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Streaming superstar Ninja returns to Twitch exclusively

Tom Caswell
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Ninja is back on Twitch.

A little over a year after leaving the platform to stream on the now-shuttered Mixer, streaming superstar Tyler “Ninja” Blevins revealed Thursday that he will return to Twitch — exclusively.

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His first stream will take place on at 12 p.m. PT on Thursday, September 10.

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“I am excited to get back to streaming full-time and connecting with my loyal fan base,” said Blevins in a press release. “I really took my time to decide which platform was best, and Twitch has been very supportive throughout this process and understanding my overall career goals.”

Blevins said he would be aiming to bring “more eyes to underrepresented creators” in this new chapter on Twitch.

“I am looking forward to working with Twitch to demonstrate how this amazing community of gamers can make a meaningful impact,” he said.

“We are thrilled Ninja is returning to Twitch,” said Michael Aragon, SVP of Content at Twitch. “Tyler is an iconic force in the gaming community, and it’s been amazing to see the impact he’s made on the industry and broader culture.” Twitch and Blevins declined to reveal the terms of the new exclusivity deal.

Blevins, whose career started as a competitive Halo 3 player, began streaming in 2011. He played primarily H1Z1 and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, but it wasn’t until the release of the wildly popular battle royale Fortnite that his popularity took off.

In August 2019, Blevins announced that he would be cutting ties with Twitch to stream exclusively on Microsoft’s streaming platform Mixer. At the time, his wife and manager Jessica Blevins told Business Insider that Blevins needed to grow his brand beyond what Twitch could offer.

But in June 2020, Microsoft announced that Mixer would be shutting down, despite reeling in mega-talent like Blevins and Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek, both of whom saw abysmal viewership numbers compared to their streams on Twitch.

The end of Mixer meant Blevins was released from his multiyear exclusivity contract, which was reportedly worth $20 million to $30 million dollars.

Soon after, Blevins tested the waters by first streaming via his YouTube channel, and then again on Twitch, with both streams enjoying viewerships in the hundreds of thousands.

It wasn’t announced how much Blevins is making by signing with Twitch exclusively, or whether he sees the issues he had with platform a year ago as having been addressed.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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Tom Caswell
Tom Caswell
Professional video producer and writer, gaming enthusiast, and streamer! twitch.tv/greatbritom
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