You might not know the name Kathleen Belsten, but you’ve probably heard of Loserfruit, the username Kathleen streams under. Loserfruit is one of the most popular streamers in the world, with more than 11 million followers across Twitch, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. In fact, she’s the second most-followed female streamer in the world.
Loserfruit’s Twitch channel had humble origins as a place where she’d play games and talk openly about her feelings with a small group of followers. Now, she regularly pulls in upwards of 50,000 viewers with each Twitch stream, and she even has her own Fortnite bundle. At this point, Loserfruit’s channel has grown past just streaming games: she recreated her Fortnite skin in real life as part of her partnership with e.l.f. Cosmetics, and she’s partnered with activewear label Gymshark.
We spoke to Kathleen about her streaming career, how she balances playing games for work versus enjoyment, and what advice she’d give to other young girls who want to start streaming.
POPSUGAR Australia: Hello Kathleen! You have a hugely successful Twitch channel where you stream a huge variety of games. Can you please tell us a little bit about your channel and career as a streamer?
Kathleen Belsten: The channel is a very cosy but competitive stream. Lots of Fortnite, a bunch of other games too with friends. It used to be a lot more of a solo, cosy stream where I would talk openly about my feelings and I would use it to cope. But now it’s more of a place to entertain others and make a safe space for them.
PS: How long have you been streaming for and how did you get into it?
KB: I got into it when friends I used to play League of Legends with told me that I should try it out because I have an accent, and I really fell in love with it. It didn’t matter that there was a maximum of 10 viewers, it felt really special to me when I would break new records of numbers.
PS: What’s your favourite game to stream at the moment?
KB: At the moment the Grand Theft Auto remaster has come out and even though it’s really glitchy and has problems, I’ve been enjoying how witty and how much fun the game is. But normally my favourite game to stream is Fortnite.
PS: Is there a game you prefer playing by yourself and not on stream? Do you ever struggle with this?
KB: I really like to play intense games like Age of Empires off-stream. Sometimes I have little gaming addictions like Teamfight Tactics that I know wouldn’t do super well on my channel.
PS: What role has gaming and streaming played in your life over the last two years? (That’s right, we’re talking lockdown, sorry!)
KB: Gaming and streaming have been a great way to cope and that’s been a good and bad thing. It makes me happy, but it also takes a lot of time away. It can almost be like owning a time machine — it can waste a lot of time, but also gets me through some really dreadful moods.
PS: You have a skin and cosmetics in Fortnite! How did the Loserfruit Bundle come about?
KB: Epic contacted some Fortnite creators about making bundles, and I happened to be one of them. I sometimes question why they gave me one compared to other creators, particularly when you look at sheer numbers, but then I remember the amount of content I put out there that was different to others. Sometimes it’s not just a popularity contest, it’s about hitting a different audience.
PS: What are some of the highlights of your career as a streamer?
KB: The Loserfruit Skin Bundle, of course! Raising over $300,000 for charity, too. Those two are my favourites. It’s hard to really top either one of those as far as streaming goes.
PS: What advice would you give to other women who are interested in streaming?
KB: You create the streaming environment you’re in. You get given the amount of respect you demand. That you don’t have to justify yourself to anyone. You can simply say no. And that there’s no cap on success if you’re a woman. These are the things I know would help if I was starting over.
