Tyler “Ninja” Blevins revealed today that he’s leaving livestreaming platform Twitch in favor of Microsoft-owned Mixer in a surprising move that will keep him exclusively streaming on the latter service.
The move was announced in a high-budget video that involves Ninja answering questions from himself dressed as journalists. Ninja said the move is a “good chance to get back in touch with my roots and remember why I fell in love with streaming in the first place.”
In the announcement, Ninja also reassured his viewers that “it is the same me, just a different platform.” This will be a big blow to Twitch, where Ninja was one of the most popular streamers with 14.6 million followers.
Most known for his Fortnite and H1Z1 content, Ninja rose to fame in 2017 and 2018 and has since dominated the platform in terms of subscribers and followers. His absence from Twitch will likely be immediately felt across the board.
Many of his viewers are torn about his decision. Some praise Ninja while others are complaining about not being able to watch him on Twitch anymore.
Twitch saw its first decline in growth in Q2 2019, while hours watched on Mixer have increased 357 percent year over year, reaching 119 million hours, according to StreamLabs.
Ninja will be streaming for the first time under a new partnership with Mixer on Aug. 2 at 12pm CT from Lollapalooza Festival.
