89-year-old 'Skyrim Grandma' leaves fans devastated with heartbreaking announcement

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89-year-old 'Skyrim Grandma' leaves fans devastated with heartbreaking announcement

She had become a cult figure across social media

Skyrim is one of the most iconic games to ever release, yet one of it's biggest fans isn't who you might expect as an 89-year-old known as 'Skyrim Grandma' has earned the love of millions on her YouTube channel.

You'd typically expect a gamer to be on the younger side of things when it comes to age as different priorities take over the further you go into adulthood, especially as games are getting longer and consoles are becoming more expensive.

However, you might be surprised to find out that one of Skyrim's biggest and most famous fans is none other than 89-year-old Shirley Curry, who started her Skyrim journey over 10 years ago with her first YouTube video.

Nearly weekly uploads of her various Skyrim playthroughs followed that, and now we're here in 2025 with over 2,400 videos later and it might have just reached its end.

As reported by Dexerto, Curry – who goes by both 'Skyrim Grandma' and 'The Older Gamer' – revealed to her fans that she was 'saying goodbye' to the Elder Scrolls on her YouTube channel, leaving many of her fans heartbroken.

"This has come to this because I'll soon be 90 years old," Curry explained. "Every time I come up with a new idea for how to play a story in Skyrim... I may make one or two or three with a new character and then I'm bored again. So that's why I'm going to stop uploading anything to do with Skyrim."

That certainly makes sense regardless of age, as there's only so long you can play a game for, let alone continue to make content that's fresh and exciting for viewers to tune into.

This isn't the first time that Curry has thrown in the towel though, as around this time last year she similarly announced her retirement before returning to content creation shortly after.

It's unclear whether she'll be trying out any other games in lieu of the popular RPG either, as her experience with the Oblivion remaster earlier this year wasn't what she hoped, and there's no sign that the Elder Scrolls VI will be out any time soon either.

Part of her motivation seems to be with the feedback and audience interaction she's been getting on her recent uploads, as she explains:

"I'm tired, I'm not having any fun with it anymore, probably because of all the little kids on there. All I get is, 'Hi, grandma. I love you, grandma.' That isn't what I was spending my time making and uploading videos for."

Curry revealed that the response to her recent videos has left her feeling demotivated (YouTube/Shirley Curry)
Curry revealed that the response to her recent videos has left her feeling demotivated (YouTube/Shirley Curry)

There has been an outpouring of support underneath the video announcing her retirement though, as one comment declared that it was the "saddest day for all of the Skyrim community."

Others have understood her decision though, with another adding that "there is no point in playing something that you don't have fun with, so it's really okay! I feel like we can all understand and I definitely will stay! I didn't follow you because of Skyrim but because of your character."

Shirley is far from the only older individual who has shared their love for gaming on YouTube though, as Britta – otherwise known by her handle 'Food4Dogs' – is also a retiree who has earned hundreds of thousands of followers sharing her love of gaming across social media.

Featured Image Credit: YouTube/ShirleyCurryTheOldGamer