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Microsoft allegedly paid between $20-$30 million for Ninja to move to Mixer

Mixer

Ninja moving to Mixer was big news. The most popular Twitch streamer on the platform at one time built a multi-million dollar fortune out of a combination of on-stream revenue and a media blitz to build his wider brand. It was a smart move, as streaming can’t last forever. Ninja made the wisest choice he could and leveraged the popularity he spent years building to diversify. So when Microsoft offered to pay him a huge sum of money, he took the lucrative deal.

Of course it hasn’t exactly worked for Mixer. The millions they spent on luring away popular streamers from Twitch has not translated to overnight growth. On most days, when Twitch is pulling in millions of viewers, Mixer only averages between 40,000 to 50,000. For context, Fortnite viewership on Twitch during midday streams, an off-peak time, is twice that number easily. And that’s just one game. Mixer has a long way to go to compete with Twitch.

Questionable nature of the decision for Mixer aside, there’s a lot of money involved. Popular streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins jumped from Twitch to Mixer in 2019, and the exclusivity agreement was paid out to the tune of $20-$30 million. Ninja isn’t the only major player to make the jump either, although likely the only one to get paid such an insane amount.

Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek made the jump too, leaving behind millions of followers. Cory “King Gothalion” Michael, well-known for his fundraising for children’s hospitals, said that Mixer would help with “everything from helping broadcasters establish themselves, mentoring growing broadcasters, raising money for charity and putting on events like GuardianCon at GCX.”

The push to compete with the monster of Twitch hasn’t been easy. Google completely shuttered it’s gaming-focused service a while back, as the competition became too fierce. And based on a new report from CNN, there’s some major heat brewing for these streaming wars.

Content analysts for StreamElements claimed that over 12 million hours of livestreamed content were watched last year, and that number has increased year-on-year. That kind of traffic means that companies are keen to grab millions of eyeballs with exclusivity deals. The numbers aren’t confirmed, but it’s suspected that those streamers who reach 10,000 concurrent views on Twitch will see offers north of $10 million. Some smaller streamers will see offers around $1 million, according to some sources.

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