Following yesterday’s shock announcement that Mixer will be shutting down next month and moving partnered creators over to Facebook Gaming, speculation about where the platform’s two biggest streamers would be heading next has been rife.
Both Michael ‘Shroud’ Grzesiek and Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins have had their exclusivity contracts bought out in full by Mixer after turning down the chance to join Facebook Gaming on even bigger deals. This means the pair realistically have two potential platforms on which to stream: a return to Twitch or YouTube Gaming.
However, a clue as to where Ninja may be heading has appeared after the ‘About’ section of his dormant Twitch channel was updated to read: “Ninja streams Valorant and Fortnite.” This suggests that, at least in the short-term, Ninja could be firing up his old channel on Twitch – which is still the most followed on the platform by a long stretch – in order for him to stream himself playing in this week’s T1 Valorant Showdown.
The invitational tournament is North America’s first competition in Riot Games’ Valorant Ignition Series and will see Ninja compete alongside a number of Valorant pros and creators. It will certainly be a big draw for both him and the competition, so for it not to be streamed somewhere would be a missed opportunity.
Team Ninja is the next team joining us in the T1 x NSG VALORANT Showdown, presented by @Samsung Odyssey!@Ninja @sonii @Morgausse_ @GregoFPS @TheUltraLex
June 26-28 | 2PM PT | https://t.co/Wg77SJVCpO pic.twitter.com/LOE3S4HFDE
— T1 (@T1) June 22, 2020
As you can see from the screengrab below, Ninja’s selected game category for his channel has also been changed to Valorant, although this does appear under a link to his Mixer channel.
While Ninja could technically still stream the action on Mixer, it’s unclear whether he will ever broadcast on the site again. He has set the description of his Mixer channel to: “No stream | Updates soon.”
This means it’s more likely that his next stream will be on a different platform. Despite Ninja leaving Twitch on bad terms and not being a partnered streamer anymore, the updating of his profile suggest that a return could be on the cards.
