Esports superstar Tyler “Ninja” Blevins has signed a multi-year deal to stream on the Amazon-owned Twitch platform following the recent shutdown of Microsoft’s Mixer service.
In August 2019, Ninja – who is best known for playing Fortnite – announced that he would be taking his video game live streams from Twitch to Mixer on an exclusive basis in a reported multi-million dollar deal.
However, in late June technology giant Microsoft announced that Mixer was to be shut down from July 22 in order to focus on developing its partnership with Facebook Gaming. The move meant that Ninja and the rest of the gamers who had been signed to Mixer would no longer be tied to exclusivity deals.
On July 8, in something of a surprise move, Ninja livestreamed a Fortnite session on his official YouTube channel, his first-ever on the platform. According to reports, he had 150,000 peak concurrent viewers.
However, he will now be streaming full-time on Twitch, where he began his streaming career. Terms were not disclosed.
“I am excited to get back to streaming full-time and connecting with my loyal fanbase,” Ninja said in a statement. “I really took my time to decide which platform was best, and Twitch has been very supportive throughout this process and understanding my overall career goals.”
Michael Aragon, Twitch’s senior vice president of content, added: “We are thrilled Ninja is returning to Twitch. Tyler is an iconic force in the gaming community, and it’s been amazing to see the impact he’s made on the industry and broader culture.”
A new chapter, only on @Twitch pic.twitter.com/cv2qFFFI0p
— Ninja (@Ninja) September 10, 2020