Pokimane Announces Return To Twitch
It's been a big day for streamers making return announcements. First Ninja announced his imminent return and new contract with Twitch, and now Pokimane has become the latest content creator to make their comeback.
Back near the beginning of August, Pokimane announced to her fans that she was going to be taking an extended hiatus from streaming. She explained that she wanted to take at least a month, because she hadn't taken any significant time off for herself since she had begun streaming right after high school. At the time, she explained that she was simply feeling burnt out from having to maintain a regular streaming schedule, along with all of her other responsibilities. On top of that, being in quarantine had started to take a toll on her, so she felt like it was time to step back from streaming for a bit. The strain of dealing with running a huge streaming operation without so much as a breather was getting to be too much.
The only exception to this streaming hiatus has been when she came back for a single broadcast, during which she caught fans up on how she was doing. When someone asked how her break was going, it seemed as though she was getting exactly what she needed from it.
"I don't want to talk about it too much, but I'm just gonna say, like, it kind of feels like a 'life overhaul' ... and it's been 'thumbs-up,' so far," she said, indicating that things were going well. She continued, "If you were to ask me [if I'm] ready to come back to streaming, I would just say, like, 'I'm almost there,' you know?"
She clarified, "What I imagine 'there' to be is ... just like, being filled with motivation and excitment and like, real readiness. I really feel like I am deep in the process and very happy, and that my excitement is building."
It seems like that excitement for returning to streaming continued to build, since Pokimane has finally officially announced to her fans when she'll be making her triumphant return. Along with a gif of an animated version of herself smiling and waving, Pokimane posted, "official return stream: this friday 12PM PST / 3PM EST ... see you there."
Prior to this post, Pokimane has mostly stayed off of social media as well. As part of her "life overhaul," she seemingly decided to stay out of any kind of social media drama. However, she did briefly return to get ahead of any possible rumors that she was responsible for a YouTuber's ban.
Earlier this year, the YouTuber Leafy began posting a series of videos discussing internet drama. In particular, he posted several videos revolving around Pokimane that painted her in a rather negative light. Not only that, but as pointed out by The Verge, many of Leafy's Pokimane-centric videos made disparaging remarks about her content and her physical appearance. This was a treatment he extended to other content creators, but these specific videos are likely part of what prompted Pokimane's lengthy apology video from last month. During this video, Pokimane attempted to clear up some misconceptions about her and to offer her apologies for poor behavior in the past. She explained that she's still learning and wanted to clear the air with her fans and detractors alike.
Perhaps because of this, when it was reported that Leafy's YouTube account had been deleted, Pokimane decided to make sure people know she was not involved at all. After Rod "Slasher" Breslau reported that Leafy's account had been taken down for repeated conduct violations, Pokimane tweeted, "i know i'm going to get asked this, so i'd like to clarify i had nothing to do with leafy's ban." This was later seemingly confirmed by The Verge.
This is an issue that Pokimane addressed head-on in her apology video that she uploaded during her break. While she explained that she believes in supporting "transformative content," she didn't think it was right for people to profit from misleading people about her or her content. Over the years, Pokimane has made a few enemies in the streaming world, so it seems like she found it very important to set the record straight before she stepped away from streaming for a bit.
With all of that drama behind Pokimane, she's been able to focus on regaining her love for streaming. Now fans know when they will be able to see her again. Hopefully this will be the start of a new chapter in Pokimane's career, one with much less drama.