Fortnite streamer and Twitch sensation Turner “Tfue” Tenney has a new viral hit on his hands, and it may be his last. The 25 year old globally trending superstar has announced his streaming days have come to an end, at least for now.
Tfue announced his hiatus from streaming on Wednesday in a 40-minute video that looked back on his career of content creation. According to the video, Tfue first appeared in a YouTube video in 2007 and has been a streaming partner with Twitch for eight years.
“I just need to go live my life,” he said in the emotionally-charged message.
The retrospective, titled Goodbye, chronicled how Tfue who currently boasts 11.7 million YouTube subscribers, built a following. The Florida-born streamer said he got his start playing popular shooting games Call of Duty and Halo. Then he started gaining a following with the Destiny series.
He spoke about playing with notable streamers including Tyler “Ninja” Blevins and pursuing a competitive esports career. Tfue, a controversial figure who has faced backlash multiple times for saying racial slurs during his streams, caught his wave when Epic Games released the battle royal shooting game in 2017.
“That’s when shit really blew up,” he said in the video.
In April 2018, Tfue signed with esports and entertainment group FaZe Clan. A year later, Tenney filed a lawsuit accusing the company of an “oppressive” contract. The two parties split in 2020 after settling the dispute.
Wednesday’s video highlighted several of Tfue‘s memorable Fortnite streams, friendships with other Twitch stars and YouTube megastar MrBeast’s Fortnite-inspired gift to the streamer.
Tfue thanked his “supportive” family and fans for sticking with him through the years, but explained, “I just need time to get away.”
Uncertain on whether he’ll return to streaming, Tfue said gaming as a career lost its shine.
Tfue last streamed on Twitch two months ago. Elsewhere in the video, he said he is streaming solely for the money, “and that’s just not who I am.”
His hiatus announcement comes amid major shifts in the world of streaming. Canadian content creator xQc departed Twitch for rival platform Kick in a $100 million deal, reported by the New York Times last week.
“Kick is allowing me to try and do things I haven’t been able to before,” xQc said in a statement with the New York Times. “I’m extremely excited to take this opportunity and maximize it into new creative and fresh ideas over coming years.”
