Ninja officially returns to Twitch streaming after Mixer shutdown

[jwplayer 91I9RIGm]Ninja is back on Twitch. After months with Mixer, to months of non-exclusivity, the biggest streamer in the world is making his exclusive return to the website where he gained his fame.

Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins got paid millions to leave Twitch and stream exclusively on Mixer. Months later, Mixer folded and Ninja was left without a home for his content. The ever-popular streamer and global gaming ambassador proceeded to take his time and evaluate his options, streaming on YouTube one day and Twitch on another. But finally, fans have their answer: the blue-haired head-clicker is back on Twitch.

Ninja streamed on Mixer for a little under a year, signing in August 2019 and getting bought out of his contract in June 2020 as the site folded. Since then, he’s continued to be a prominent figure in the community with gigantic branding deals, but streamed very rarely.

In July, he tried out an impromptu YouTube stream, his first live session since the buyout. In August, he tested out a surprise Twitch stream.

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Both streams went remarkably well despite a lack of promotion and now, having shown each platform what he’s capable of and playing with their capacities, he is coming back to Twitch — where he has continued to be the site’s most-followed streamer, by far, even with months spent elsewhere.

When is Ninja’s first Twitch stream back?

Ninja has confirmed this “new chapter” on Twitch will begin at 2pm CT / 3pm ET / 8pm BST on September 10.

He may have only streamed on Twitch about one time in the past year, but Ninja is returning to what continues to be the largest follower count on all of Twitch, at a whopping 15-plus million. The difference between his follower count and second-best, Turner ‘Tfue’ Tenney’s 9 million, is about the difference between Tfue and the 17th-most-followed account.

TwitchMetrics

The top three most-followed Twitch channels.

That perfectly exemplifies how popular Ninja has continued to be on Twitch, despite being completely absent. For context, Michael ‘Shroud’ Grzesiek was also paid millions to leave Twitch for Mixer and just recently made his return to the platform. Now, Shroud is Twitch’s fastest-growing streamer and his follower count has risen into the top three, as he sits with about 8 million. 

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Back in June, it was reported that Shroud’s Mixer contract buyout got him about $10 million and Ninja’s…in the hefty $30 million range. The streamers are obviously held in very high regard and one should not be surprised that negotiations with Twitch lasted this long.