What Twitch Streamers are Saying About Ninja’s Move to Mixer
The immediate reaction was that of shock. Ninja was the first streamer to reach 10 million subscribers on Twitch, thanks to his work streaming games like Fortnite. And he made national headlines for streaming Fortnite with Drake.
Some of Twitch’s stars like Dr. Disrespect and Shroud have kept mostly quiet about the news, but one major streamer, Brett “Dakotaz” Hoffman, shared a short Tweet that encapsulated what everyone immediately thought.
Once the shocking news passed, streamers and industry watchers began weighing in on what this means for the streaming business. Livestreamer Valkyrae tweeted that this is big news for all of streaming, not just Mixer.
ESPN esports reporter Tyler Erzberger believes this is a great move for Ninja.
Streamer @iamBrandonTV tweeted that Mixer will benefit from the move, and will need to up their services to meet the demands of incoming viewers.
100 Thieves streamer Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag also thinks that competition between Twitch and Mixer is healthy, but cautions Ninja that sometimes competition doesn’t work out.
Chase, the former communications head for Twitch told IGN that Ninja’s move may not be as seismic as some streamers are suggesting. Chase is now with StreamElements, a company that provides tools and services for live stream production, monetization, audience engagement, and influencer marketing.
“Twitch has a number of top streamers who are generating more hours watched than Ninja each month as highlighted in our latest report, so [Twitch] will be just fine,” Chase said. “The big question will be if Ninja’s community will follow him or not. If they don’t, I would imagine when his contract runs out he might consider returning [to Twitch] since I’ve seen other streamers test the water and come back.”
How Much Was Ninja Paid to Move to Mixer?
One of the biggest questions surrounding Ninja’s switch to Mixer is how much Microsoft paid to sign Ninja exclusively to the platform. No details of the deal have emerged, but speculation amongst streamers and industry watchers is that Ninja was paid a large amount.
Obviously without numbers to back anything up, streamers have relied on jokes – such as a tweet shows from @FalloutPlays.
DMBrandon tried to reverse-engineer Ninja’s contract by pointing to Hi-Rez’s deal to stream SMITE League games exclusively on Mixer.
Others, like Rocket League esports pro Emil “Fruity” Moselund, don’t need specific figures to know that Ninja was probably paid handsomely.
Twitch Needs a New Face
Others see Ninja’s departure from Mixer as an opportunity for streamers in Ninja’s shadow to take his place.
Jeremy “Disguised Toast” Wang expects Fortnite streamers to come out in force to take Ninja’s market share of viewers, or at least those that stay behind on Twitch.
Tyler Erzberger made a joke about Dr. Disrespect waiting in the wings to become Twitch’s top streamer.
Meanwhile, other streamers like Harris Heller are already taking advantage of the news to try and get some of Ninja’s Twitch Prime subscribers.
The Ninja Mixer Memes are in Full Force
One of the funny coincidences that has come out of Ninja’s Mixer deal is how there already is a Ninja Mixer – a literal one courtesy of The Verge’s Chaim Gartenberg.
Ninja still hasn’t officially started streaming on Mixer, so it’s unclear how his move will impact the streaming community just yet. But with one of the biggest streaming stars exclusively hosting his content on the previously underseen Mixer platform, there will be some repercussions for sure.
Meanwhile, Fortnite Season 10 was just released, giving Ninja new content to stream when he finally starts at Mixer. Check out our Fortnite Season 10 Wiki to see what’s new in Epic’s battle royale.
Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or reach out on Twitter.
Header Photo by Robert Reiners/Getty Images
