Ninja hits one million subscribers on Mixer in less than a week

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But will they stick around once their free subscription is up?

Less than one week after parting ways with Twitch to try his luck on Microsoft's Mixer streaming platform, Fortnite mega-streamer Tyler "Ninja" Blevins has already racked up more than one million subscribers.

Those of you who have perused Ninja's Mixer channel will likely know that subscriptions are free for everyone until the end of September, which is obviously (and hugely) inflating the numbers. The situation will get a lot more interesting when the freebie period is over, and we see how much of that subscriber base—whatever it ultimately adds up to, because there's still almost two full months left in the promo—sticks around.

Regardless of how that shakes out, the speed with which he achieved the magic million is very impressive. Mixer's audience size is significantly smaller than Twitch's, so being able to draw that many eyeballs, that quickly, has to be a welcome demonstration of its ability to compete. That in turn makes it more attractive to other top-flight streamers, which is vital to Mixer's long-term fortunes and quite possibly Ninja's as well: Streamer Guy "DrDisrespect" Beahm predicted in a recent stream that if Mixer can't pick up "a few other big name" streamers, Ninja's numbers will fall.

"It has nothing to do with him," Beahm said. "I think it's just the exposure on the platform, where it's at right now."

Andy Chalk
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.