"Ninja made a bad decision": Why Ninja's return on Twitch could prove to be a devastating choice

Tyler "Ninja" Blevins is one of the most popular gamers in the world right now, known for his immense contribution to the world of Epic Games' super-successful Fortnite.

The 29-year-old streamer has enjoyed a stellar career run so far, racking up millions in the process. From endorsements to live events, Ninja has achieved a lot at a relatively young age. Recently, he made headlines when he returned to Twitch after signing an exclusive deal.

A new chapter, only on @Twitch pic.twitter.com/cv2qFFFI0p
— Ninja (@Ninja) September 10, 2020

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The move came out of the blue and took place months after he had shockingly left for Mixer in 2019.

Ninja's arrival at Mixer was expected to disrupt Twitch's monopoly over the streaming space, and even though Ninja managed to pull in stellar numbers, it didn't prove to be successful as Mixer ended up shutting down in July this year.

However, his return to Twitch has now left the internet divided, with many skeptics believing that Ninja's decision to re-sign with the Amazon-owned platform could very well prove to be a fatal one.

Ninja's return to Twitch: Hit or Miss?

In a recent video, YouTuber Devin Nash attempts to analyze the possible implications of Ninja's recent move to Twitch and what it could mean for the Fortnite pro's career henceforth.

He begins by mentioning one of his previous videos, where he had predicted that Michael "Shroud" Grzesiek would end up returning to Twitch, as his fan base continues to be huge. Speaking about Ninja, he says:

When Ninja left Twitch, he was on the decline , he went to Mixer and he stayed pretty small, relative to where he was at before but the fact is Ninja's power is actually off Twitch as a platform and Ninja has about 24 million subscribers on YouTube and his videos are very successful.

So I actually thought that Ninja's best move would be to go to YouTube where the Fortnite crowd is still very active. He often times gets many a videos that are over a million views , he can also play other games . Him streaming on YouTube would have been such a massive comeback compared to Twitch.

He then speaks about the possible terms of Ninja's contract and gives his opinion on why YouTube would have been a better option for Ninja:

I think he thinks that he can build his brand on Twitch as a platform . I don't think Twitch is the best place for him to live as a brand, to grow in the future. I feel like on YouTube, Ninja could have established himself as the authority.

I don't think he should be competing across the board one-to-one against Shroud on Twitch , I don't think he's going to win that fight.

He then speaks about Ninja's return figures, which were around the 100K cap. While these numbers are impressive, they are also a little underwhelming as compared to Shroud's return figures.

Believing that his content is not in tune with the current ecosystem of Twitch, he states that the only reason which could have prompted Ninja to take this decision would be his belief that collaborations perform better on Twitch.

Either he got offered a platinum deal on Twitch or his management team doesn't recognize how powerful YouTube is. Unannounced stream on YouTube- 135K, first stream back on Twitch- 100K.

He ends by giving his final verdict:

This is him returning to a platform that he loves and he's not going to sweat . Seeing how these brands develop he's probably thinking long-term .

Irrespective of what lies ahead, the online community currently seems to be just grateful to have two stalwarts- Ninja and Shroud, come back home to Twitch.