Microsoft's Mixer has been obtaining streamers, with a few Twitch stars recently making the switch to Microsoft's platform. Losing Ninja to Mixer was a huge blow for Twitch, but now Michael "Shroud" Grzesiek has also joined the competition. The former professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player has a huge following on Twitch, and it will be interesting to see if fans follow him to Mixer. Furthermore, many will wonder what kind of offer was given by Mixer to sway the streamer.
Shroud has consistently shown his incredible skills at games like Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, and PlayerUnkown's Battlegrounds on Twitch. Shroud and Ninja competed for the top subscribers and views on Twitch, and with both streamers have now on Mixer, it has very quickly acquired two very valuable assets, with large fan bases.
The big move from Shroud prompts questions about how much Mixer paid the streamer. While there hasn't been a definitive statement, by looking at Ninja's rumored offer, a solid estimate can be made. Forsen, also of Twitch fame, predicted a 3-year deal, as a smaller or longer time frame wouldn't be beneficial for Mixer or for Ninja. Forsen went on to estimate the price point for Ninja's deal at 6-8 million dollars over three years, prior to sponsorship, making the move more profitable than Twitch. It seems safe to assume Shroud would settle for a similar deal, putting his overall totals somewhere in this range as well.
Shroud isn't invested in Fortnite, like Ninja, and offers alternative gameplay for viewers through games like CS:GO. Earlier this year, Shroud hit 100,000 subscribers on Twitch, and Mixer has been incentivizing those fans to join him on the streaming service.. Mixer is also offering a limited-time free subscription to Shroud's channel, so it will be interesting to see how the move of Ninja and Shroud impacts the streaming platforms.
In the past, Shroud had stated that streamers won't leave Twitch despite the #TWITCHISOVERPARTY campaign, but this move puts those comments into question. Whether Twitch can keep its talent or if Mixer intends to acquire more streamers remains to be seen, yet it'll be interesting to see how talent impacts Mixer's viewership.
Shroud is streaming on Mixer now.