Fortnite pro Ninja leaves Twitch for Mixer

Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, one of the most recognized esports players, best known for playing Fortnite, has left the streaming platform Twitch for the Microsoft-owned streaming service Mixer. Blevins broke the news of changing platforms via a Twitter video Thursday. He'll stream exclusively on Mixer starting Aug. 2 during Lollapalooza 2019. 

"I never would have thought that I could build a career by doing what I love, and I am extremely grateful for the incredible experiences that I have had," Blevins said in a press release Thursday. "As I look at the next step in my career, achieving bigger goals in the gaming industry with Mixer will allow me to have the perfect balance of opportunities and success. My roots as a gamer started with Halo, so working with Microsoft and coming over to Mixer felt like a natural next step."

Blevins' announcement comes at an interesting time; Fortnite developer Epic Games began the 10th season of the game several hours before. 

On Twitch, owned by Amazon, Blevins' channel had 14 million subscribers, and he was the second most-watched Fortnite player, behind Turner "Tfue" Tenney, according to analytics site TwitchMetrics. 

"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," a Twitch spokesperson said in an email Thursday. "We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors."

As of Friday morning, Blevin's channel on Mixer has more than 259,000 subscribers. 

Following his departure, Twitch updated Blevins' channel with a list of other channels and a message saying, "The Ninja you're looking for is in another castle."

Blevins participated in the Fortnite World Cup. Though he didn't qualify for the solos tournament, he was part of the Creative event. 

Originally published Aug. 1, 10:32 a.m. PT.
Update, 10:43 a.m.: Adds quote from Blevins; 11:04 a.m: Includes background details.  Aug. 2: Adds Twitch comment. Aug. 5: Adds Twitch reaction.