Shroud And Twitch: A Match Made In Gaming Heaven

After making his dramatic return Wednesday, Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek made a staggering impact that once again put a decisive mark on Twitch's dominance in the streaming industry.

Shroud comeback drew an amazing crowd which at one point peaked at around 516,000 viewers. He turned on his camera at roughly 2:50 p.m. and, after making some tweaks on his rig, started playing “Valorant.” It was at this time that fans starting piling en masse, with counts moving north of half a million viewers in just a few minutes, said The Verge.

While he only expected around 200,000 viewers to watch him play, Shroud confessed that he appreciated those who tuned in on his return. It was, to say the least, anticipated since he was one of Twitch's top streamers before inking a deal with Mixer in October of last year. He announced his transfer in a short Twitter video with a caption, “Same shroud. New home.”

Following Mixer's closure in June, fans saw a glimmer of hope that Shroud would return to Twitch. He took to Twitter and slowly announced his comeback.

Shroud signed an exclusive deal with Twitch after his contract with the former Microsoft-owned streaming site expired and went defunct in the process. What made the deal an extremely high note for Twitch is that they are once again in the presence of one of gaming's prominent figures. Prior to his move to Mixer, Shroud had the third-highest subscriber count among individual streamers on Twitch.

As of August 2020, Shroud is currently on the tenth spot in Twitch's subs count with 22,350 subscribers, according to Twitchtracker.

Shroud's initial stream had a steady count and maintained between 400,000 and 475,000 active viewers. He is also responsible for more than 80% of the viewership of “Valorant” on Twitch.

The Verge described a comeback stream as an “event,” especially for fans who are waiting for an icon to suit up again. Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, who also signed with Mixer before Shroud, is also making a home on YouTube and Twitch. Again, Shroud's return is a win for Twitch mainly because he's back. His old followers loved his move, while those who followed him on Mixer will probably subscribe to his channel on Twitch, adding and racking up numbers as time goes on.