Tyler “Ninja” Blevins has opened up about the state of his streaming career, including how “the internet and trolls” make sure to point out his decline in livestream viewers “every day.”
The content creator spoke about the ups and downs of his time online during an interview with the BBC. He’s dabbled in other popular multiplayer titles like Call of Duty and Marvel Rivals but is undeniably best known for his relationship with Epic Games’ battle royale hit, Fortnite. Ninja’s time with the building-centered shooter saw him become the first Twitch streamer to reach 10 million followers, and he even appeared in-game as a skin for fans to pick up and wear during matches.
Although he once held the title of the biggest streamer on Twitch, Ninja has spent recent years struggling to reach the same heights he did in the late 2010s. Moments like his famous stream with Drake still remain as gargantuan career highlights, but the last few years have been relatively quiet.
“I think I’m the only streamer on the planet who was pulling 100,000 viewers [per stream] consistently,” Ninja said, “but now, I think I get like seven or eight thousand combined from my Twitch and YouTube, if there isn’t a big update on Fortnite or [Marvel Rivals].”
It’s a drop in numbers that is hard to ignore, with the streamer putting at least some of the blame on Fortnite’s diminished popularity in recent months. He’s keeping his streaming schedule chugging along with 19.2 million Twitch followers and 23.7 million YouTube subscribers despite the viewership decline. Of course, that isn’t stopping naysayers from finding their way into his chat.
“So that’s something that the internet and trolls remind me of every day,” Ninja added. “The moderators are constantly banning and blocking. It’s literally every day that I’m getting berated online.”
He added: “It’s tough, man. The last couple of years have been rough.”
Ninja saw tremendous growth on Twitch before making a (brief) switch to Microsoft’s now-defunct livestream platform, Mixer, in 2019. He then made his return to Twitch in 2020, while also establishing himself on YouTube that same year.
Ninja has taken breaks from streaming in the past, and although it seems retirement is on his mind, it doesn’t sound like the kind of path even his biggest haters should expect him to take anytime soon.
“I still love it and have a community that is strong and stays with me,” he added. “I’m a gamer and an entertainer at heart – its in my blood.”
Ninja shared his thoughts on the ups and downs of his streaming career while prepping to launch a 24-hour charity event that kicked off earlier today, September 19. The Gaming for Cause livestream will see the streamer raising awareness about skin cancer following his own melanoma diagnosis in March 2024.
“Me and my wife were going to give to this cause no matter what because it’s going to be important to us for the rest of our lives but it’s not just about us giving our money its the awareness aspect too,” he added.
The Gaming for Cause livestream is currently available to watch on both Twitch and YouTube and has reached $117,190 of its $250,000 donation goal as of the time of this piece’s publication. For more on Ninja, you can see him tell actor Kevin Hart how the Drake livestream came to be.
Photo by Denise Truscello/Getty Images for Amazon’s Crown Channel.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
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