In a move many are considering similar to Howard Stern moving to Sirius Satellite Radio in 2006, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, one of the world’s biggest streamers, announced today that he is parting ways with streaming platform Twitch to exclusively stream on Mixer. Ninja announced his move in a faux press conference video on Twitter. In the video, Ninja comments on the move by stating, “It’s the same me just a different platform.” He would continue by stating the move will see him get back in touch with his streaming roots.
Ninja’s move to this new platform is a huge get for Mixer which has been trying to catch up to the behemoth that is Twitch. Since his announcement, Ninja’s Mixer channel already has over 100, 000 subscribers. Currently, if you’d like to subscribe, there is an offer for a free one month subscription to the channel. Subscribing to the channel nets viewers 22 Ninja themed emoticons to use in the chat as well as no ads during the streams. Ninja’s first stream on Mixer is set for tomorrow at 12 p.m. CT which will be his “LIVE from Lollapalooza” stream.
In a statement to CNN, Twitch stated: “We’ve loved watching Ninja on Twitch over the years and are proud of all that he’s accomplished for himself and his family, and the gaming community. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.”
Microsoft has been trying to build Mixer, formerly Beam, since the launch of the platform at the beginning of 2016. However, Mixer has lagged behind Twitch and YouTube even with constant promotion from Microsoft. However, having one of the world’s biggest streamers exclusively on the platform seems to already be paying off for Microsoft as Mixer has topped the App Store charts on iOS.
With how much streaming has grown over the past few years, it will be interesting to see how the competition shakes out going forward. It will come as no surprise if Microsoft and Mixer continue to try and lure other streamers to the platform exclusively following this or if streamers decide to make the jump themselves to follow in Ninja’s footsteps.