‘Skyrim Grandma’ Shirley Curry, who has spent the last 15 years releasing Elder Scrolls gameplay videos on YouTube to an adoring player base, has announced her retirement from active content creation. The news arrived via a YouTube upload titled ‘My Goodbye to Skyrim‘ where Curry spoke openly about her loss of joy in gameplay videos, after more than a decade of wandering in Skyrim, Oblivion, and beyond.
‘I’m tired,’ she admitted. ‘I’m not having any fun with it anymore.’
Per Curry, the issues largely stem from player engagement in her videos. While previously, she was able to share conversations with her audience, it appears now younger audiences only pop in to say things like ‘Hi Skyrim Grandma’ or ‘I love you Skyrim Grandma.’ Curry says that ‘isn’t what [she] was spending [her] time on making and uploading videos for.’
Viewers now appear to be ‘very young kids, children, and [Curry isn’t] getting any feedback from them on the videos.’ While there are a few loyal older viewers, who regularly tune in, a loss of meaningful feedback has bored Curry, and inspired her to pursue new avenues.
‘This has come to this because I’ll soon be 90 years old,’ Curry said. ‘Every time I come up with a new idea of how to play a story in Skyrim, which is what I’ve mostly always done, made up my own stories in there, I may make one or two or three [videos] with a new character and then I’m just bored again. So that’s why I’m just going to stop uploading anything with Skyrim.’
Curry has promised to occasionally pop in for vlogs ‘once in a while’ to engage with her 1.3 million subscriber base, when she has something to talk about, but it does appear this will be the end of the road for new Skyrim Grandma content. Instead, Curry will focus on her religious blog, and other avenues.
‘Skyrim Grandma’ Shirley Curry leaves a wonderful legacy
If this is the end, Curry leaves behind an incredible legacy. It’s very rare that older folks are spotlighted in the world of gaming, and even rarer for them to be popular content creators in their own right. In her time journeying as Skyrim Grandma, Curry not only became a modern gaming icon (she was even modded into Skyrim by fans), she also helped to change the perception of who gamers are, and how older people might engage with games.
More than being a notable content creator, Curry also spent years as a warm voice for the Elder Scrolls community, giving advice and holding sage conversations as she travelled through Skyrim. She created a warm, cosy space for adventurers, and made everyone feel included in her journey.
Her contributions to the world of The Elder Scrolls, at the very least, won’t seen be forgotten. On top of being modded into Skyrim, she will also make an appearance in the upcoming, long-gestating Elder Scrolls 6, with Bethesda Game Studios recently pledging to honour her.
For those who do want to stay in touch with ‘Skyrim Grandma’ Shirley Curry, you can follow along with her religious blog, or stay tuned to her YouTube channel for more sporadic, non-Skyrim content.
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