Twitch vibes and stroopkoeken: Inside the world of MissMarie

Rainbow Six Siege content creator, former professional player, and positive vibes cultivator Marieke ‘MissMarie’ Denise sat down with Fragster to discuss the world of content creation, the importance of being true to herself, and a bold manifesto for hosting a Major in the Benelux region.

There is no Liquidpedia page for MissMarie, but her name appears across the site’s Rainbow Six Siege section. For years, she battled her way through the game’s Benelux scene and beyond before stepping away from professional play in early 2022 to focus on her health and content creation.

But this isn’t a story about the trials and tribulations of a professional player. This is a piece about an energetic and insightful human being who’s passionate about Rainbow Six and helping make a dark world a little brighter.

The cozy Twitch corner of MissMarie

MissMarie’s Twitch origin story is one that has informed her entire approach to streaming.

“I started streaming in like 2016 because a friend asked me to stream for him so he could watch me play Until Dawn,” Marie explained.

Six years (and five horror titles from Supermassive Games) later, Marie is pushing for 7,000 followers on Twitch while still maintaining the laidback vibes that brought her to the platform in the first place.

“I just want my streams to be a place where people can come and relax,” Marie said, “We always try to have positive vibes and a good time.”

But Marie’s approach extends beyond just creating a space where people can have a good time. She hides very little from her audience and encourages them to be open with her in return.

“I am myself when I stream,” Marie declared, “the person who you see on stream is basically the same person I am off-camera. It’s funny because so many people comment on it when they know me on Twitch and then meet me in real life. They are always like “wow, you are the same person you are on stream!”. Apparently, there are a lot of streamers who are very different in real life. But that’s not how I do things, why would I pretend to be something or someone that I’m not? When I stream, I am still Marie and so it makes no sense for me not to be Marie.”

In a previous interview last year with the author, Marie dived a little more into her drive to be herself.

“I spent a lot of time when I was younger trying to be someone I wasn’t. When I first got into online and competitive gaming, I was obviously surrounded by a lot of men, and a lot of gamer men who were very toxic. So I tried to fit in with them, even though that wasn’t who I was as a person. But eventually, I realized that I just wasn’t happy. So I stopped being someone I wasn’t and for better or worse, I would be myself.”

This also extends to Marie’s principles. She is not quiet about who she is and what she believes in, even if that means fighting incel teammates during an ongoing match because they won’t shut up in team chat about how much they hate women.

On stream, Marie typically plays Rainbow Six. She’s played the game almost since release, first on console before transitioning to PC. She is currently part of the Siege Champions Program and has featured at a number of Rainbow Six events (more on that in a moment). However, she has also added VALORANT to her repertoire, as well as Bloodhunt, the Vampires: The Masrequade-related Battle Royale.

“I took a break from Siege and started playing VALORANT instead,” Marie explained, “I think VALORANT is great. Obviously, it’s very different from Siege but I’ve been having a lot of fun with it. I’m pushing Immortal rank and yeah, I like to go back to it from time to time.”

But from a content perspective, VALORANT was also something of a setback.

“I found that my viewing numbers really dropped off when I started streaming VALORANT,” Marie said, “which is totally fine and I understand, plus I was having a good time. But yeah, I think people with VALORANT, they would much rather play it themselves than watch other people play it.”

Overall, Marie simply loves to create content.

“I love my Twitch community. I always try to make new viewers feel welcome and feel like this is a place where they can hang out. But I’m doing so many different things with my content, when I feel able to make it. I want to get my YouTube up and running again but editing takes so much time so that’s always a big commitment. I’m one of those people who always feel like they need to be doing something, but I need to be in the right place to do something like editing or content creation. But I have my Instagram, which has basically become my place to do this art project where I’m the art. I have my TikTok. I just have a lot of content going and just doing my best to be doing a lot of different things with it.”

The Memevitational and the state of Siege

Prior to her break from the game, Marie was invited to participate in the Six Memevitational, a semi-casual event organized by pro casters and featuring various content creators and other major figures in the Rainbow Six Community.

“Being part of the Memevitational was so much fun, I felt so blessed that I was invited to take part. Though honestly, it was kind of hard though to switch off my competitive mindset and just have fun,” Marie explained.

Marie was part of Fast Anne Fraserous, a team that also included caster Fraser “Fraser” Johnstone, caster and streamer Anne “FastAnne” Janssen, former pro player and Mirage-affiliated content creator Ville “SHA77E” Palola, and Ubisoft game designer “Spooks”. The team reached the semifinals, falling to eventual champions Fox’s Naughty List.

But obviously, we’re not here for a serious breakdown of the 2022 Memevitational. So would Marie pick if she got the chance to build her own team for a future Memevitational? According to Marie, her lineup would be:

• MissMarie [We’ve already met her]
• FastAnne [Also met her already]
• Emi “CaptainFluke” Donaldson [Caster]
• IntMaverick [Fnatic-affiliated content creator]
• Parker “Interro” Mackay [Caster]

Sounds pretty cracked, if you ask me.

But after an extended break from Siege, Marie’s return coincided with a positive state for the game.

“I think Siege is in one the best places it has been in,” Marie said, “I missed Siege a lot when I took my break, even though taking a break from definitely the right thing for me to do. But the place where the game is at now is one of the big reasons I came back.”

Marie is even willing to push back against the frequently heard cries that LMGs are ruining the game.

“LMGs have always been powerful, I think people just aren’t used to dealing with them,” Marie argued, “Sure they are a very good gun but you can still play around them. It’s not like you’re going to lose if you don’t bring an LMG…I think it’s the same thing as with Mira. People see a Mira or they see an operator with an LMG and they get this tunnel vision and convince themselves that they can’t win. You can definitely still win, you just have to stay focused and find the counter-play.”

Outside of the gameplay itself, Marie has nothing but good things to say about the direction Ubisoft has gone with some of its new operators. In September 2021, Ubisoft added Osa, an openly trans operator. In June 2022, they added the non-binary operator Sens.

“I think it’s so important that Ubisoft is adding operators like this,” Marie said, “Especially with Osa, because my dad came out as trans about two years ago and she was the one who got me into gaming in the first place. But overall, I think it’s really great to have these characters in the game where their identity is just a part of who they are,”

But there is one part of the game that Marie is eager to see Ubisoft address.

“The cheating problem is really bad,” Marie stated, “It feels like sometimes you are getting a cheater every other game.”

Cheating has been a problem within Rainbow Six for some time, with Ubisoft seemingly unable to stem the flood of players using third-party software and other methods of cheating. People, especially content creators, have begun to abandon the game as Ubisoft appears unable to stop the problem.

However, despite the prevalent cheating, Marie still loves Siege:

“There is not another game like Siege,” Marie said, “I love the game and I have met some really great people in the community. In the end, it was that love for the game that led me to come back to it. In the end, I just couldn’t stay away forever.”

A pitch to Ubisoft for a Benelux Major

Fragster journalist Benjamin Mock: If you could host a major anywhere in the world, where would you ho-

Marieke “MissMarie” Denise: Benelux. I want, a Benelux Major.

Marie is Dutch and spent the majority of her professional career competing in the Benelux region (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg). She loves her home nation and wider home region.

“I think we were meant to have a Major in Amsterdam before COVID happened,” Marie explained, “So, we’re not owed one but it would be very cool if Ubisoft gave us one.”

Amsterdam was due to host the November 2020 Major, which was canceled due to the pandemic. As a result, the closest that the Major circuit has come to the Benelux region is the 2019 Six Paris Major.

“They would probably go for Amsterdam but honestly, my city of Eindhoven would be an excellent location for a Major too,” Marie continued, “We have stroopkoeken, which is delicious. I mean we have a lot of great food, even though I guess you could say that Dutch cuisine is not the most exciting. But as I said, we have stroopkoeken.”

The conversation about a Benelux Major went on for some time. So, I felt the best way to convey the information was through a pitch pack for Ubisoft:

Hello Ubisoft esports executives,

My name is Benjamin Mock and I am here, in collaboration with content creator and Siege Champions Program member Marieke “Marie” Denise, to pitch to you the Six Eindhoven Major.

Eindhoven is the fifth-largest city in The Netherlands and is located in the south of the country, in the province of North Brabant. Eindhoven is a historic city, first appearing in written records in 1232. It is now home to around 230,000 people and is a thriving cultural hub in The Netherlands.

In terms of infrastructure, Eindhoven has a number of venues that could be used to host a Six Major, such as the 1300-seat Effenaar. There are also a number of sporting venues that could be utilized, such as Phillips Stadium, home of the 24-time Eredivisie champions PSV Eindhoven. It is also a major transport hub, with an international airport and strong rail links across The Netherlands. Eindhoven is also used to hosting major events, as the city holds several festivals and cultural events throughout the year.

As previously mentioned, Eindhoven is a major cultural hub, which would provide a vibrant backdrop to the Major in the same vein as other major European cities, such as Berlin. The city also has a significant student population, which helps add to the city’s vibrancy. But The Netherlands as a whole has many cultural markers and icons that could be utilized for marketing purposes. These include:

• Tulips
• Stroopkoeken (of which stroopwafels are a variation)
• Bicycles
• The color orange

For example, imagine the marketing benefit of being able to film pro players idyllically cycling through the Dutch countryside, possibly with one player perched in the wicker basket on the front of another player’s bike. And then imagine refocusing the shot behind the players to show a Caveira cosplayer sneaking up on the players on her own bike.

We ask that you strongly consider Eindhoven as the location of a Major in 2023. Marie has also stated that she will do an Iana cosplay if you bring a Major to The Netherlands or, at the very least, the Benelux region.

Yours faithfully,

Benjamin Mock and Marieke Denise

#Eindhoven2023

The Final Chapter: The wonderful human being that is Marieke Denise

To quote Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsh, “Endings are really difficult. Humans in general don’t like endings. We don’t want to believe we’re going to have an ending; we don’t like it when a movie ends or a book ends or our favorite show ends. For that reason, writing a finale is nearly impossible. Writing a premiere is the hardest thing you’ll ever do because you’re trying to convince people to fall in love with you. Writing a finale is the second-hardest because now that they love you, you’re trying to convince them that it’s okay that you’re breaking up with them.” (Sure he was talking about finding the right ending for Gravity Falls but the quote resonates, okay?)

I genuinely don’t know how to end this article. I’m usually pretty good at endings, finding that nice little sentence to round out a piece. But not this time. Maybe it’s because I’m 2200 words into this thing and there’s another 2200 I’m leaving in the drafts (I mean I couldn’t even fit in that Marie’s nickname is “The Clutch Queen”). Maybe it’s just the uncertainty of the future and like in Until Dawn (smooth throwback to the start of the article), you agonize over every decision because you genuinely don’t know how it will affect your situation further down the road.

This profile of, and general overview of shenanigans with, Marie isn’t meant to put her on any sort of pedestal. Marie is human just like the rest of us. She doesn’t want to be seen as a role model. In her own words — “I just live my life without hiding who I am, and I think it’s great if that inspires someone to do the same.”

But Marie embodies one of the reasons I got into journalism — to tell the stories of cool people doing good and interesting things that make the world a better place. That’s why we’re 2400 words into this piece and I am having to fight the urge to write more for fear that my editor will hunt me down for making them have to check it.

Marie is just a person existing on the rock hurtling through space that we call home. She loves the game she’s played for years and she loves the community that she’s cultivated for the last half-decade or so of being perceived on the internet. And while existing on said rock hurtling through space, Marie has decided to do something so many others neglect — making it a little brighter for those around her.

If you want to check out Marie’s content for yourself, you can find her on Twitch, Instagram, and TikTok. If this article hasn’t already demonstrated, she’s a pretty cool person.

Header: Marieke Denise