Twitch star Ninja defects to Microsoft’s Mixer

One of Twitch’s most popular streamers, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, has announced he’s leaving the platform to sign exclusively for its rival, Microsoft’s Mixer.

“I have been holding on to this for quite some time,” Ninja said in a Twitter video, “and I’m just super excited to let everyone know.

“I’ll be streaming on Mixer full-time now and I’m honestly at a loss for words. I’m freaking out in the best ways. I feel like I’m going to get back to the streaming roots.”

Twitch told The Verge in a follow-up statement: “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. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.”

Ninja has achieved mainstream success unprecedented among game streamers. He’s appeared on television chat shows such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show and on the cover of ESPN magazine.This week he’ll be appearing at Lollapalooza in Chicago.

Mixer was launched by Microsoft as Beam in 2016 and later rebranded. Ninja marks a huge coup for the platform, as it attempts to compete with streaming giants Twitch and YouTube.