Streaming superstar Tyler “Ninja” Blevins has been banned from Apex Legends and nobody could make sense of why.
Ninja logged on to play Apex with his Fortnite partner, Team SoloMid’s Malachi “Reverse2k” Greiner, on December 16 when the Mixer streamer saw a message pop up, notifying him that his account had been banned. What made the ban even more random was that Ninja had not played Apex Legends in six months.
When the notification first popped up, Ninja had a look of disbelief. The usually talkative streamer was at a loss for words for a good few seconds.
“I guess they don’t want me to play the game, dude,” Ninja joked. “What a waste of my night right now.”
Upon reading the surprising news, Ninja
asked
Respawn Entertainment to unban him on Twitter. The official Twitter account told him to check his DMs, but the rest of his fandom were left in the dark on the circumstances.
In a stream last night, Ninja opened up about the weird situation while playing Fortnite.
“That Apex ban is definitely not clickbait, I was banned last night,” he said. “We queued up into the game, and as we found the match, it kicked me out, twice. I was like ‘maybe it was just a one time thing,’ but then we queued up again, got into a match, and it was like ‘you’re banned.’ Which is very strange to me!”
Reverse2K speculated that it could have been an “accident” on Respawn’s end, which Ninja agreed with, noting he “hasn’t done anything.” He then joked that it’s been a year since he “hacked on the game.”
Ninja then looked back on his time on Apex Legends fondly, claiming if he had stuck with the game he’d be one of the best players right now. But because of the game’s small competitive scene, Ninja said he’s glad he stuck with Fortnite though it is unclear if he’s aware of Apex Legends’ recently announced
$3 million Global Series.
So far, Respawn has not come forward publicly with an explanation for Ninja’s ban, and the streamer hasn’t touched upon the topic since.
Olivia Richman
About Olivia Richman
Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.
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