Promoting female and couple gamers while demonstrating serious Apex Legends skills has proven a winning formula for one husband and wife team.
Andrew and Judy Kristensen stream around 250 hours a month together on their Twitch channel ‘HisandHersLive’, where they’ve racked up close to 38,000 followers.
The couple, of Virginia, found that gaming together brought them closer and are now passionate about promoting couple gamers.
Watch them in action in the video below:
Andrew said: “We enjoy streaming together so much that that's what we talk about when we wake up in the morning and it's what we talk about when we go to sleep at night – we live and breathe it.
“It’s just become a huge passion of ours. And I think we both enjoy it and see a future in this.”
Judy added: “It's really fun to help bring couples together with our stream. They can learn how valuable it is to have similar interests and hobbies and how even though physically we are different, we can share a lot of the same interests on a competitive level.
Upgrade to smarter living
Get the latest news, reviews, deals and buying guides on gorgeous tech, home and active products straight to your inbox.
“This is why we want to help promote other gaming couples, because it does not feel like work when we're doing it together. We're having fun together.”
Andrew, who works in software, met Judy – a mortgage lender – in college and the two have now been together for 13 years, marrying in September 2011.
For most of that time Judy didn’t share her partner’s passion for gaming, but in 2019, Andrew introduced her to Apex Legends and she immediately took to it.
Judy said: “When we first started dating, Andrew would play hours upon hours of World of Warcraft. We had so much in common except for gaming.
“I had not played a single video game but Andrew was born with a Gameboy in his hand.”
Andrew said: "I've always been interested in games and always had friends that played, so it was always a great time for me.
“Growing up, Judy wasn't into that and so after after college we both had our day jobs but at night I would wind down with some games and some friends.
“We started streaming in January of 2019 and when Judy jumped on, I was like ‘man, we gotta record, this could be hilarious’.”
Judy added: “I did not know what Twitch was. I did not know we were live streaming it. Andrew streamed me learning how to play games and here we are two years later and I'm very competitive.”
Andrew continued: “Fast-forward two years and she's running tournaments. It's been amazing.”
Now Twitch partners, the pair have developed some impressive skills and made it to the Masters rank in Apex Legends - the second highest rank in the game.
Judy said: “Andrew’s very good at Apex. He could play professionally if he wasn't stuck playing with me all the time.
“But I think I'm very good for this being my first first person shooter game in the amount of time that I've been playing.
“Apex is really competitive because you're not playing against a computer or a graphic or something. You're playing against other real people. And that's what I like the most.
“I haven’t gotten into other types of games at all. You'll never see me playing Sims or Animal Crossing or other games like that.”
Having found connection through video games, the pair have now made it their mission to promote female and couple gamers and have even created a tournament with that goal in mind.
The ‘Juka Bowl’ – a reference to Judy’s nickname – is an Apex Legends tournament series and thus far Andrew and Judy have given away more than $45,000 in prize money to Juka Bowl players.
Judy said: “Since my skill level wasn't at the point where I could play the game on a professional level, we created a tournament series called the Juka Bowl.
“Every time we host the tournament there's at least one female on every single team. So to have 33 percent female representation in a game that is still dominated by men is pretty awesome.”
And while the couple’s stream is all about positivity, that doesn’t mean there’s no room for some husband and wife competition.
Recently, the pair went head-to-head on Apex’s firing range mode to see who could defeat who in battle.
Judy came out on top, beating her husband in the face-off and proving that she can hold her own despite only playing games for two years.
Andrew said: “If I had to describe Judy's play style, I would describe it as ‘feisty’. It's similar to how she is in real life. She takes everything head on. She doesn't back down even when she probably should.”
In the future, the couple say they are focused on sharing their joint passion for gaming in the hopes they inspire other couples to get closer through the hobby.
Judy said: “It's going to sound cheesy, but we're best friends. Our relationship is very much based off of doing things together and being friends. I think it's really important to share similar interests and hobbies.
“Gaming has definitely made our relationship stronger because we are spending so much time together. Without a doubt it has made us a stronger couple.
“I hope that we can continue to motivate other couples to do this together and inspire them. We have had quite a few other couples say that they started streaming because of us and that's the most rewarding compliment to get.”
You can find Andrew and Juka streaming at twitch.tv/hisandherslive
- Playing Apex Legends on the SecretLab MAGNUS Metal Desk would be awesome
Rob has been writing about computing, gaming, mobile, home entertainment technology, toys (specifically Lego and board games), smart home and more for over 15 years. As the editor of PC Gamer, and former Deputy Editor for T3.com, you can find Rob's work in magazines, bookazines and online, as well as on podcasts and videos, too. Outside of his work Rob is passionate about motorbikes, skiing/snowboarding and team sports, with football and cricket his two favourites.
-
One kettlebell, four exercises and 20 minutes to build strength all over
A kettlebell is all you need for a great full-body workout
By Bryony Firth-Bernard Published
-
You could win an Xbox Series X in gold, but Microsoft will make you work for it
The exclusive Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Xbox could be yours
By Rik Henderson Published
-
Playing games is good for you, it's official – well, one game in particular
Powerwash Simulator chills you out
By Max Freeman-Mills Published
-
Your Xbox gets a neat new trick that could save a lot of time
Updates will finally be a bit easier
By Max Freeman-Mills Published
-
There's a smartwatch that can play Space Invaders, and it's much cheaper than Apple Watch
If you're going to clone a design, this is the way
By Max Freeman-Mills Published
-
The SNES is about to die all over again
Nintendo's ending repairs again
By Max Freeman-Mills Published
-
How to watch the PlayStation State of Play showcase today – 20+ new games for PS5 and PS5 Pro
Here's everything you need to know about the latest PS5 presentation
By Rik Henderson Published
-
Next PlayStation online presentation coming soon – could we get more on PS5 Pro?
It's time for more details
By Max Freeman-Mills Published
-
PS5 Pro is causing the PlayStation Disc Drive to sell out everywhere – get yours early
Who could have seen this coming?
By Max Freeman-Mills Published
-
All Amazon Prime members get one of the best shooters of all time for free
It's a big month for Prime Gaming
By Max Freeman-Mills Published