How Valkyrae's fictional relationship with a killer clown became a big hit

You might know Valkyrae (real name Rachell Marie Hofstetter) from many places. She is one of the most popular female streamers YouTube, where it broadcasts variety and game content. She also co-owns the lifestyle company and gaming organization, 100 thieves. She recently got into music, collaborating with fellow Fuslie and singer Ylona Garcia on the song “Echoes,” which she swears is unique.

But at her core, Valkyrae is a gamer. Before it was listed live Forbes' 30 Under 30he was an employee at GameStop, where he worked on the game's overnight release DESTINY and posted reaction videos on social media. Today, nearly a decade later, millions of viewers tune in to see her perform.

Right now, the biggest draw for her fans is this Grand Theft Auto Online streams, in which it is involved GTA V role-playing game, where players connect to individual servers to play a meta-game, together improvising their own stories outside of what is already offered by Grand Theft Auto Onlinehis missions. Valkyrae plays on the biggest server in the game, NoPixels, which has over 20,000 members. There, Valkyrae plays with friends, but as the community's most famous server, it's also populated by celebrities and influential content creators who live-stream their experiences.

With so many balls in the air, you'd think it would be hard for Valkyrae to find time to play for herself (spoiler: she is), but she's determined not to let her workload poison her passion. Rolling rock She recently sat down with the YouTuber to discuss her approach to keeping a constant stream of video games live, what she plays to relax, and how she balances time online and real life to maintain her mental health.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What games are you currently playing?
Right now, brave and GTA V [roleplay] it's what I mostly play, but there are games I only play offline Fireplace the Stardew Valley.

What was really addictive is that I not only enjoy [GTA Online] – because it's a bunch of RPGs, it's improv, and you never know what's going to happen – but the audience loves it too. I pretty much tell them to treat it like an unscripted reality TV show.

i used to play [GTA Online] a long time ago, but I gave it up because I noticed a trend of toxicity. Some players are attached to characters. you don't want your character to become a villain, but sometimes they are. It had to be too much for me, but now that I think about it as reality TV, I just separate myself from the character and just play, and people love it now.

How do you create a story about you? GTA Online reality show?
I try to have a plan of some big things I want to do in my head, but every time I play the plan changes. You can never go off script because you never know how any of the other characters will behave. So sometimes I'll have a plan like, “Oh yeah, I'm going to have this unique character that's in a gang and stuff. But now that the story has progressed, my character is in a relationship with a clown. How did we get here?” I never thought I'd get to play a character who dates a serial killer clown persona, but now there's this whole Romeo and Juliet thing going on between them because her gang doesn't get along with those clowns.

It's definitely like a soap opera.

I guess you are excited Grand Theft Auto VI.
I'm so excited! This game has been in the works for years and years and years, and there's already a huge one GTA community. Everyone was waiting for this.

I think a lot of people expect this to be like the game of the year, obviously. It's really exciting for GTA Roleplay streamers and the server itself — NoPixel is going to improve so much when this new game comes out. It will be great for content overall, for everyone.

What do you like brave?
It's always one of those games I can go back to, [it] it just never ends and i have a bunch of streamer friends [that] everyone feels the same way about it. It's just fun to play together and improve and progress. Obviously, ranking is addictive. But, being such a fan of variety, my ability comes and goes.

What are you drawn to for an offline game?
Ok, the game now that I only play offline [is] a game called Hearthstone Battlegrounds. It's just a card game, it's strategic. I think the reason I like this game more offline is because it's very relaxed. Since it's a card game, it's not like I'm building a story or anything. So this is the game I play when I want to multitask. Since it's turn-based, I can do my emails on my other screen or take 10,000 steps on my treadmill while playing. It's a good way for me to pass the time, even if I'm at the airport.

Well, you're clearly a big PC gamer. What other platforms do you use?
You know, it's funny because as much as I play games, I don't really play phone apps as much as people probably think. Fireplace, I can play on my phone but I prefer to play on PC. Most of the time, I'll only play on Switch or PlayStation or Xbox if a new game comes out that's only available on those consoles. Otherwise, I'll only play it on Steam which is on my PC.

Traveling with a gaming laptop?
I'm trying to do a better job of balancing real life, so when I travel I try to play nothing but my card game every now and then. I have a laptop, but I try not to use it for gaming. it's more like watching shows or something.

Work-life balance is important!
Yeah, I mean, my hobby became my career, so I never want to burn out. And there were times when I felt burned by it. So the last thing you want to do is hate what you do for a living. I did this, [in] this industry, I've been in it for 10 years and I've been playing games all my life. So, balance is very important.

Give me the list of current game recommendations.
Okay! I'm just going to start listing a bunch of different games for different reasons. If you want a game to die for, I would say World of Warcraft the Runescape. Those were two games I invested the most time in ever, but I enjoyed it.

brave the Fortniteor like [Counter-Strike: GO], are very good team shooting games where you work together and can progress. Very strategic.

For nostalgia, I would probably say something like that Super Mario Sunshine the Royal hearts. When I was a kid growing up, I loved these games.

You recently participated in a polymer Dungeons & Dragons drift. Is board gaming a space you want to break into?
I did it for fun for several reasons. I participated in a real one Dungeons & Dragons run with a real Dungeon Master, and it went really well. Then I joined again because of this game called Baldur's Gatewhich is a video game that is pretty much Dungeons & Dragons. I played it with some friends but unfortunately I didn't finish it. It's very, very big.

[The stream] you saw she was my friend and roommate—she's also a streamer—she came with her own kinky D&D campaign where it was done purely for content. And it was silly, we just aired it and it was a lot of fun. He did so much work. He hired a bunch of artists and animators to bring it to life on stream, so it would be as fun as possible. It was only a matter of three sessions.

But I always see clips of Critical Role, they play Dungeons & Dragons all the time. It looks like so much fun, but it is tons hours that I just don't have time for anymore.

Finally, there are waves of video game adaptations coming out now. What is the dream role you would like to play in one?
God, okay. Something I really want to do is play a character in a horror movie based on a video game. I think that would be the most perfect thing ever. A good example would be a game like Until dawn. It is a scary game that is a single player [and] Your decisions affect the outcome of whether certain characters live or not.

I'm really good at screaming, I've had a lot of experience playing horror games.

This is basically being made into a movie. Call them!
I mean, there are some things I can't exactly talk about, but there will definitely be more video game adaptations coming out that I can actually be a part of. A little bit.