Following the surprise shutdown of Mixer, Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins has been without a streaming platform for over two weeks now. Predictions and rumours as to where he and fellow Mixer star Michael ‘Shroud’ Grzesiek will end up have been rife, but a recent test stream appears to point towards one platform in particular.
With Ninja reportedly turning down the chance to move to Facebook Gaming and having left Twitch on less than desirable terms, YouTube Gaming has always looked to be the most likely choice for him to resume streaming. Now a test stream on his YouTube channel, which appears to have accidentally been made public by Ninja, looks to all but confirm those suspicions.
Fortnite leaker HYPEX tweeted out a screenshot that appears to show a scheduled stream for July 7 simply titled ‘Test.’ The thumbnail, although upside down, appears to show Ninja’s streaming room, and the description is the same copy and pasted text he uses for all of his YouTube video uploads.
Ninja most likely signed to youtube, he currently has a test stream scheduled, probably didn’t mean to make it public but this is a huge hint.. pic.twitter.com/e4bd6lhD8M
— HYPEX (@HYPEX) July 7, 2020
Ninja’s wife and manager, Jessica Blevins, also put out a tweet yesterday that appears to suggest an announcement regarding Ninja’s future is just around the corner. “You’ve all been patient… this week will be fun,” she says.
You’ve all been patient….this week will be fun.
— Jessica Blevins (@JessicaBlevins) July 7, 2020
While Twitch remains top dog in the streaming world, YouTube Gaming has been trying to grow its presence in the industry and has seen big viewership for a number of its top streamers, particularly within a community that is key to Ninja: Fortnite.
The likes of Jack ‘CouRage’ Dunlop and Lannan ‘LazarBeam’ Eacott have capitalised on their already large subscriber base from regular video uploads to bring in decent live viewership on the platform for Fortnite streams, which is something that will look attractive to Ninja and his existing 23.8 million channel subs.