Pokimane was going to quit Twitch this year until one thing changed her mind
Twitch: PokimaneImane ‘Pokimane’ Anys has dropped a bombshell on her Twitch fans — if not for one big change on the platform in the past year, the Moroccan-Canadian streamer was all ready to pack her career in for good over “trolls.”
The original queen of Twitch was on the verge of hanging up her “Pokimane” mantle for good, Anys has revealed, but one thing changed her mind.
That thing, as it turns out, was an explosion of diversity on Twitch in the last two years, sparked by more people finding the Amazon-owned platform in the midst of the ongoing pandemic. With more women and diverse streamers and fans on the site, Pokimane reversed her plans.
“I was going to quit, as soon as this year,” she admitted.
“If it wasn’t for that influx of female viewers, streamers, and a more diverse community,” the Twitch streamer explained. “I would have retired from streaming.”
Twitch: PokimanePokimane joined Twitch in early 2013, and originally built a fanbase playing League of Legends. For the longest time, Anys remained one of the only major female stars on the site, and as of 2022 is still the only woman to appear in the platform’s top twenty when it comes to followers.
“I was debating whether I wanted to say this,” she said. “But, if it wasn’t for that influx of diversity through female fans, streamers, people of color, and other minorities, inside the last year or two of the pandemic, I would have retired from streaming.
“I very likely would have,” Pokimane added.
“At some point, it’s just like, f**k this sh*t. I want to have fun! I want to hang out, I just want to play some games with my fans. It’s not that deep! I don’t mean for that to be sad, but that’s how I was feeling.
“What I mean to say is I really, really, appreciate all the female streamers and viewers here now,” she continued. “You guys made me wanna stick around, truly.”
The Twitch star’s latest revelation comes amidst another controversy that originally stemmed from her gender — the 25-year-old has been the target of “hate raids” from several other streamers throughout this week.
On January 12, Anys was forced to shut down her stream early because the abusive messages and DMs to her and her fans became too much to handle. The Twitch community has since come together to condemn the “sexist” harassment, with many calling for Twitch to take further action.
Pokimane said: “Not that it’s behavior we should normalize, but I’m, unfortunately, really used to having incels and misogynists in my chat. It’s so disappointing.”