Ninja says Twitch is better for streaming than YouTube Gaming

Nov 9, 2020

Reading time: 2 min

Fortnite maestro Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is one of the few gaming influencers to have worked through a variety of streaming platforms. Ninja has streamed both on Twitch and YouTube, and in a recent video he declared Twitch to be the better platform for gaming.

Mixer’s mega star Ninja was left homeless in July when the platform folded. While he was evaluating his options for a permanent home, he streamed on both Twitch and YouTube, garnering viewership peaks of 100K and 160K, respectively.

The streamer had a more extensive viewer base on YouTube and a subscriber count of 24M, his highest on any platform. Despite the massive numbers, the streamer went back to the platform that first propelled him to the pinnacle of success when he eventually signed a multi-year deal with Amazon-owned Twitch.

In a recent video, Ninja finally answered the question of what had led him to choose Twitch over YouTube, despite his big subscriber base on the latter.

“Twitch is streaming right now. If I do amazing things for gaming and for streaming, mainly for gaming in this specific instance, I think it would have more of an impact if done on Twitch, than being on YouTube,” Ninja said.

It seems that the Fortnite extraordinaire would like to maintain his identity as a gaming streamer, rather than just becoming a YouTuber. The streamer said that media tends to report on the drama that surrounds YouTubers, not their contributions to the community. Conversely, when you’re on Twitch, you can better contribute to the gaming scene.

“When someone says ‘you’re my favorite YouTuber,’ almost no one ever means your streams on YouTube. They think of your YouTube videos,” Ninja said.

Ninja discusses streaming on Facebook Gaming

Ninja has tried various streaming platforms but has thus far eluded Facebook Gaming, a platform that has further invested in its attempts to create a vast community. The Fortnite streamer had reportedly turned down a massive offer from Facebook Gaming soon after Microsoft dropped Mixer. However, he said the healthy competition that keeps things interesting.

“Competition is good for everything and everyone, I think Facebook is actually doing a great job,” Ninja said.

Ninja currently has 16.1 million followers on Twitch. Soon after the Mixer shutdown, Ninja became the most sought-after streamer. Despite a long break, other streamers rising and his own inactivity failed to budge him from number spot on Twitch in terms of numbers.