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Ninja is getting his own skin in 'Fortnite'
The rise of Fortnite has coincided with that of Tyler "Ninja" Blevins. While the streamer had a sizable following before the battle royale exploded in popularity, he became Fortnite's best-known player and a megastar on Twitch (until he defected to Mixer). Now, Ninja will actually be a part of the game in which he truly made his name with his very own Fortnite skin. It'll be available to purchase between Thursday and Sunday.
How Twitch started to lose its grip on video game streaming
For the longest time, Twitch was the undisputed champ of video game live streaming. The Amazon-owned platform has the highest number of 'broadcasters' and, more importantly, viewers watching, chatting and donating in real-time. For most full-time streamers, switching to any other platform felt like economic suicide. Then, on August 1st, the most popular and recognizable gamer in the West, Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, signed an exclusive streaming deal with Mixer, a rival platform owned by Microsoft. "I'm going to get back to the streaming roots," he said in a short video posted on Twitter. "That's what this is all about. I love you guys, and obviously [my] streams are just going to be the exact same. I'm looking forward to seeing you guys on the platform."
Adidas and Ninja's sneaker collab goes on sale December 31st
Sneaker collaborations used to be the domain of world-class athletes. These days, pro gamers are getting their own shoes, too. Video game streamer Ninja teamed up with Adidas back in August, and the brand has finally revealed the gamer's signature sneaker.
Mixer drops its subscription price to $4.99 -- the same as Twitch
After snagging some top streamers -- starting with Ninja -- the latest change Mixer is making in its battle with Twitch is to subscription pricing. The Microsoft-owned platform announced on Thursday that it's changing subscription pricing -- a feature fans can use to support their favorite streamers while obtaining special privileges in the chat room -- from $5.99 per month to $4.99 per month. That puts its subscriptions at the same amount as Twitch's initial level, which may make it more appealing for pro streamers considering a change to move over, since their existing subscribers won't have to pay extra. Subscribers who auto renew should see the lower rate, and in another tweet the service said that those who subscribed within the last week can request an adjustment. Good news everyone! Starting today all subscriptions will now be changing from $5.99 to $4.99 going forward when subscribing to any of your favorite Partners! 💙 pic.twitter.com/bFVLF4YSdU — Mixer (@WatchMixer) October 30, 2019 It's unclear how this affects how much streamers can make, although the Mixer support site indicated that the split depended on their particular partnership contract, after PayPal and Stripe processing fees are deducted. That's in addition to payments Mixer provides in place of advertising, as well as other options like Embers, direct purchasing and Xbox Game Pass purchase credits. Twitch, on the other hand, has ads that help pay partners, higher levels of subscriptions and Bits that viewers can buy and distribute. Streaming is not just a lifestyle for those who are good at it, it's a business, and if Mixer is going to continue to peel off top talent, it will need to guarantee them ways to keep making money. Streamers like Shroud and KingGothalion have followed Ninja's movement over from Twitch -- we'll see if that continues.
Twitch star Shroud follows Ninja to Microsoft's Mixer
Tyler "Ninja" Blevins surprised many when he left Twitch to stream full time on Microsoft's Mixer platform. Now another major streamer is making the same leap: Michael "Shroud" Grzesiek.
Adidas signs Ninja to its first pro gamer deal
Popular gaming streamer Tyler Blevins, better known as Ninja, has secured yet another brand deal. And this one may be the biggest one of them all. Ninja has just revealed a partnership with Adidas, making him the first pro gamer ever to be signed by the brand. The German sportswear giant told Engadget that the deal with Ninja is intended to show its commitment to gaming culture and "supporting creators who show dedication to excelling in their field." Moving forward, Adidas said, it will continue to find new ways to support the 2.3 billion gamers across the world. The company added that, ultimately, it is here to help athletes make a difference in their game -- no matter what games they're playing.
Ninja calls out Twitch after his dormant channel highlights porn (updated)
Ninja (aka Tyler Blevins) has largely avoided any bad blood between him and Twitch following his jump to Mixer, but that apparently didn't last long. The well-known streamer has posted a video chastising Twitch for not only using his dormant channel to promote other streamers, but to let porn find its way into those recommendations. As esports consultant Rod Breslau observed, the number one stream on Twitch the morning of August 11th was a bootleg porn broadcast that lasted for more than two hours -- imagine someone looking for Fortnite gameplay only to find X-rated material.
Ninja already has a million subscribers on Mixer
Well, that was quick. Tyler Blevins, better known by his online handle "Ninja," has already racked up one million subscribers on Mixer. "Thank you for all the incredible support," he said on Twitter. "I haven't felt this good in a long time." It's an impressive feat considering Mixer is smaller than Twitch and Tyler only announced his exclusivity deal last week. For now, anyone can nab a free one-month subscription to Ninja's channel. After September 30th, though, fans will have to pay a fee -- probably $5.99 -- for subscriber perks such as custom emotes and ad-free streams.
Top 'Fortnite' streamer Ninja is ditching Twitch for Mixer
Tyler "Ninja" Blevins is one of the most popular streamers on Twitch. Or at least he was. He announced in a video posted Thursday he'll be streaming exclusively on Microsoft's Mixer from now on.
All the gear you need to build a game-streaming empire
You've been watching Tfue, AnneMunition, Ninja and Pokimane, studying their habits and on-air setups -- cameras on faces and keyboards, friendly borders around ad boxes, quality lighting, quirky banter, and plenty of reminders to donate, donate, donate. You've played Fortnite and League of Legends every day for the past month. Mentally, you're ready to go live on your streaming channel. Now it's time to get your gear in order.
EA reportedly paid Ninja $1 million to stream 'Apex Legends'
It's no secret that EA paid top streamers to promote (and to some extent, influence) Apex Legends, but how much did those streamers make? In one case, it might have been quite a lot. A Reuters source claimed that EA paid Ninja (aka Tyler Blevins) a cool $1 million to play the game on February 5th. He might not have been obligated to play for long, either. An EA spokesperson told Kotaku that any streamed gameplay after "midday" on February 5th was "completely organic" -- that is, they wanted to keep playing.
Game streamer Ninja will have his own toy line
You can't usually show support for a game streamer in the real world outside of t-shirt and stickers, but Wicked Cool Toys is kicking things up a notch. It's introducing a line of toys themed around streamers, starting with Twitch superstar Tyler "Ninja" Blevins. You'll find two-inch collectibles in blind packs ($5 each, above) and four-inch dancing figures ($10) themed around his characters and emotes, as well as head wear ($20) that gives you that blue hair and headband. All of those should ship in the fall, and there are plans for plush toys, games and other goodies.
How to stream New Year's Eve 2019 countdowns
If you'd rather stream New Year's Eve celebrations in North America than venture outside, you'll have plenty of options... including a novelty or two. The most notable example comes from Times Square itself, which will show the New York City ball drop for 2019 in all its glory. However, you can also watch well-known game streamer Ninja play in Times Square using Twitch. You're covered if Fortnite is more to your taste than champagne, in other words.
Watch The Game Awards right here at 9PM ET
We're officially in the thick of awards season, and after the Golden Globes nominations were revealed Thursday morning, it's time to turn our attention to The Game Awards. The ceremony celebrating the best of gaming from the last year takes place tonight in Los Angeles. As always, the entire show will be streaming for your viewing pleasure, and you can watch it below.
Someone may have hacked Drake's 'Fortnite' account
Drake is a fairly knowledgeable Fortnite player, but he might have a thing or two to learn about online security. While famed game streamer Ninja was running a charity event on November 23rd, a "Duddus647" account joined his Fortnite game, possibly using Drake's Epic Games account name rather than his usual PS4 handle ("TheBoyDuddus"). However, whoever was using that account was very clearly not Drake. After some silence, it became clear that this most definitely wasn't the Canadian rap superstar -- the person suddenly unleashed a string of racist slurs that forced Ninja to leave the game.
Bethesda enlists Ninja and Rick and Morty for 'Fallout 76' livestream
To build up hype for the upcoming release of Fallout 76, Bethesda pulled the handle on the pop culture slot machine and it landed on Ninja, Logic and Rick and Morty. That motley crew of nerd stardom will play through the new online survival game on during a livestream event. The broadcast will be available on Bethesda's Twitch and Mixer channels, as well as Microsoft's Mixer. The stream will start at 9 PM ET on Thursday, November 8th.
Galaxy Note 9 might be the first place you play ‘Fortnite’ on Android
The world's biggest game could be exclusive to Samsung's Galaxy Note 9. Both 9to5Google and XDA Developers have independent sources claiming that Fortnite will be a 30-day exclusive to Samsung's upcoming phablet, with other Android devices getting it later. XDA Developers even goes so far as to say the phone's launch video will be based around developer Epic Games' free-to-play shooter, and that the game will come pre-installed on the handset. There are rumors that the new Bluetooth Smart S Pen will be integrated into play somehow. A certain blue-haired streamer might even be involved. Oh, and if you're a Samsung DeX fan, this will apparently work with that too.
‘Fortnite’ E3 tournament was a taste of its esports future
As Fortnite continues to suck in gamers by the millions, Epic Games has worked hard to keep the game fresh and entertaining, whether players are dropping in for the first or thousandth time. But behind the scenes it's also putting the finishing touches on its plans for turning Fortnite into a competitive sport. Last month, it committed more than $100 million into Fortnite tournament prize pools and announced its first official esports event: the Fortnite Pro-Am. Popular streamers and YouTubers -- with backgrounds in PUBG, League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Call of Duty and, of course, Fortnite -- joined actors, sports stars and musicians at E3 for a 50-team, 100-person battle royale. Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, the biggest personality in competitive esports right now (helps when you stream with hip-hop megastar Drake), buddied up with EDM DJ Marshmello, and YouTuber Ali-A joined Fall Out Boy singer Pete Wentz while professional gamer Gotaga was accompanied by UFC fighter Demetrious Johnson in a bid to win a $3 million charity prize pool.
'Fortnite' streamer breaks Twitch records with help from Drake
Twitch streamer Tyler "Ninja" Blevins smashed the record for concurrent viewers, crossing the 635,000 mark, mostly due to who he's playing Fortnite with: music megastar Drake. It's not all Drake or the popular battle royale game though, as Ninja is the most popular streamer on the platform -- he has over 3 million followers and with over 160,000 paid subscribers, an estimated monthly income of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Back in February Twitch confirmed that the record number of concurrents for an individual had been set at over 388,000 by Dr. Disrespect, but now there's a new champ.
'Flappy Bird' creator returns with another infuriating game
While game companies are spending millions developing and marketing addictive mobile games, every once in a while an indie hit appears out of nowhere and captures the public's imagination. In 2013, that game was Flappy Bird, a notoriously difficult endless runner-style game that thrust its Vietnamese creator, Dong Nguyen, into an unwanted spotlight. Nguyen ended up pulling the game from Apple and Google's app stores a few months later (despite making a ton of money), because it had become an "addictive product" that was causing him and its players issues. It also allowed him to focus on making more games. With seven titles now behind him, including Swing Copters, Nguyen is back with a new game called Ninja Spinki Challenges!! -- and it's every bit as difficult as you'd expect.
