Video games have always been popular, but since the advent and rise of the use of social media and streaming platforms, their popularity has exploded. Now, it goes beyond just playing the games - you can watch YouTube videos about the games, follow gamers on various social media platforms, and even play along with them on platforms like Twitch. This has turned gaming into an industry on par with entertainment media like movies and television. And it's turned gamers into celebrities, with massive fanbases, partnerships, and millions and millions of views on their videos. The great thing about gaming is that it's an industry where just about anyone can find a space - as long as you can play, you can stay! Which means that many of gaming's biggest stars are some of the most unlikely. Shirley Curry, better known as Skyrim Grandma, is a popular gamer in her 80's, and her videos are seriously some of the cutest things on the internet. But the gaming grandma announced recently that she's taking a bit of a break from social media, after getting tired of dealing with trolls and rude people. Not enough gaming grandmas are safe on the internet!
Who is Skyrim Grandma?
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Shirley Curry, 84, lives in Ohio. She's a widow with four adult children, nine grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren! Shirley also happens to REALLY love playing the video game Skyrim. Hence her nickname, Skyrim Grandma! Shirley has been playing for years, but in 2015, she created a YouTube channel and began posting videos of herself playing. To watch Shirley play is a thing of beauty. Sure, she's pretty skilled at playing (she wouldn't have so many fans if she wasn't!). But beyond that, she seems to really appreciate little things in the game that most people wouldn't pay attention to, like the scenery or a character's costume. Shirley's sweet disposition and gaming style quickly caught the eyes of other gamers, and soon she was getting tens of thousands of views on her videos! To date, her YouTube channel has 878,000 subscribers.
Shirley is so beloved by her gaming community that fans and gamers circulated a petition to ask Bethesda Softworks (the maker of the game Skyrim) to immortalize her in some way in the newest version of the game. And Bethesda did just that! Last year, the company announced that Skyrim Grandma would be forever immortalized as a non-playing character (NPC) in The Elder Scrolls 6. She was photographed and scanned to help animators and game creators capture her likeness, and when the game is released, players will be able to see Shirley as an NPC.
Why is Skyrim Grandma taking a break from social media?
In early May 2020, Shirley uploaded a video to her YouTube channel titled "Shirley's Ohio Vlog #12". In it, she discusses some changes she's making to her life and her channel. As much as Shirley loves playing Skyrim and sharing her gaming sessions with her fans and followers, there's one thing she doesn't love: the trolls that tend to come out of the woodwork whenever someone is popular on the internet! Unfortunately, not even sweet, 84-year old grandmothers are immune to trolls and annoying fans.
Shirley says that she's getting tired of being questioned about her gaming style, her preferences, her game choices - pretty much everything! She says she's tired of the comments from people telling her she's playing wrong, or demanding she explain her style to them. She's tired of having people suggest games she should be playing instead of Skyrim. Her name is literally Skyrim Grandma! She's going to be a NPC in the next version of the game! We think Shirley is perfectly fine sticking with Skyrim. In the video, she also urges people who don't like her playing style or choices to look elsewhere and stop badgering her to answer their questions or explain her decisions.
Skyrim Grandma says she needs to prioritize her health.
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Shirley says, "My health isn’t very good. My blood pressure is going insane; my stress level is way too high. And I’m going to have to take control of it." She goes on to say that playing isn't fun for her anymore, with the distractions of answering comments and dealing with rude people. And clearly, Shirley started playing video games because she loves them! So she announced that she'll be taking a few weeks off from her channels, and when she returns, she'll be making some changes. "From now on, I will respond to very, very few comments. I will be deleting a lot,” says Shirley. “I feel like I’m under a microscope all the time. I have much more fun, and I play much better, when I’m just playing by myself."
We sincerely hope Shirley is able to rest and get back to doing what she loves soon! And we applaud her for not letting the trolls win. She doesn't owe anyone an explanation or even a response, but you can tell from her videos that she truly loves playing, and she genuinely loves her true fans.