Rachell ‘Valkyrae’ Hofstetter has revealed she’s “super keen” to stage a big Fortnite comeback more than a year after she shelved the Epic battle royale, but there’s one thing that has to happen to totally convince her.
Like many modern streaming stars across the internet, Fortnite was one of the first big games Valkyrae cut her teeth on back before her Twitch defection in 2020.
Playing Fortnite helped fire the now-100 Thieves co-owner into top billing on Twitch, but Valkyrae decided to shelve the Epic Games battle royale permanently when she inked a rich YouTube deal in January last year. It was a big decision for the former Twitch star, but one she’s stuck to ever since.
Two years later, Valkyrae’s self-imposed exile may be ending.
The YouTuber made an unplanned Fortnite return with OTV friends on Nov. 18, and admitted she could make the comeback permanent if one big thing happens.
While playing, Valkyrae revealed she’s considering coming back in a more permanent fashion, and not just in short cameo-like bursts like she has these past 24 months.
“I’m having so much fun, yeah!” she admitted.
“I haven’t played in ages, that was fun. I actually really liked it,” the 100 Thieves star continued. “Might need a bit of practice, but I would definitely play again. Maybe we can do a few more Fortnite streams.”
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There is one big catch to her return though: Valkyrae originally ended her Fortnite love affair while she was still on Twitch due to how “unfun” it is playing alone. If the 29-year-old is to return to the Epic battle royale more regularly, she’ll “only do it with friends. It is really fun playing with everyone!”
So, for Valkyrae to return to Fortnite, other stars need to jump back on the battle royale train too. She added: “I don’t think I’d just go back to playing it alone.”
Valkyrae was far from the only Fortnite star to leave the Epic Games battle royale behind during its 2020 slump—LazarBeam, CouRage, NICKMERCS, Tfue, and even Ninja abandoned ship over the past eighteen months.
Like Hofstetter, however, many of those big stars have been slowly filtering back into the game recently. Ninja has returned to posting Fortnite highlights on his YouTube channel and even streaming the battle royale. LazarBeam has also said he’ll be “keen to play again,” eventually.
With the battle royale’s third chapter now right around the corner, perhaps we’ll see even more of Fortnite’s original stars returning in droves soon too.