One of the most mainstream names in gaming, Richard “Ninja” Tyler Blevins, is back to streaming—on Twitch, YouTube, Tiktok, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Ninja announced the unprecedented move on Twitter, ending his break with a bang.
In the current landscape of exclusive streaming deals, Ninja’s move goes against the norm, and the repercussions on his income in the future are unknown—not that it would cause serious issues in the short term.
Beside, imagine the windfall he will receive on the long run. Granted, an astute streamer did point out that Ninja won’t be streaming everywhere after all.
On the plus side, joining all platforms opens up new alleys for viewership. At last, all gamers can watch one of the most popular streamers in the world from anywhere, everywhere (as long as it’s on the list).
However, streamer Ali “SypherPK” Hassan brings an extremely valid point, a major “net negative:”
Given the platforms he is targeting, there will be a lot of stream snipers waiting for their time to shine. Guaranteed.
@jaxonmvp OSCAR WORTHY PERFORMANCE 👏👏👏 #twitch #twitchstreamer #twitchfails #twitchclips #twitchmoments #twitchdrama #ninja #fortnite ♬ Violin – Grooving Gecko
Considering the recent developments, Ninja’s recent break and antics on Twitter may have been a stunt to build anticipation for this major announcement—but we cannot dismiss that it could have been a timely coincidence.
There are benefits to taking a break for mental health reasons, as was the case with streamer Imane “Pokimane” Anys. That is especially important for someone as busy as he is, and when dealing with symptoms of an illness, as Ninja stated the day before in a shorter streaming session than usual.
That said, Ninja sure hinted at his move, further raising suspicion. As is, excitement about the news of his return outweighs the “kinda sus” vibe surrounding his break.
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