Moroccan-Canadian streamer and YouTuber (born 1996)
Imane Anys ( ;[3][4] Arabic: إِيمَان
أَنِيس, born 14 May 1996), better known as Pokimane💹 ( or [3]), is a Moroccan-Canadian
internet personality, Twitch streamer and YouTuber. She is best known for her live
streams💹 on Twitch, where she broadcasts video game content, most notably in League of
Legends and Fortnite. She is currently the💹 most-followed female streamer on the
platform. She is a co-founder of OfflineTV, an online social entertainment group of
content creators.💹 She left the organization on May 19, 2024.[5]
Early life [ edit
]
Imane Anys was born in Morocco on 14 May💹 1996.[6][7] Her parents were academics who
immigrated to Quebec, Canada.[6][8] She grew up in St. Catharines, Ontario.[9] Her
brother Mo,💹 who is three years older than her, passed down his old games and cartridges
from the Game Boy, Nintendo DS💹 and Wii to her. In middle school, Anys began playing
massively multiplayer online games such as MapleStory and Endless Online,💹 where she
focused on customization and socializing with other players. Anys studied chemical
engineering at McMaster University but later dropped💹 out to pursue her streaming career
full-time.[6][8]
Career [ edit ]
Twitch streaming [ edit ]
Anys created her Twitch
account in June💹 2013. She began streaming later that year with aR$250 PC she bought off
a classified website after she reached Platinum💹 rank in League of Legends. The name
Pokimane is a portmanteau of Pokémon and her name, Imane.[8]
She gained 450,000
followers💹 on Twitch in 2024, earning her account a place within the 100 most followed
on the platform.[10] As a result💹 of her account's rise on the platform in 2024, the
Shorty Awards named her as the Best Twitch Streamer of💹 the year.[10] The Shorty Awards
detailed that her gameplay and commentary on the popular game League of Legends
propelled her💹 to popularity on Twitch.[10] Anys had a cameo appearance in a League of
Legends trailer announcing a new game mode.[11]
Anys💹 has been known to stream gameplay
and commentary of Fortnite, which she first streamed as part of a sponsorship.[12] At
💹 E3 in 2024, Epic Games, the developers of Fortnite, arranged a pro–am event.[13][14]
The event paired streamers with mainstream celebrities💹 in a match of Fortnite's Battle
Royale mode; Anys was paired with rapper Desiigner but shortly before the event, he💹 was
replaced with basketball player Josh Hart.[13][14] In mid-March 2024, Anys addressed
her declining amount of Fortnite streams, stating that💹 she needed to "think about what
I like or dislike about the content that I've been making."[15]
Tech news website
Digital💹 Trends detailed that Anys frequently interacts with her audience and described
her "laidback but enthusiastic personality" as "perfectly suited to💹 long-form
streams."[16] Aside from streaming gaming content, Anys also podcasts and streams
miscellaneous real-world moments.[16]
Pokimane at TwitchCon Berlin in 2024
As💹 one of
the more popular streamers on the platform, Twitch has directly partnered with Anys. In
July 2024, Twitch selected💹 her as one of 15 ambassadors for the 2024 iteration of their
TwitchCon event.[17] Later that month, Twitch also scheduled💹 Anys as a partner for
their Twitch Creator Camp, a series of broadcasts and articles designed to help content
creators💹 build successful channels.[18] In March 2024, Anys signed a multi-year
exclusivity with Twitch.[19] Social Blade listed Anys as the 9th💹 most followed user on
Twitch, with over 8.5 million followers as of 21 December 2024.[20]
In late October
2024, Anys collaborated💹 with U.S. representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan
Omar along with several other notable streamers including Disguised Toast and HasanAbi
for💹 a session of Among Us as part of a get-out-the-vote initiative for the 2024 United
States presidential election.[21][22]
Anys was named💹 a featured honoree in the 2024
Forbes 30 Under 30 under the category of "Games", which noted her prominence as💹 the
largest female streamer on Twitch and as one of the founders of OfflineTV.[23] She had
8.5 million followers on💹 Twitch as of July 2024.[8]
On 8 January 2024, Anys' Twitch
account was suspended for 48 hours midway through an Avatar:💹 The Last Airbender watch
stream following a DMCA claim from ViacomCBS.[24][25] Later in the month, Anys' stream
was raided by💹 viewers of JiDion. He was later banned, which received the attention of
streamer Ninja, who stated he would use his💹 connections to get the ban reversed. Anys
criticized this response from Ninja, particularly calling out Ninja's use of the word
💹 bitches when speaking on the issue.[26][27][28]
In February 2024, Anys re-signed with
Twitch.[29]
YouTube [ edit ]
In addition to streaming on the💹 Twitch platform, Anys also
has multiple YouTube channels: Pokimane, Pokimane Too, Pokimane VODS, Poki ASMR, and
imane.[30][31] The Pokimane channel💹 features edited gaming clips from streams while
Pokimane Too includes unrelated clips of her gaming content, vlogs, and podcast. On💹 the
Pokimane VODS channel, full unedited VOD clips of streams are uploaded. The Poki ASMR
channel featured videos that are💹 part of a broader YouTube community of ASMR content,
though Anys has ceased uploading on the channel.[32] In 2024, Anys💹 launched a new
channel entitled simply 'imane' which covers more personal topics and vlogs rather than
gaming-related topics.[citation needed]
Anys was💹 also a member of OfflineTV, a
collaborative YouTube channel made up of content creators.[33][34] Speaking about the
channel, Anys stated,💹 "it's not fun being a streamer and living alone, so we decided to
come together in a way so we💹 not only keep each other company but we can also collab
and actually do good work and content for everyone💹 else."[34]
Other ventures [ edit
]
In October 2024, it was announced that Anys, among a number of other internet
personalities, would💹 appear in the film Free Guy, directed by Shawn Levy,[35] which was
released in August 2024.[36] She also appeared in💹 the music video for Bella Poarch's
song "Inferno", released in August 2024.[37]
In October 2024, it was announced that
Anys had💹 helped launch a talent management and brand consulting firm called RTS, where
she will serve as the Chief Creative Officer.[38]
On💹 November 13, 2024, Pokimane
announced she launched Myna, a company that sells "healthy snack alternative"
cookies.[39] One four-pack of the💹 company's midnight mini cookies product were sold
forR$28, drawing criticism from some calling the cookies overpriced. On November 18,
during💹 a livestream, she responded to the criticism stating, "When people are like 'oh
my godR$28 for cookies'. It's four bags,💹 that'sR$7 per bag. I know, I know math is hard
when you're an idiot. But, if you're a broke boy💹 just say so". Her usage of "broke" as
an insult attracted further backlash.[40][41][39]
Filmography [ edit ]
Film [ edit
]
Year Title💹 Role Notes Ref. 2024 Free Guy Herself Cameo appearance [35]
Music videos [
edit ]
Awards and nominations [ edit ]
See also💹 [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
