For months after Mixers surprising shutdown many fans and fellow streamers wondered which platform Tyler 'Ninja' Blevins would choose to stream his content. Ninja, one of the most popular streamers in the world, made his return back to Twitch permanent on September 10th. In a recent livestream Ninja shared his reasons for choosing to return to the platform where he gained his fame.
After Mixer folded, Ninja still remained a prominent member of the gaming community, however, he very rarely streamed. There were rumors of bidding wars between Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook, each trying to secure an exclusive deal with the streamer. In July Ninja went live on YouTube to test out the platform, and in August he had an impromptu Twitch stream. Ultimately, he chose to sign a multi-year exclusive deal with Twitch in September, making the platform his home once again.
During a recent livestream with fellow content creator Lachlan Power, Ninja went into detail about why he chose Twitch over YouTube. The duo were discussing the difficulties streamers face when initially making a switch to a new platform. Lachlan asked Ninja if he was seriously thinking about signing a contract with YouTube. His response was "we were highly considering it. It was a lifestyle thing at that point."
According to Ninja, "Twitch is streaming right now." He believes that he will be able to have a bigger impact on gaming and streaming on Twitch than any other platform currently. “It’s just the news in general. No one ever reports on a YouTuber getting a million live viewers or raising millions of dollars for charity,” he explained. He went on to explain that when someone says 'you're my favorite YouTuber' people are rarely referring to livestreams, they are talking about YouTube videos.
In Lachlan's opinion, the biggest problem with YouTube is the inability to clip moments from a livestream saying, "When a culture moment happens, you clip it." Another reason for choosing Twitch over YouTube is the absence of gifted subs, which is a huge source of revenue for streamers. The duo both agreed that they think YouTube will get there eventually.
Ninja went on to admit that, "Competition is great for everyone" and specifically mentioning that Facebook is doing a good job retaining talented streamers. However, YouTube and Twitch remain the "big dogs" in the industry. He reiterated that he believes the competition between the streaming platforms is a good thing, which is why he really wanted to see Mixer succeed.
While Twitch will be Ninja's home for the foreseeable future due to his contract, his views may change down the road as YouTube and Facebook continue to expand and evolve their platforms to keep up with Twitch.
Source: Dexerto