Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, the most popular gamer in the world and one of the most influential streamers of all-time, is heading to Mixer as part of an exclusive contract that will also see him leave Twitch for the foreseeable future. Twitch has played host to Ninja's streams for most of his career, and both parties have benefited greatly from the partnership, with Ninja bringing millions of eyes to the platform on a regular basis while also becoming famous for his prowess in gaming and massive appeal to younger demographics of players.
Twitch has recently been the site of some controversy, however. The site's lackadaisical moderation has recently been exploited by users looking to use dead games like Artifact to mask broadcasts of problematic content. On top of that, Twitch also recently launched a subscriber-only stream beta that was met with widespread resistance from platform users who felt it would begin a migration toward more traditional broadcasting services, something that Twitch has always existed adjacent too as a different option. With all of the issues at Twitch and Mixer's slow climb to relevancy, it makes sense that the platform would begin to be more appealing to content creators - but Ninja's arrival remains a huge shock.
The announcement that Ninja will be streaming on Mixer full-time is one that's apparently been coming for some time. Ninja revealed his departure from Twitch on his Twitter account, coupling the announcement with a short video that features the content creator fielding questions from imaginary reporters while confirming he's coming to Mixer full-time. In a brief follow-up video, Ninja also suggested that the announcement was coming for "quite some time," and that he believes the transition to the platform will be a return to "the streaming roots" that made him so popular in the first place.
It's a move that's likely going to dramatically alter the landscape of streaming for quite some time, though it's hard to fully grasp what effect it will have on different parties without seeing some of the partnership in action. For now, it seems a safe bet to assume that Mixer will become a much more significant threat to Twitch as an alternative broadcasting platform, while Twitch will need to respond by finding a new content creator to be the "face" of the platform in the same way Ninja was. It's unclear how Mixer content creators feel about the change, but it seems like a net-positive one even though Ninja's initial foray into the platform could see their viewership drop in favor of the Fortnite juggernaut's.
Speaking of Fortnite, it's also possible that Ninja will begin to migrate away from that game in the future. Mixer is owned by Microsoft, and the latter will be releasing Halo: Infinite in the not-so-distant future. Could that mean Ninja will return to his roots like he suggested in his follow-up video and re-embark on a journey to once again become a Halo streaming personality? It seems likely, even if that won't be the only title he plays frequently. For now, the entire gaming industry has been shaken up, and Mixer will be perceived as a much more viable alternative to Twitch.
Source: Ninja/Twitter