Richard Tyler Blevins, or “Ninja” rose to fame as one of the key Fortnite streamers on the Twitch platform. This eventually secured him as the number one most followed streamer on Twitch. With almost 17 million followers, Ninja is miles ahead of competitors like Pokimane and Sykkuno.
Now, after repeatedly being stream sniped, Ninja ranted that he was done. For those unaware, stream snipping is a tactic where snipers stalk their victims via livestream to gain an unfair advantage. With the knowledge of the streamer’s exact location, the sniper can execute perfect kills that would have been impossible otherwise.
After being killed 4 times by the same player, Ninja abandoned the game in favor of ranting to his audience about the event. “You’re not proving anything” he snapped at his audience in frustration. Ninja complained that Fortnite stream snipers were “clout chasing losers” and attributed the incident to the game’s popularity among kids. “The community and these little f***ing kids, it’s just so dumb” Ninja raged, leading to his declaration that he will no longer play or stream Fortnite.
Addressing his audience, the gamer, who is primarily popular among children, claimed that despite not playing the game for a long time he could still kill any “idiot” Fortnite player. When a fan commented in defense that perhaps Ninja was not being stream sniped, Ninja silenced the fan, “shut the f*** up”.
This is not the first time Ninja has claimed he was stream sniped, and the validity of previous claims appear dubious at best. Still, Ninja insisted his audience should trust him on the matter. Ninja is among many other popular streamers who have now quit Fortnite. This includes Tfue, the second most followed Twitch streamer. In the past Ninja has certainly been no stranger to controversy, and it looks like that trend will continue.
Though it's hard to do when watching the streamer cursing out his audience, it is not impossible to feel sympathy for Ninja. As a Twitch streamer, Ninja spends 12 hours a day in front of his audience. These are hours that most 9-to-5’s do not even demand, all done in a highly public setting. It is not difficult to understand why the celebrity would occasionally break down in front of his audience. This and other wild scenarios are no rare event for Twitch streamers. Ninja expressed remorse immediately following an apology from the distressed fan he told off. “No” the streamer sighed, “apology accepted… I just get angry.”
Some fans and avid players of the Fortnite franchise may still be upset though. Ninja so far seems to be standing by his dismissal of the game’s player base.
Fortnite is available now on Android, IOS, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.