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Ninja was at one time one of the most watched Twitch streamers in the world, up until he signed a sudden and shocking exclusivity deal with Microsoft’s streaming platform, Mixer. After Mixer was sold to Facebook Gaming, and Ninja refused to sign a transfer deal, Ninja took a long hiatus from streaming for a long time. That hiatus has finally come to an end as he announced today that he has signed an exclusivity contract with Twitch.
The journey from Twitch to Mixer, to YouTube, and back to Twitch, how Ninja ended up back where he started
When Ninja signed an exclusive deal with Mixer it came as a shock to many. Microsoft likely assumed getting one of the most popular streamers at the time to stream exclusively through their platform would help kickstart Mixer’s growth and allow them to compete with the likes of Twitch and YouTube.
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Unfortunately for Microsoft, and Ninja, the viewers did not make a similar transfer, showing that where you stream might mean more than previously thought. Mixer ended up being sold to FacebookGaming before Ninja could even finish his entire contract. Although FacebookGaming offered a sizable contract to retain Ninja, he refused and temporarily became a free agent.
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Ninja fishing for another contract
Being a contracted streamer has a certain number of benefits that make it much more helpful. The contract means that you have a guaranteed budget month to month, and that can lift a lot of the stress and uncertainty.
Therefore, it’s not too surprising that Ninja began fishing for another contract. However, keeping in mind how poorly the switch to Mixer went, it is likely that Ninja only really considered two streaming platforms to sign with, YouTube and Twitch. Given that Twitch is still the dominant platform, and the platform where Ninja got his start, it’s no surprise that Ninja ultimately signed with Twitch.
But getting that contract meant showing that Ninja wasn’t going to just stream on Twitch for free again. When Ninja announced his stream on YouTube, my original estimate was that Ninja was putting pressure on Twitch to give him a sizable offer.
If Ninja streamed on YouTube, then a contract with Twitch would mean both bringing those viewers to that platform and denying those views to their rival platforms. Additionally, in the wake of Twitch banning Dr. Disrespect from their platform, Twitch was likely interested in acquiring some additional talent to fill that slot.
Fans of Ninja should be ready to catch his content back over on Twitch soon, as he returns to the platform where he got his start. Ninja usually plays Valorant, as well as some Call of Duty and Fortnite.
