Ninja is now the top streamer on Twitch, amassing more followers than any other streamer on the platform. The blue hair may be his trademark, but Ninja is also known for his absurdly expensive deals, and now that he is the biggest streamer, those prices are going to explode.
No one rocks blue hair like he does... And he gets paid a chunk of money to produce content on sites like Twitch, YouTube, or Mixer. We're talking of course about Richard Tyler Blevins, better known as Ninja! Blevins is now the biggest and most expensive streamer. Nothing new? Well, we'll see...
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From Esports to Streamer
What many people don't know anymore: Ninja actually started as an Esports player. He already played for various top teams like Cloud9 or Team Liquid. At first, he played Halo 3, then PUBG, and finally he made his big breakthrough with Fortnite.
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As a streamer, the battle royale shooter brought him a lot of attention – he even got his own skin from Epic. In blue, of course, what else? EA wanted to poach him for their competitor Apex Legends and offered him a million dollars to promote the game. But, Ninja simply thrives on Fortnite, as Fortnite thrives on him.
The Switch from Twitch to Mixer
On Twitch, Ninja felt cramped at some point, so the offer of a new streaming platform came just in time. Mixer was supposed to be Microsoft's counterpart to Twitch, and they wanted the best of the best for it. Ninja reportedly got $20 million for the exclusive deal.
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Mixer was a flop, the viewer numbers didn't really look good even for Ninja, and eventually the deal ended. Mixer was deleted and Ninja returned to Twitch. That's when he got many of his old fans back, those who didn't want to follow him to Mixer.
Drama and Controversy
As far as drama goes, Ninja is no stranger to controversy. He's often let himself get carried away with controversial statements. For example, he generally didn't want to stream with women because he's married and didn't want to fuel rumors. As if female streamers were only good for that?
Then, there were the rumors that Epic Games would ban any player Ninja called a cheater. That wouldn't have surprised anyone, after all, Ninja is the favorite child. The statement that anyone who plays just for fun, instead of to win, didn't go over well either (see above). He just doesn't mince words, even if sometimes he probably should...
The Future of Ninja
When we look into our crystal ball, we see one thing in particular for Ninja: even more cash! The year has just begun, and we already know about a Ninja clothing collection, a Ninja TV series, and a new Fortnite Squad featuring Ninja. This guy is really always busy! And people are interested in him, even when he's making remarks.
The other day, he said it wasn't his job to teach young viewers good manners. In principle, that's right, but at least you could be a good role model, and contribute? But to be fair, Ninja also sends positive signals to the world, for example, his large bushfire donation during the Australian Black Summer fires last year.
2021 will definitely be a good year for Ninja, that's for sure. Or what do you think, is his time in the Twitch sky coming to a close? Let us know!
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Original article by EarlyGame's Laura Pippig.