Popular video game streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is now even richer after signing an exclusive deal with Amazon-owned Twitch.
A representative for Ninja declined to comment on the financial terms of the deal, but said it is a “multi-year” agreement.
The deal marks Blevins’ return to Twitch — he left the platform to stream on Microsoft-owned Mixer in August 2019. Mixer announced this June it would shut down operations and offered streamers the opportunity to transfer their streaming deals to Facebook’s fledgling game streaming platform, Facebook Gaming.
Blevins and another top streamer recruited by Mixer, Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek, were offered close to double their original Mixer contracts to stream for Facebook Gaming — close to $40 million combined — but both refused and opted to return to Twitch instead. According to reports, Mixer offered Blevins $30 million in its original contract, while Grzesiek was given a $10 million deal.
Both Grzesiek and Blevins are represented by Santa Monica-based talent management firm Loaded.
Blevin’s Ninja channel on Twitch boasts 15 million followers currently, though his fanbase is estimated to be 40 million worldwide across platforms, a representative said. He will stream full-time on Twitch beginning at noon PST Thursday and play a rotation of games including the titles which made him famous, like “Fortnite.”
Blevins said he plans to use his return to Twitch and worldwide internet stardom to uplift voices of other less prominent content creators on the platform.
“I am excited to get back to streaming full-time and connecting with my loyal fanbase,” Blevins said in a statement Thursday. “In this next chapter, I’m going to make it a point to elevate and bring more eyes to underrepresented creators (and) am looking forward to working with Twitch to demonstrate how this amazing community of gamers can make a meaningful impact.”