Ninja Returns To Twitch, Draws 96,000 Viewers As 'Fortnite' Updates

Following a short stint on YouTube last month, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins shocked the streaming world by returning to his old stomping grounds of Twitch just in time for the latest car-related update to “Fortnite," Polygon reports.

When he appeared on YouTube in July, Ninja drew 100,000 fans and had people speculating that he was heading to the Google-owned company for future streams.

This happened after he had signed an exclusive deal to leave Twitch for Mixer, Microsoft’s attempt at entering the livestreaming world of competitive gaming with an audience. Millions of dollars were thrown Blevins’ way and he was supposed to be the first of many high profile streamers to lead Mixer’s efforts.

Alas, that didn’t happen and Mixer never took off. Microsoft announced that it was shutting the company down and instead, asked its fans to redirect themselves to Facebook Gaming. Rather than do that, however, most of those streamers returned to Twitch, which seems to be what Ninja is doing here.

This Twitch return was viewed by 96,000 fans on the initial stream as Blevins brought back his blue hair and enthusiastic play to the platform that made him famous in the first place. Still, the move might only be temporary. According to a recent feature by The Hollywood Reporter, Ninja is currently setting his sights on becoming a movie star.

“Blevins, who doesn’t have a talent agent, is reading scripts and shopping original ideas that he could produce or star in,” the report says. Apparently, Blevins had a small role in the last “Jumanji” film that was ultimately cut, though fans can look forward to spotting him in Ryan Reynold’s upcoming “Free Guy” movie.

To be clear, since Ninja is no longer a Twitch partner, his account doesn’t have a “subscribe” button right now. He does have a part of his livestream dedicated to donations, however.

Back when Blevins first left Twitch in 2019, his URL redirected viewers to a general Fortnite landing page that reads “The Ninja you’re looking for is in another castle.” That move backfired as folks soon started spotting porn livestreams that would pop up on Blevins’ old URL.

With Blevins’ expressed desire to become an actor, even just the voice actor variety, Polygon notes that it’s perhaps no surprise that he continues to try different playful voices as he streams. To his fans and those curious about the Ninja persona, that’s all part of the package.