Twitch is directing Ninja followers to other Fortnite streamers

Streaming platform Twitch has come up with a new way to use Tyler “Ninja” Blevin’s account now that he has moved over to Microsoft-owned rival platform Mixer. 

The hugely popular Fortnite streamer moved over to Mixer from Twitch on August 1 and has already achieved huge viewing figures at his new home. His first few streams saw over 500,000 new subscriptions. His average viewing figures have been higher since making the switch, indicating a very strong start despite the new platform’s smaller overall user numbers.

With a large Ninja-shaped hope to fill, Twitch has started advertising other Fortnite streamers on his account. If someone tries to find Ninja on Twitch they will be presented with the message “The Ninja you’re looking for is in another castle. Check out these popular live channels.”

Below the message, there are other streams that a fan of Ninja may want to follow, such as Turner “Tfue” Tenney ,Benjamin “DrLupo” Lupo, and Fortnite World Cup champion Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf.

It seems a wise move by Twitch to use Ninja’s channel in this way. While they could have just deleted the URL, they are instead trying to get people looking for Ninja to try watching other streamers playing Fortnite. That way, Twitch could minimize the impact of his loss as best they can while at the same time boosting viewership to the other streamers signed to the platform. 

Fortnite is seeing a boost at the moment with the successful Fortnite World Cup having recently concluded. With Ninja’s name at the front of many people’s minds following his recent announcement, many young new streaming fans may tune in to watch him.

Ninja has not gone into huge detail about the move, with “getting back to streaming’s roots” being given as the primary reason. It may be the case that Microsoft were willing to pay Ninja a substantial amount to both launch their rival streaming platform by signing a big name. This payment could cover any gaps Ninja might face in fluctuating subscriber numbers, which would explain his feeling that he can now get back to streaming “for the right reasons.”

With Ninja gone, the title of most-followed streamer on Twitch is passed on to Michael ‘shroud’ Grzesiek, who boasts over 6.78 million followers.