While Valorant fans are hyped for the First Strike North America tournament, they are frustrated with Riot Games’ choice for the two official event co-streamers.
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins and Ali “Myth” Kabbani were announced as the exclusive co-streamers for First Strike on November 30. In the announcement, Riot called the two streamers “beloved personalities,” but it doesn’t seem like fans agree with that sentiment.
When the news was shared on Twitter, the Valorant community took it as an opportunity to lash out at Riot. The main issue seemed to be that Riot called the streamers “exclusive.” This concerned a lot of Valorant fans that wanted other more prominent Valorant players to share the tournament instead.
One fan questioned why Overwatch League caster Josh “Sideshow” Wilkinson wasn’t going to be streaming the event. The caster hosts a weekly podcast all about Valorant, which many fans felt was more related to the scene than Ninja and Myth. Other fans on Reddit echoed the sentiment, wishing for streamers with a deeper understanding of the game.
No @SideshowGaming ? kinda weird
— Slimothy (@Slim0thy) November 30, 2020
While it seems that Myth and Ninja aren’t the most knowledgable or prominent Valorant personalities, nobody can deny that these are popular streamers who would introduce Valorant’s esports scene to new communities. During TSM games, one fan noted, Myth gets around 50,000 viewers.
Other Valorant fans noted that there can’t be an abundance of co-streamers because Riot most likely wants more eyes to be on its official stream. By only allowing Ninja and Myth to share the First Strike action, that guarantees that Riot’s channel will get a good amount of traffic during the heavily anticipated Valorant tournament.
Ninja is one of the biggest streamers in the world. Since his return to Twitch, Ninja has voiced frustration and boredom with Fortnite, the game that got him famous some years ago.
While he still plays the battle royale once in a while, Ninja has spent most of the last week playing Valorant. His four-hour streams usually get well over 11,000 viewers at their peak.
According to The Loadout, Ninja’s net worth is a striking $25 million. While that’s doesn’t make him a billionaire, there’s no denying how impressive this sum is. Most of his money comes from Twitch subscribers, YouTube ad revenue, merch sales, sponsorships, and partnerships.
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