Ninja leaves Twitch for new Microsoft streaming service Mixer

‘I’m freaking out in the best of ways,’ world’s most famous Fortnite player says

The world’s most famous Fortnite player is ditching the Twitch streaming platform after Microsoft poached him for its new service Mixer.

Tyler “Ninja” Blevins will stream exclusively on Mixer from today, leaving behind the millions of followers he has amassed on Twitch.

“I know this may come as a shock to many of you but as of today I will be streaming exclusively on Mixer,” he said in a video announcement.

His Mixer channel already has more than 200,000 followers, though this is a fraction of his nearly 15 million Twitch subscribers.

The 28-year-old revealed earlier this year that he made close to $10m (£8.3m) from playing video games in 2018, largely thanks to his huge online following.

In a follow-up video posted to Twitter, the gamer said no part of the content will actually change, just the platform it is hosted on.

“I have been holding onto this for quite some time and I’m just super excited to finally let everyone know, obviously. I’ll be streaming on Mixer full time now and honestly I’m lost for words, I’m freaking out in the best of ways,” he said.

“I just feel like I’m going to get back to the streaming roots, and that’s what it’s all about.”

Ninja revealed the switch from Twitch to Mixer at a fake press conference (Twitter/ Ninja)

Mr Blevins played roughly 4,000 hours of the battle royale game Fortnite last year – the equivalent to 166 straight days – all of which was broadcast on his Twitch channel.

High-profile collaborations with musicians like Drake and Marshmello have helped him reach a more mainstream audience.

In a statement following his announcement, Amazon-owned Twitch said: “We’ve loved watching Ninja on Twitch over the years and are proud of all that he’s accomplished for himself and his family and the gaming community.

“We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavours.”