Khamyra Sykes, popularly known as Queen Khamyra, is a 16-year-old content creator who is making waves in the male-dominated gaming industry. Having established herself through her sketch comedy videos on various social media platforms, and now as a video game streamer, she is taking it upon herself to become a voice for the women of the world who are making their way in a massively male-dominated industry.
Her new show, The Queen Stream, launched on March 31, 2023 on Twitch and is integrating gaming into her streams. The show airs every Friday at 5 pm and is aimed at creating a safe space for girl gamers to thrive in. As a former member of the Collab Crib, Sykes has first-hand experience of the bias women face in the video game industry. Sykes is now making her own space for female creators and helping them make money off their content. Sykes claims that brands view TikTok as essential to social media marketing and that many take into account the scale of creators’ followings and engagement rates when negotiating promotional contracts.
“This means much more than socio-politically, but economically, as well,” she said. “It’s important that not only does there need to be a safe space for female creators, but that they make money off their content as well.”
Sykes has 560,000 followers on TikTok, where she posts brief comedic skits and lifestyle videos. She makes money off the site by working with clothing companies and creating political advertisements, such as a get-out-and-vote video for the most recent midterm election.
But, with the U.S government gunning for the prohibition of TikTok in the US would result in the content creators missing out on a significant portion of their followers and potential brand collaborations.
“A ban would affect employment opportunities for content creators who rely on TikTok for their income and would have a disastrous impact on small businesses that rely on the platform for marketing and sales,” Sykes said.
However, the gaming industry is still massively male-dominated, and according to a report by Convertkit, an online creator marketing platform, 35% of men earn over $100,000 from their businesses compared to 19% of women. Men are also twice as likely to earn over $150,000 from their online presence. These are disparaging numbers that Sykes aims to change.
Through The Queen Stream, Sykes is aiming to create a platform where female gamers can thrive and make money off their content. She believes that it’s important to create not just a safe space for female creators but also an economically viable space. The gaming industry has long been known to have a gender bias, and Khamyra is taking a step forward in breaking that stereotype.