrae went on to explain that if you upload YouTube videos a lot, it makes sense to stream on the platform as well. However, she cannot commit to uploading regularly and considers herself more of a streamer than a YouTuber.
“I view myself as a streamer because I barely upload YouTube videos. I don’t think it works with the type of content I would want to upload,” she said.
“If I were uploading YouTube videos every day I would probably still stream on YouTube. But because I don’t, I consider myself a streamer, and there are things that I wanted YouTube to prioritize or change for the streaming side of it that [never happened.]
“When people go to Twitch, they go there to watch streamers. When people go to YouTube, they go there to watch videos.”
Valkyrae is just the latest YouTube streamer to leave the Google-owned platform. Ludwig revealed that his YouTube contract ended back in November, and promptly returned to Twitch for a 100-hour League of Legends stream.
