Streaming Star Tyler "Ninja" Blevins Signs Multi-Year Broadcasting Deal with Twitch

Game streamer Tyler "Ninja" Blevins. Photo: Getty Images

Popular video game streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is now even richer after signing an exclusive deal with Amazon-owned Twitch.

A representative for Ninja declined to comment on the financial terms of the deal, but said it is a “multi-year” agreement.

The deal marks Blevins’ return to Twitch — he left the platform to stream on Microsoft-owned Mixer in August 2019. Mixer announced this June it would shut down operations and offered streamers the opportunity to transfer their streaming deals to Facebook’s fledgling game streaming platform, Facebook Gaming.

Blevins and another top streamer recruited by Mixer, Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek, were offered close to double their original Mixer contracts to stream for Facebook Gaming — close to $40 million combined — but both refused and opted to return to Twitch instead. According to reports, Mixer offered Blevins $30 million in its original contract, while Grzesiek was given a $10 million deal.

Both Grzesiek and Blevins are represented by Santa Monica-based talent management firm Loaded.

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Blevin’s Ninja channel on Twitch boasts 15 million followers currently, though his fanbase is estimated to be 40 million worldwide across platforms, a representative said. He will stream full-time on Twitch beginning at noon PST Thursday and play a rotation of games including the titles which made him famous, like “Fortnite.”

Blevins said he plans to use his return to Twitch and worldwide internet stardom to uplift voices of other less prominent content creators on the platform.

“I am excited to get back to streaming full-time and connecting with my loyal fanbase,” Blevins said in a statement Thursday. “In this next chapter, I’m going to make it a point to elevate and bring more eyes to underrepresented creators (and) am looking forward to working with Twitch to demonstrate how this amazing community of gamers can make a meaningful impact.”

Emmy Nominations 2020: Snubs and Surprises, From Bob Odenkirk to Baby Yoda (Photos)

Between Elisabeth Moss and Bob Odenkirk getting pushed out of their respective categories and an unexpected nomination for "What We Do in the Shadows," Tuesday's Emmy nominations announcement came with more than its share of surprises.
Surprise: "What We Do in the Shadows" FX's series adaptation of the vampire mockumetary from Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi only secured two below the line nominations for its first season, but it's second outing scored big with eight nominations, including an Outstanding Comedy Series nod.
FX
Surprise: "The Mandalorian" Drama heavyweight "Game of Thrones" was out of the running this year, leaving room for a new series to sneak in among a slew of past nominees like "Better Call Saul," "The Handmaid's Tale" and "The Crown." But instead of Apple TV+'s "The Morning Show," voters went with a different new streaming service, nominated Disney+'s "The Mandalorian."
Disney+
Snub: Bob Odenkirk, "Better Call Saul" Odenkirk has been a perennial nominee in the lead actor category since 2015, but this year the "Better Call Saul" star was overlooked in favor of a pair of actors from "Succession" and "The Morning Show" star Steve Carell.
AMC
Snub: Elisabeth Moss, "The Handmaid's Tale" Moss won the award for lead actress in a drama series in 2017 and has been nominated numerous times in the past, but, like "This Is Us" star Mandy Moore and "How to Get Away With Murder's" Viola Davis, failed to make the cut for the most recent season of "Handmaid's Tale."
Hulu
Surprise: Zendaya, "Euphoria" In a category comprised mostly of returning players, dark horse candidate Zendaya managed to sneak a lead actress nod for her role on the HBO drama "Euphoria," slipping in alongside fellow category newcomer Jennifer Aniston of "The Morning Show."
HBO
Snub: "Big Little Lies" HBO's Liane Moriarty adaptation was the belle of awards season in 2017, all but sweeping the limited series categories with its roster of big-name stars including Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon. But Season 2's move to the drama series category hurt the show, leaving "Big Little Lies" with only two nominations for supporting stars Laura Dern and Meryl Streep.
HBO
Surprise: "The Masked Singer" Fox's absurdist singing competition finally became too big for Emmy voters to ignore in Season 2, shaking up the Oustanding Competition Program category with 10-time winner "The Amazing Race" ineligible this year.
Fox
Snub: "Westworld" Turns out "Westworld" wasn't the "Game of Thrones" successor HBO hoped iy would be, earning only two acting nods for its third season, for supporting actors Thandie Newton and Jeffrey Wright, and missing out on the marquee drama series category entirely.
HBO
Snub: Kaitlyn Dever, Merritt Wever, "Unbelievable" For much of the voting period, the two stars of Netflix's harrowing "Unbelievable" seemed like locks for lead actress in a limited series nominations, but neither made the cut in a crowded category, not even TV Academy darling Merritt Wever, who has twice before pulled out a surprise upset on Emmy night.
Netflix

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“Better Call Saul” and “The Handmaid’s Tale” leads miss out, while “What We Do in the Shadows” sneaks in

Between Elisabeth Moss and Bob Odenkirk getting pushed out of their respective categories and an unexpected nomination for "What We Do in the Shadows," Tuesday's Emmy nominations announcement came with more than its share of surprises.

View In Gallery

Emmy Nominations 2020: Snubs and Surprises, From Bob Odenkirk to Baby Yoda (Photos)

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