Twitch take advantage of Ninja’s channel following Mixer move

Twitch are using Tyler ‘Ninja‘ Blevins’ channel to advertise alternative Fortnite streamers following his move to rival broadcasting platform Mixer.

Ninja announced on August 1 that he would be moving from Twitch to stream exclusively on the Microsoft-owned Mixer.

While Ninja might not be the first streamer to sign an exclusive deal, his move away from Twitch is an unprecedented change, having been the most-followed channel on the platform with over 14 million followers.

It will undoubtedly take many of Ninja’s viewers some time to adjust to his move, and in the meantime it seems Twitch want to make the most of his page. In the absence of Ninja himself, his channel’s home page now serves as an advertisement for alternative Fortnite streamers.

“The Ninja you’re looking for is in another castle,” Ninja’s channel now reads, “Check out these popular live channels.”

Ninja’s past broadcasts and highlight clips can still be found by viewers looking to relive past streams, but those looking for live gameplay who might be unaware of, or simply forgotten about, Ninja’s relocation are instead offered alternative streamers on Twitch.

With Ninja’s departure, there’s now space on Twitch for a new top streamer on the platform, and so far it seems to be a two-horse race. As of August 5, Michael ‘shroud’ Grzesiek is the most-followed behind Ninja’s dormant channel at 6,781,646, but Fortnite streamer Turner ‘Tfue’ Tenney is a mere 60,000 followers behind, and gaining.

• Read more: PewDiePie claims he knows the real reason Ninja moved to Mixer

Tfue also holds a sizeable lead over shroud in terms of viewer hours, with over a million more hours watched of his channel in the past 30 days. With Tfue’s biggest rival Fortnite streamer having left Twitch, it seems likely that his numbers will only continue to grow.

Whether Ninja’s move to Mixer proves a success for himself and the platform over the long term remains to be seen, but in the immediate wake of the news Ninja hit over 100,000 subscribers on Mixer before his first stream, albeit undoubtedly helped by a limited-time offer by Mixer for a free month of subscription.

As of August 5, just a few days after Ninja’s first Mixer stream on August 2, his new channel has amassed over 700,000 followers.