Tyler “Ninja” Blevins was the catalyst for bringing gaming into the public eye. Ninja walked so that streamers today could run. He may not have as many viewers now as he did in his prime, but he walked so that streamers today could run.
Before 2018, gaming was thought to be a nerdy subculture restricted to children and adults who lived in their parents’ basements. The Dallas Cowboys didn’t sign streamers, and A-list celebrities didn’t make appearances at video game awards shows.
Gaming was a hobby, and very few streamers were able to garner enough subscribers and donations to consider it a full-time job. But everything changed when a skinny blue-haired kid played Fortnite with the world’s most famous rap artist.
Streaming services compete for content creators. Contracts, donations, brand deals, and creator codes bring in millions of dollars for streamers. Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, on the other hand, could have completely changed the gaming scene.
Twitch streamers began to notice an increase in viewership as the Battle Royale genre grew in popularity. PUBG and Day Z were among the first games to pit 100 players against each other in a deathmatch. The audience was enthralled.
Epic Games released Fortnite, the world’s most popular Battle Royale, after pivoting from the development of a zombie survival game. Ninja was one of the first streamers to cash in on the inevitable popularity of the game.
Fortnite was an instant hit for several reasons: it was free to play, it was available on most platforms, and its unique building mechanics added a layer of gameplay that no other game could match.
Viewers enjoyed watching their favorite celebrities compete to be the best out of 100 competitors. Because Ninja was one of the first to start playing Fortnite in 2017, his streams drew a larger audience. However, it wasn’t until a few months into 2018 that his career took off.
Ninja had a ridiculous number of viewers during the first few months of 2018. Ninja’s average viewer count was more than what today’s top streamers can muster, peaking at just over 100k concurrent viewers per day.
Ninja was flirting with breaking through the glass ceiling of success, but it wouldn’t be until March 15, 2018 that he did. That would be the day that Ninja would squad up with world-famous superstar and rap icon Drake.
Ninja’s stats were off the charts that night, but that wasn’t what set him apart from other Twitch streamers. This was one of the first times major mainstream news outlets covered video games in a positive light.
What seemed taboo to cover was now on the front pages of CNN, The Washington Post, Business Insider, and the BBC. Many headlines omitted Ninja who was praised as a “record-breaking” gamer by Drake.
Drake was praised in a flurry of news stories for playing Fortnite with Ninja, and gaming has now become a socially acceptable pastime. It has to be cool if the world’s coolest and most-popular rapper plays Fortnite, right?
With the rise in popularity of gaming as a whole, watching people play games has grown in popularity as well. With his name making international news, many new viewers tuned in to Ninja’s stream to see what all the fuss was about with “Fortnite.”
Drake clearly used Ninja as a promotional tool. He would try to get as much attention as possible before releasing a new project, and playing Fortnite with Ninja was a brilliant move on his part.
Ninja now stood to lose everything. His time with Drake catapulted him into the spotlight, and he had the option of squandering the momentum or seizing the opportunity to establish himself. As a result, he’d be paving the way for future streamers to follow in his footsteps.
Ninja has been praised by a few streamers for opening doors that might not have been opened otherwise. And Ninja’s career would be a series of Blevins opening these doors for the rest of 2018 and into 2019.
Ninja would sign with Redbull, host his own tournament in Las Vegas, perform live at Lallapalooza, and team up with Drake a few more times over the next year.
He began to break into mainstream media on a regular basis, appearing on Jimmy Fallon, becoming the first Esports athlete to be featured on the cover of ESPN Magazine, and even hosting New Year’s Eve in Times Square.
Ninja would also sign a deal with Mixer in mid-2019 that would completely change the way platforms work. Ninja leaving his home team of Twitch popularized the idea that other platforms could scout and sign streamers, similar to how athletes are traded between teams.
Many shocking events surrounding Ninja’s career have become the norm since 2018. When Ninja first started working with celebrities and signing brand deals with major corporations, it seemed insane. When a streamer tweets “big announcement coming soon,” no one blinks.
Ninja’s departure from Twitch for Mixer marked the first time that streamers were viewed as marketable assets. When their current contract expires, streamers expect multiple platforms to offer them multimillion-dollar contracts.
Movies and commercials frequently feature streamers. People who have much smaller communities on Twitch are advertising McDonald’s sandwiches. Because some blue-haired kid did it first, gamers are making “big money moves” behind the scenes.
Ninja’s streams now may appear disappointing in comparison to his incredible run in 2018-2019. He only has about 10% of the viewers he had when he was at his peak. He’s no longer breaking records, and his name is rarely mentioned in the news.
If you think Ninja “fell off,” you’re mistaken. He made his acting debut in Ryan Reynolds’ “Free Guy,” and he’ll be seen as Party Monster in the upcoming animated film Hotel Transylvania: Transformania.
Ninja’s legacy lives on in other streamers, aside from what he’s doing professionally. Ludwig’s big move to YouTube came about as a result of Ninja’s switch to Mixer. Ninja’s introduction of gaming to the mainstream is credited with TimTheTatman’s signing with Complexity.
