We Finally Know Why Ninja Chose Twitch
Ninja has been having a pretty good time since his return to streaming on Twitch. However, fans may be surprised to learn just how close Ninja came to signing with another streaming platform entirely. During a recent stream (video via Daily Clips Central), Ninja opened up a bit about why he ultimately chose to walk away from YouTube and stay with Twitch.
Earlier this year, superstar streamer Valkyrae made waves when she chose to leave Twitch to stream on YouTube. There has been a bit of debate over whether or not this move made Valkyrae a bigger streamer than Pokimane, but the general consensus seems to be that the platform switch was good for Valkyrae's viewership numbers. It seems as though Ninja agrees with this sentiment.
While streaming Fortnite together, Ninja excitedly told Lachlan Power that Valkyrae had recently racked up 100,000 viewers during a single YouTube stream. This prompted Power to ask if Ninja had considered making a similar change in streaming platforms.
According to Ninja, moving to YouTube was a very real possibility, at one point. After the closure of Microsoft's Mixer platform, Ninja was a free agent. He dabbled a bit with streaming on YouTube, leading many to believe that was where he was going to settle down. Eventually, Ninja came back to Twitch with a brand new exclusive streaming contract.
However, Ninja told Lachlan Power that there was a moment there where YouTube almost became his new streaming home. After discussing how much easier it is to transition from YouTube to Twitch and not the other way around, Ninja confirmed that he had been "highly considering" accepting an offer from YouTube before he went back to Twitch. According to Ninja, his decision to stick with Twitch over YouTuber came down to a "lifestyle thing."
Ninja said he felt like his efforts would have much "more of an impact" if he was streaming on Twitch. Ninja may be onto something in this regard. Over the last few months, Twitch has seen record viewership numbers as different creators and public figures have used the service as a form of outreach. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez set a new record in a first-time Among Us stream, which also doubled as an effort to encourage people to get out and vote in the 2020 U.S. election. Meanwhile, Pokimane has received some praise for taking her streaming game to the next level. She recently introduced a new cap for viewer donations, which was essentially her way of protecting viewers from donating more than they needed to.
On the other hand, there are definite drawbacks to both platforms. When PewDiePie's videos stopped showing up in searches, fans were afraid that the YouTuber had been "shadowbanned" by the platform. Luckily for Pewds and his followers, it turned out that this was all just a weird glitch on YouTube's part. Meanwhile, Twitch has been receiving flak for a new PSA that discourages viewers from using ad blockers, as well as for sending out an ominous warning about DMCA violations to streamers.
Ninja also explained that he saw YouTube content creators being given a very different treatment from fans, with a lot of streaming content falling by the wayside. Ninja said, "When someone says, 'You're my favorite YouTuber,' almost no one ever means ... your streams on YouTube, right? It's always just, 'Oh, you're my favorite YouTuber,' and they think of your YouTube videos."
Ninja also seems to believe that YouTubers have a bit more of a stigma attached to them than Twitch streamers. He reasoned that YouTubers are almost never applauded for any of their charity efforts or high viewership numbers, but they are always focused on when they make mistakes. As an example of this, Ninja pointed to YouTuber Logan Paul's shady moments.
Ninja said, "[N]o one ever reports on a YouTuber getting a million live viewers or 500,000 live viewers on a stream, or raising millions of dollars for charity, right?"
It should be mentioned that Jacksepticeye made headlines earlier this year for raising nearly 660,000 during a charity stream. But perhaps Ninja's point is that the drama tends to outweigh the good on YouTube. With that in mind, and with Ninja being someone who is no stranger to controversy, it makes sense that he'd want to stay with Twitch over YouTube.
After a tumultuous year, it looks like Ninja has finally settled into a groove with Twitch. Ninja has recently set a goal to pursue roles in Hollywood. For now, however, fans will probably be happy to know that Ninja is exactly where he wants to be.