Twitch’s most popular female streamer Pokimane, real name Imane Anys, has announced she will be taking a break from the streaming platform to focus on her mental wellbeing.
Making the announcement via her Twitter page on July 20, Pokimane said, “I’ve been feeling in need of a mental reset and some time to focus on myself / my life online.” Expressing the need for “proper breaks” and branding them “essential to one’s health / career longevity,” she went on to express gratitude to her supporters and said, “Thanks for putting me in a position where I’m able to take time off like this.”
It’s unclear how long Pokimane plans to take a hiatus for, although she has squashed any potential rumours that this will be a permanent break by ending her statement with, “Looking forward to coming back refreshed and ready to make more content”.
Pokimane has worked hard to openly discuss mental health in her streams and take breaks where needed. She previously took an extended break in 2020, announcing on her Twitter page that she had found it “hard to find the same joys and motivation for making content,” and was feeling “burnt out”. She took a month off from streaming and creating content in order to return “happy and excited”.
taking time off ❤️ pic.twitter.com/jwmizB26Xx
— pokimane ❤️ (@pokimanelol) July 19, 2022
With more than 9.2million followers on her Twitch channel and 6.6million subscribers on her YouTube, Pokimane is Twitch’s most popular female streamer, usually scheduling in streams for five days a week. On her YouTube, she documents real-life events such as her recent trip to Korea, as well as reaction videos and gaming clips such as Fortnite and Among Us.
Last year whilst streaming she announced that “If it wasn’t for the influx of female viewers, female streamers and just more diverse community members, whether that’s people of colour or other minorities, within the last year or two over COVID, I think I likely would have retired from streaming this year.”
She cited negativity around her online presence for the reason and said, “Feeling like your existence is friction in the industry that you’re in is just not fun.” Laughing, she concluded, “Fuck this shit, I want to have a good life. I want to play games. It’s not that deep.”
In other news, EA will bring women’s club football to its final instalment of the FIFA series when it releases FIFA 23 on September 30.
