Twitch Streamer Jerma Had a "Soft Retirement" — Here's What Happened
Jerma was adamant about not returning to his old posting schedule.
Published Feb. 19 2026, 3:41 p.m. ET
The streamer Jerma (real name Jeremy Elbertson) has been creating content online for a while. He started a YouTube channel in 2011, where he explored and reviewed games while giving commentary. He also did some blogs and short-form comedy sketches.
In 2016, Jerma transitioned to Twitch. He posted often up until late 2023, when he announced a "soft retirement," meaning that he would leave his weekly streaming cadence behind. Here's what happened.
Jerma launched a "soft retirement" in 2023.
He told his followers that he wanted to step back from his weekly streams and instead focus on producing and writing content. He left the door open for occasional streams, but definitely wanted to leave his usual stream schedule behind.
Prior to his "soft retirement," Jerma joined the media production company Offbrand as the Chief Creative Officer.
Although it seemed that his new job was a big influence on his retirement decision, Jerma assured his followers that that was not the case.
"This is something I've been talking about for a year or so, and it's something I thought about very seriously even before Dollhouse," Jerma shared, via Jerma Clips. He shared that joining Offbrand was "probably less than 10 percent of the reason" he decided to step back from weekly streams.
Dollhouse was a Sims-inspired video series where Jerma's followers could control his actions as if he were in the game.
Jerma said that he got everything he wanted out of streaming.
"I got everything I could’ve ever dreamed of in my entire life. So … I think it’s time to slow it down and stop, and do whatever I want. You know? I have got everything that I ever wanted out of this particular thing in my life, right?" Jerma told a follower, according to Tribune.
The Offbrand studio, where Jerma was Chief Creative Officer, ultimately closed.
Jerma shared with his audience that he'd lost his job when the studio closed, but he'd already taken a step back from the company at the time, because he was dealing with some issues in his personal life, per Jerma Clips.
Jerma made it clear that his leaving Offbrand did not mean that he would return to his old posting schedule.
Jerma has shared a bit about his personal life.
Although he prefers to keep things light most of the time, Jerma has opened up a bit about different issues he's faced. He shared on a stream that in November 2024, he had health problems following a food poisoning incident. Both he and his partner got food poisoning, but his body continued to react far after her sickness ended. At the time of his stream, he'd been dealing with headaches, head pressure, body aches, and diarrhea for six and a half weeks.
He said that it could be an extremely bad IBD flare-up. Jerma said that he'd wanted to get back into streaming at least a few times a month, but didn't think it was a good idea with his illness. He didn't want to laugh or cough and thought it best to avoid anything that could get his blood pressure up.
Jerma also shared about his father's passing on stream. He said that his father was extremely funny, and that's definitely where he gets his sense of humor. Jerma's father had lung cancer and Parkinson's.