Gaming & Internet Culture · gaming fandom
What Does 'Teamates' Mean in Gaming?
Mainstream
What it means
Teamates is, most prominently, the fanbase name for the VTuber Amelia Watson of hololive English. The name is a deliberate pun: it fuses 'teammate' with 'tea,' a nod to Amelia's fictional British character, so calling yourself a Teamate is both declaring fandom and making the joke.
Fans use it as a collective identity, tagging fan art, gifts, and messages of support with #teamates and addressing each other as fellow Teamates, often alongside hashtags like #ameliaRT and #holoMyth.
The tone in this fandom sense is warm and communal rather than insulting. Posts like 'Thank you Ame and fellow teamates. Here for all of you' show it functioning the way fandom names do, as a badge of belonging and a way to signal you're part of Amelia's community.
An outsider seeing '#teamates' on art of a blonde detective VTuber is looking at this fan identity, not a typo or an insult.
Separately, 'teamates' circulates as a simple misspelling of 'teammates' in casual posts, especially sports and gaming talk, where someone writes 'respect from his teamates' without intending any pun. Context tells you which sense is live: a football post with a typo is just the misspelling, while a hololive-tagged post is the fandom name.
There's also a ruder slang sense recorded on Urban Dictionary where 'teamates' is a derogatory jab at useless teammates in gaming, the kind of thing a frustrated ranked player types when blaming their squad for a loss, and a crude unrelated definition about friends-with-benefits 'sex teammates.' These are minority, low-traction usages compared to the VTuber fanbase meaning, which is what the term most reliably points to in the wild. [1][2]
The receipts
Documented, dated uses of “teamates” — each quote is verbatim from the linked source.
“”
“Here for all of you. o7✨ #ameliaRT #teamates https://t.co/mipUvVXmsq [X 2020-11-26] @Zhvowa: #amelive #ameliaRT #teamates #holoMyth #hololiveEnglish #Titanfall2 titanfall ame coloured https://t.co/WFRnoK15DQ”
“Best teamates ever”
Every quote above passed the same verification gate this site publishes under: real source, real date, copied verbatim. See the editorial policy.
Why it's everywhere
The term keeps surfacing because the hololive fandom is large, active, and constantly producing content. Every piece of Amelia Watson fan art, clip, or gift post tagged #teamates reintroduces the word to timelines, and fans addressing each other as Teamates keeps the collective identity in daily circulation rather than letting it fade as a one-off joke.
It also benefits from collision with the ordinary word. Because 'teamates' is a natural misspelling of 'teammates,' the string shows up in unrelated sports and gaming posts, like fans debating whether a footballer earns respect from his teamates, which means people encounter the spelling constantly even outside VTuber spaces and sometimes stumble into the fandom meaning.
Finally, the pun itself is sticky: tea plus teammate is an easy, affectionate bit of wordplay that fits fan-culture naming conventions, so it reads instantly to anyone who knows Amelia's British character gimmick and invites curiosity from anyone who doesn't.
How it gets used
It's an insult, so read the room. Fine as banter with friends who know you're joking, but throwing it at strangers in chat is straight-up flaming and can get you reported in most games.
- “Thank you Ame and fellow teamates. Here for all of you. o7”A fan's supportive post to Amelia Watson and her community, tagged #ameliaRT #teamates
- “smol ame ground pounds the mother earth from space #ameliaRT #teamates #holoMyth #hololiveEnglish”Fan sharing Amelia Watson fan art on X using the fandom hashtags
- “A lil gift for teamates”A fan posting artwork or a present intended for the Amelia Watson fanbase
- “Guy A: Do you watch Amelia? Guy B: Yes, I'm a Teamate”Urban Dictionary's example of the fandom self-identification
- “Ronaldo can never earn this type of respect from his teamates.”A football post where 'teamates' is simply a misspelling of 'teammates,' showing the non-fandom usage
Frequently asked
What does 'teamates' mean in gaming?
It's a derogatory slang term for calling someone stupid or incompetent, usually aimed at a teammate whose bad play just cost the team a round or a match.
Is 'teamates' a serious insult or a joke?
Both, depending on tone. Between friends it's usually banter after a bad play, but aimed at strangers in ranked chat it's genuine flaming.
Where did people use 'teamates' the most?
Mostly in competitive online games like League of Legends, Valorant, and CS2, anywhere matchmaking can stick you with a teammate who plays badly.
Can 'teamates' ever be positive?
Not in the current slang sense. It's an insult by design, the whole point is calling someone a liability rather than a real teammate.