When Tyler “Ninja” Blevins first moved to Mixer, the Fortnite streamer’s fans and haters alike wondered what had prompted him to leave Twitch. He was making millions off of the platform’s subscription service, not to mention a lot of other cash that was rolling in.
His wife had hinted that his move was related to Twitch’s restrictive contract terms and the platform’s refusal to loosen their grip on Ninja’s sponsorship and partnership opportunities. Ninja also cited exhuastion and stress over the need to constantly stream to keep his subscribers happy. But not much else was said and the streaming community was left wondering what deal Ninja had with Mixer that made it worth leaving Twitch, where he was dominating daily.
Now, Ninja has finally opened up himself about the curious switch to the lesser-known streaming platform, where he has less followers and less viewership. And it seems like those lower numbers really don’t matter when it comes to Ninja’s financial success.
On a stream with Timothy “TimTheTatman” Betar, Ninja started discussing how he’s bullied in every game.
“Within the first two rounds, an insult about Mixer to me, something about Fortnite being trash, or they plug their Twitch stream. And then throughout the game is continual Fortnite shit talking,” Ninja said.
In the past, this harassment has led Ninja to silently step away from streaming to spend time with his wife and family. But this time, Ninja seemed much more confident and ready to deal with the hate, whether or not it was a good look for the affluent streamer.
“It’s just like, dude, I can literally purchase the bank that your house is being loaned out to and fucking forclose it. And then you can’t talk shit to me ’cause you won’t have internet,” Ninja boasted.
This flex made TimTheTatman immeidately start laughing so hard that he had to turn away from the camera.
“Oh my god, dude, what?” TimTheTatman said when he finally caught his breath.
According to CNN Business, Mixer’s exclusive streaming deal with Ninja was between $20 and $30 million. Ninja is also more free to pursue his sponsorship deals as well, leading to even more income as he keeps dropping shoes and books.
While this is all fine and dandy for Ninja, Mixer doesn’t seem to be getting as much out of the deal. Despite an increase in streaming viewership due to the coronavirus lockdown, the percentage of people using Mixer to watch streams actually dropped this quarter. Still, Mixer had not as prominent a platform and brand before Ninja made his move. Whether that brand awareness pays off in the long term remains to be seen.
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