Ninja leaves Twitch for Mixer, says he’s getting back in touch with his roots

By Gabe Gurwin August 1, 2019

Tyler Blevins, more widely known as Ninja, is currently one of the most popular streamers on Twitch, but that is about to change. Blevins revealed in a video on Twitter that he is now streaming exclusively on Microsoft’s Mixer.

In the video, he makes the announcement to a room full of press and then takes on the role of several reporters asking questions about the news. One reporter even asked if his hair would be changing colors, but the jury is still out.

In a more casual video linked to the announcement, Ninja confirmed that his content will not be affected by the move. In both videos, he emphasized getting back in touch with his “roots.” We’re not quite sure what that means, but we’ll find out in due time.

Many viewers associate Ninja’s channel with Epic Games’ Fortnite: Battle Royale, but his career started as a professional Halo player. Pairing up with Microsoft’s Mixer just a year or so prior to the next Halo release could be the streamer’s way of getting back to basics. As for right now, we fully expect Fortnite to remain a staple on his channel.

The next chapter,https://t.co/lvn9KBjEYq pic.twitter.com/tljVgyM3bG

— Ninja (@Ninja) August 1, 2019

Despite being far smaller than Twitch, Mixer is gaining popularity. According to StreamLabs, hours watched on the platform have risen by 357 percent since the last quarter, and the total hours streamed has risen by 43%. The average viewer per channel is currently around 10, but that number will likely go up after Blevins starts gaining traction on the platform.

YouTube is also a larger streaming service than Mixer, but Mixer has features that other streaming platforms do not. It promises the highest quality streaming with almost no latency, and it offers ways viewers can interact with your game to make the experience more engaging for viewers.

In the last few years, Microsoft has given away free games and downloadable content to viewers who watch the Xbox press conference on Mixer. With Twitch having such an enormous lead over the competition, however, only something as huge as partnering with one of the most popular streamers in the world could rapidly change that.

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Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

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