Ever since superstar streamer Ninja took a fat check from Microsoft to perform exclusively on Mixer, there’s a been a question of what would happen to his massively popular Twitch page. Instead of simply archiving it like other offline channels, Twitch poked fun at the breakup by displaying “The Ninja You’re Looking For Is In Another Castle” at the top. The rest of the page showcased other popular streamers, including a pornography stream.
Naturally, Ninja wasn’t happy with the state of his former channel, because of the porn and Twitch’s general pettiness for using the page to promote other accounts. He recorded an apology video and hoped Twitch would fix things. Twitch apologized and then did revert Ninja’s page to a typical offline channel, with archived videos and links for donations and social media. They’re also suspending the stream recommendation feature pending an investigation.
Disgusted and so sorry. pic.twitter.com/gnUY5Kp52E
— Ninja (@Ninja) August 11, 2019
If you know about any online video game streamers, it’s probably Ninja. With his colorful hair and skill in games like Halo and Fortnite, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is one of the most successful people who films themselves playing video games for a living. And he’s found much of that success on Twitch.tv, the most popular place for streaming video games.
But other companies are trying take Twitch down, most notably Microsoft. Over the past few years the technology giant has been building up Mixer, its own streaming platform that has gotten pretty impressive with nifty new community features and swanky New York City esports arenas. But what good is a streaming platform without an audience?
So in a bombshell bit on news, drama on par with a free agent committing to carry a new team, Ninja has announced that he’s leaving Twitch to return to his roots and stream full-time on Mixer.
The next chapter,https://t.co/lvn9KBjEYq pic.twitter.com/tljVgyM3bG
— Ninja (@Ninja) August 1, 2019
There are times when Microsoft just reminds you how much money they have. They can get away with recalling billions of dollars worth of broken Xbox 360s. They can shrug off the disappointment of Xbox One sales. And they can pay Ninja what has to be an absurd fee to leave his Twitch home behind for the unproven waters of Mixer. Whatever they’re paying him though is probably worth it as Ninja bringing his fanbase to Mixer will raise the platform’s profile tremendously. It’s like launching the first Xbox with Halo.
“I never would have thought that I could build a career by doing what I love, and I am extremely grateful for the incredible experiences that I have had,” Blevins said in a statement. “As I look at the next step in my career, achieving bigger goals in the gaming industry with Mixer will allow me to have the perfect balance of opportunities and success.”
Ninja makes his debut on Mixer August 2 during Lollapalooza for some Red Bull thing. You can also look out for his upcoming book Get Good: My Ultimate Guide to Gaming coming August 20. Maybe it’ll help you compete in the next Fortnite World Cup that Ninja didn’t even qualify for. And while he’s in the mood for change, maybe Ninja will start streaming with women?
