In 2018 in particular, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins (31) was the biggest streamer on Twitch and the most famous gamer in the world at the time. With the success of online shooter Fortnite, the then blue-haired Blevins brought gaming into the mainstream and always wanted to aim higher. He wanted to be the “David Beckham” of gaming. Where does the streamer stand in 2023?
How tall was Ninja back then? Ninja had his heyday in 2018:
- In 2018 he streamed 3,013 hours on Twitch – at least 8 hours every day, including Sundays and public holidays. He later said that he was “a slave to the stream” and was no longer alive.
- the streamer drew an average of 77,700 viewers.
- Blevins reached over 617,000 people at Peak when he played online shooter Fortnite with rapper Drake. That was on March 14, 2018, then a Twitch record and still a milestone today: Twitch and gaming finally arrived in the mainstream.
He set new standards on Twitch, especially when it came to followers: He still has the world’s largest channel on Twitch with 18.45 million followers.
During this time, the coal really rolled in: In one month he earned $ 5 million with the Creator code in Fortnite alone. Epic Games created special cosmetics for Fortnite in 2018 to give streamers even more money.
In addition, in some months, hundreds of thousands of US dollars flowed into his pockets only through the Twitch subscriptions: In one month, Ninja had 269,000 subscribers – a record for a long time. The subscriptions alone in this record month were worth more than $600,000.
Ninja did many things that no one before him did: He brought gaming into the mainstream, appeared on talk shows, was on the cover of sports magazines, even had his face briefly in a Super Bowl commercial (via youtube).
In Fortnite’s heyday, there was also a story that a mother pulled her son out of school because of Fortnite:
Ninja looked like a total pro at the start of Fortnite
Why was he so popular? Ninja discovered the game early on in the early days of Fortnite: Battle Royale and rode the Fortnite wave like no other. He was characterized by extreme ambition and a high level of discipline: Ninja was a tireless grinder who ripped off hours after hours.
Blevins was also an experienced shooter player from the Halo days and had above-average aiming and movement skills. There was also a nervous energy backed by Red Bull. He refrained from the flaming and outbursts he was once known for in order to fulfill his responsibility to young viewers.
Back then, Fortnite was designed in such a way that Ninja could log into a lobby with 99 other players, many of whom were new and had no idea about the game: When Ninja mowed down the victims in rows, he looked like a pro and an expert. Ninja savored this phase to the maximum and was almost constantly on the air.
Ninja was also a master at finding synergies: he teamed up with other streamers; you pushed each other. The somewhat clumsy streamer “TimTheTatman” in particular was a popular target, which Ninja kept teasing and making fun of.
Ninja flaunts absurd wealth, threatens Flamers to buy them homeless
Ninja wanted to be untouchable – like David Beckham
What was his plan then? At the end of 2019, Ninja stated in an interview that his goal was to become “unassailable”. Because it bothered him that so many videos of others were circulating about him that painted a bad picture of him.
He said at the time that he wanted to be like “David Beckham”, simply untouchable. Nobody makes shit videos about or actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. He also wanted to get promoted to this league.
His goal was to build “Ninja” into a world-renowned gaming brand,
“I’m not seeing enough movement” scene is considered a legendary embarrassing moment
But what really happened then?
Already at the end of 2018 and in the course of 2019 the popularity of Ninja and Fortnite dwindled rapidly:
The first sign that Ninja had gone too far came on New Year’s Eve 2018. Ninja made an appearance in Times Square in New York and, in the pouring rain, urged the crowd to “move.” They should be with him perform the Fortnite dance “Floss”. But the crowd didn’t move and Ninja made a fool of himself.
To this day, the scene is considered an example of a streamer who overestimates and takes over. Ninja has since been raised with the action, making fun of himself: his team persuaded him to do so.
Things didn’t go well on Twitch after the turn of the year either: in 2019, his average number of viewers halved, falling to 42,257.
A younger generation is playfully overtaking ninja in Fortnite – It’s not enough anymore
In 2019, Nina desperately tried to qualify for the Fortnite World Cup but was unable to assert herself against the strong competition.
Other, younger players had long since passed him and ousted him.
Even among the Twitch streamers, there was a younger player in Tfue who was clearly better than Ninja and always sought conflict with him.
Fortnite Solo World Cup Without a Biggest Star – Is Ninja Not Good Enough Anymore?
The money came with the switch to Mixer, but the viewers left
That was the big break: On August 1, 2019, Ninja left the Twitch platform to stream on Microsoft’s Mixer platform. He is said to have paid handsomely to stream exclusively on Mixer for several years now. Microsoft apparently planned to make him the “face” of Mixer and the Xbox.
But on the new platform, viewers broke away from him and Ninja lost a lot of relevance: Hardly anyone was interested in the streamer when he streamed “Im Exil” on Mixer.
Microsoft’s hope of having bought Twitch’s strong drivers with Ninja and shroud in order to establish a competitor with Mixer also burst. Mixer fell well short of Microsoft’s expectations and met an early end.
But the change turned out to be a stroke of luck financially. Because Mixer had to close in July 2020 and Ninja was free to go back to Twitch. The brief stint, less than a year on Mixer, is said to have netted him $35 million.
So how did things go back on Twitch? Although Ninja was back on Twitch as a result, he found that the Fortnite hype and the hype surrounding him had long since faded.
By the time he was back on Twitch, his viewership had halved again: only 20,650 wanted to watch him. In the years since, his viewership has continued to dwindle.
The phenomenon, the huge Fortnite streamer, became a successful streamer between 2021 and reached its target group, but not much more: in 3 years Ninja had lost 88% of its viewers.
Ninja also seemed clumsy apart from the numbers: Most recently, in September 2022, Ninja tried to draw attention to himself with a PR stunt: After his exclusive contract with Twitch expired, he faked a burnout. But ultimately only announced that it would now stream on all platforms. Hardly anyone was interested in the whole action and the now big streamers commented rather pityingly.
Dropped from #1 to #3,918
Where does Ninja stand today? Today, Ninja still has the most followed channel on Twitch, but that’s a record that may not last for long, as Ninja’s channel is still growing, but not as fast as it used to be.
The channels of the Spanish streamers auronplay, Rubius and ibai are getting closer and closer to him. While at the current pace it could be another 2-3 years before anyone ousts him from the top of Twitch, it seems only a matter of time.
Based on average viewers over the last year, Ninja ranks 3,918 among all Twitch streamers with 12,466 viewers.
Attempts to turn his former fame into money were viewed critically: a “How to become a great streamer like me” course received negative reviews.
Ultimately, it has to be said that Ninja was certainly enormously successful financially with his decisions and earned a huge amount of money:
- For all we know, he’s been a multi-millionaire for a long time. His net worth is estimated at between $25 million and $40 million, depending on the source.
- In 2023, however, he seems a long way from his dream of being like David Beckham.
On the contrary: some of his former teammates, such as TimTheTatman, have long overtaken him in terms of relevance as a gamer.
When Ninja left Twitch in 2019, young streamers like xQc with a different style jumped at the chance to fill the gap he left. In 2023, xQc is considered the biggest streamer on Twitch – Ninja no longer plays in this league:
Without ninja and shroud, the TikTok generation is now conquering Twitch