Ninja Is Back On Twitch With Exclusive Multi-Year Deal

Popular streamer Tyler "Ninja" Blevins is returning to his previous livestreaming home, Twitch, where he will stream again going forward. The two parties have signed a multi-year deal, with Ninja streaming exclusively on the Amazon-owned service. Prior to leaving the platform, he had been one of the most-successful game streamers in history.

"I am excited to get back to streaming full-time and connecting with my loyal fanbase," Ninja said in a statement. "I really took my time to decide which platform was best and Twitch has been supportive throughout this process and understanding my overall career goals. In this next chapter, I'm going to make it a point to elevate and bring more eyes to underrepresented creators. I am looking forward to working with Twitch to demonstrate how this amazing community of gamers can make a meaningful impact."

This comes almost three months after Ninja's previous home base, Mixer, shut down in favor of a Facebook Gaming partnership. Ninja signed an exclusivity deal with Microsoft's livestreaming service in August 2019, alongside well-known streamer and former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive competitive player Michael "Shroud" Grzesiek a few months later. Shroud returned to Twitch in August 2020. Those who didn't move to another platform had the option of streaming on Facebook, instead, as Microsoft partnered with the company. They were reportedly offered huge payouts, as well.

Ninja's subscriber count was never as high on Mixer as it was on Twitch--he currently has 15.5 million subscribers on the platform. Since returning, he has streamed Among Us, Valorant, and Fall Guys.

"We are thrilled Ninja is returning to Twitch," Twitch's senior vice president of content Michael Aragon said. "Tyler is an iconic force in the gaming community, and it's been amazing to see the impact he's made on the industry and the broader culture. Gaming--and the people who love it--are being recognized by a broad mainstream audience now in part because of Tyler, and we know he's just getting started."

The details of the deal between Twitch and Ninja, such as how much it's for and how long it will last, remain unclear for now. Ninja currently has 15 million followers on Twitch. He played Valorant upon his return, but is best known for Fortnite. Prior to his rise to streaming, he was a competitve gamer who specialized in Halo.