Ninja Catapults To 1 Million Subscribers On Mixer Just 5 Days After Spurning Twitch
Tyler Blevins, best known by many as "Ninja," announced on Twitter today that he has notched 1 million active subscribers on Mixer, his new streaming platform of choice. The incredible subscriber milestone comes just five days after he abandoned Twitch, where he had become a streaming sensation and rose to gaming fame.
Ninja is one of the most recognizable figures in streaming, right up there with personalities like Dr. Disrespect and PewDiePie. He started streaming in 2011 when he was a college student, but found his greatest Internet-wide acclaim and financial success playing Fortnite, the free-to-play game that launched in 2017.
Today we hit 1,000,000 active subscribers on mixer ^-^ thank you for all the incredible support. I haven't felt this good in a long time. pic.twitter.com/kdLgBJk0Ud
— Ninja (@Ninja) August 6, 2019
During his time at Twitch, Ninja set multiple records for viewership. At the time of his surprise departure, Ninja had more than 14 million followers on the platform. Shortly after he left, Twitch replaced his landing page on the platform with a page showing other Fornite streamers, and a humorous Super Mario reference that read, "The Ninja you're looking for is in another castle. Check out these popular live characters."
Streaming is a big business, both for professional streamers and the platforms that are competing for viewership. As such, Ninja's defection is a big deal. Amazon acquired Twitch in 2014 for $940 million, reportedly beating out Google for the acquisition.
Mixer, meanwhile, is owned by Microsoft. The Redmond outfit acquired the streaming platform three years ago this month, when it was called Beam, and then rebranded it to Mixer last year. Gaining Ninja as a premier streamer gives Mixer some street cred, and Microsoft is doing everything it can to generate buzz—at present, it's offering a free subscription to his channel.
The trick for Ninja going forward will be to continue growing his viewership and maintaining big numbers. That is no easy task. While technically it's all fun and games, it's also a grind, both to keep viewers interested and to stay sharp.
Follow this link if you want to check Ninja out on Mixer.
