Streamers VALORANT

Pokimane Speaks Out About Struggles Women Face Playing VALORANT

Twitch/Pokimane

Pokimane

Written by

Mel Ramsay

Published

30th Aug 2021 12:41

Imane 'Pokimane' Anys has spoken out about the problems she faces as a female gamer when playing online games like VALORANT.

The 25-year-old Twitch streamer has forged an incredible career by playing games online, and achieved eye-watering success by being herself on the internet.

However, in a recent Twitter thread she's explained how sometimes being herself can actually be detrimental to her gameplay.

What Did Pokimane Say About Being A Woman In Gaming?

She wrote: "My brother hit immortal before I did. That's it, try hard mode", adding: "i find my biggest issue is i don't like to talk too much in game (ppl get weird about me being a girl / being poki), and that doesn't work with being a sova main (crying emoji) and i don't have a dependable duo to comm on my behalf ~ so i'm gonna look for one + learn solo q agents".

my brother hit immortal before i did 😭

that’s it, try hard mode 😤 😤 😤
— imane 👑💜 (@imane) August 27, 2021

As you can probably imagine, the replies were pretty varied. One person 'helpfully' suggested trying out a voice changer. To which another fan responded: "That's such a dumb way to resolve the situation, girls are not inclined to hide their voice or manipulate it for other people's satisfaction, they should be able to enjoy video games just like any other person."

Poki replied to another suggestion of a voice changer, and said: "Deadass i tried this and i sounded like a robot LOL".

I asked a girl the other day in game if she was a girl(sometimes is can be little boys with girl voices 😅) and it made her uncomfortable 😢 I apologized and she talked a few times after that and she was really nice but yeah it was definitely a learning experience…
— ADane (@ADane3000) August 27, 2021

Is Pokimane Going To Quit Streaming?

In August 2021, Poki spoke out about how gruelling streaming has become while on her YouTube channel, saying: "I know my mind and my heart. Really, really, don't want to admit it, but I think I'm burnt out. Unlike any other way I've been burnt out in the past."

She added: "I've gotten pretty far, and I'm pretty happy with the life that I have right now. But you can't do the same thing forever, and I just feel like it's time for a change. I think my heart is yearning for the outdoors and for experience and for friendship."

Discussing breaking free from her vicious cycle, Pokimane said her mind and habits are so used to work, it's "really hard to break out of that."

About the author

Mel Ramsay

Mel was the Editor-in-Chief at GGRecon. She was previously a senior journalist at LADbible, where she also wrote regularly for GAMINGbible and SPORTbible. She then became Head of Editorial at Social Chain, where she led the teams on GameByte, FragHero, Sporf, Student Problems, and others. Her work can also be found on Sky News, BBC, The Drum, Huffington Post, Student Problems, TYLA, and a range of other publications.