Ninja raked in nearly $10 million in 2018
Twitch superstar Tyler "Ninja" Blevins has finally settled the debate over just how much he earned in 2018. CNN reports that the gaming phenom pulled in close to $10 million last year, a little tidbit that he revealed to CNN during his press campaign on New Year's Eve in New York City. (He also tried to get the good people of Times Square to "floss." They weren't having it.)
Ninja has more than 20 million subscribers on YouTube, and 12.5 million followers on Twitch, 40,000 of whom are paid subscribers. Ninja told CNN that he thinks of himself as an entrepreneur, comparing his stream to a coffee shop. "They're gonna find another coffee shop if you're not there ... you have to be there all the time," he said to CNN.
And when he says "all the time," he means it. The streamer said he goes live for roughly 12 hours a day, which adds up to about 4,000 hours of gaming over the year.
Also at Fortune.
Previously: Tyler Blevins ("Ninja"): The First Gamer on the Cover of ESPN Magazine
Related: Facebook/Instagram vs. Twitch and YouTube
YouTube Announces "Channel Memberships" and Other Ways for Creators to Make Money
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In the next few months, audiences will be able to support their favorite channels within YouTube by paying $4.99 per month to become a member of that channel's community and get access to exclusive posts, videos, live streams and other perks offered by the creator. The program, called Channel Memberships, will be available to channels with 100,000 subscribers or more that meet certain standards, like being eligible for ads and run by creators over the age of 18. The feature, previously called Sponsorships, launched last fall on YouTube Gaming to compete with rival streaming services Twitch, and will soon be made available on YouTube more broadly.
YouTube is also partnering with custom t-shirt company Teespring to allow creators to customize and sell merchandise directly through their channels, as of this week. Many YouTubers, large and small, already make and sell merchandise on their own for extra cash. Not to mention, hawk it incessantly in their videos.
Your video channel has been demonetized. Sorry about that :/
Previously: Facebook/Instagram vs. Twitch and YouTube
Ninja is the first gamer on the cover of ESPN Magazine
Ninja is the first professional gamer to feature on the cover of ESPN Magazine. The 27-year-old streamer, real name Tyler Blevins, is most famous for playing Fortnite and has more than 11 million followers on Twitch.
He reached the mainstream earlier this year when he broke Fortnite streaming records after playing with Drake.
But some people are questioning if a gamer should be in the same category as athletes.
Ninja started off as an e-sports competitor, mostly playing Halo. He switched to streaming, becoming known for battle royale - or last player standing - game Player Unknown's Battlegrounds. But when Fortnite introduced its battle royale mode, Ninja jumped ship and then started getting really big.
Back in March, Forbes reported that he had 3 million followers and 4 million YouTube subscribers. He now has 11 million Twitch followers and 18 million YouTube subscribers.
Related: Ninja explains his choice not to stream with female gamers
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 03 2019, @03:15AM (11 children)
If you feel old, like me, and need to understand what the new hip word "cringe" is all about, just look that clown up.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday January 03 2019, @03:24AM (10 children)
Here I'll give you a shortcut:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu7_bVmP_uA [youtube.com] (assume NSFW)
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by coolgopher on Thursday January 03 2019, @03:49AM (9 children)
I...
Uh...
/logoff
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday January 03 2019, @04:00AM (7 children)
FYI, the video compares Ninja to a "comedian" named "Lele Pons". Be careful, you might log off permanently if you watch that one.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 03 2019, @04:12AM
Sounds more like a "steamer" to me.
(Score: 2, Funny) by aristarchus on Thursday January 03 2019, @04:13AM (5 children)
Your plan, takyon, get Soylentils to permanently logoff, is going swimmingly. How about some aristarchus submission, to stem to exodus?
(Score: 2, Funny) by takyon on Thursday January 03 2019, @04:19AM (1 child)
How about you take another nice vacation? Perhaps to Siberia, or Mars.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2, Funny) by aristarchus on Thursday January 03 2019, @04:23AM
Been there, done that. No alt-right types in either place, so my task is here! (Well, there was Maria, but she is imprisoned now, for bonking a NRA type. Patriotism, the first and last refuge of scoundrels?)
(Score: 2) by stretch611 on Thursday January 03 2019, @01:13PM (2 children)
@aristarchus...
Reading your submitted articles and comments are much more pleasant than seeing "Ninja."
By far.
(but seriously, don't let this seem like an endorsement or let it go to your head.)
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 3, Funny) by takyon on Thursday January 03 2019, @02:24PM (1 child)
Now that's a low bar.
Reading aristarchus is also better than getting shot in the leg or learning you have terminal cancer. For now...
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Funny) by aristarchus on Thursday January 03 2019, @11:42PM
Thanks for the compliment, takyon! I knew you had it in you!
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Friday January 04 2019, @11:57PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 03 2019, @04:14AM (2 children)
...of an IRS audit. One can only hope this assclown gets nailed for tax evasion.
Maybe he and the trumpster can be cellies.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday January 03 2019, @04:24AM
What makes you think he has evaded taxes?
If he is making nearly $1 million a month and doing New Year's events, he probably retains the services of a manager and an accountant.
If you just hope he is evading taxes and will get caught, then that's cool I guess. I think it's more likely that some controversy or waning viewer interest will eventually bring him down.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by VLM on Thursday January 03 2019, @02:49PM
I think you're mixing memes. A quick google for 1099 and twitch vs 1099 and instagram indicates the insta-thots are probably not getting 1099'd and are probably evading taxes, whereas online FAQ pages at twitch seem to indicate a stable legal infrastructure where streamers just put their 1099 in like anyone else.
Now where it gets weird, is the IRS and state can get agitated about quarterlies and withholding if you make "too much" and don't file quarterlies. Its not a significant amount of work; I make a lot off investment and its variable so I just made my 4th quarterly like two weeks ago, you can do it all online and it takes practically no time or effort. Maybe an hour total for fed and state. Its possible someone going from 0 to $10M in a year might be lazy about quarterlies.
(Score: 2) by The Archon V2.0 on Thursday January 03 2019, @05:45PM (2 children)
'(He also tried to get the good people of Times Square to "floss." They weren't having it.)'
Fortnite memes don't carry much weight with the general populace. I am shocked!
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday January 04 2019, @06:32PM (1 child)
It's also not going to go down well when it's raining and everyone's packed together like sardines.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Touché) by The Archon V2.0 on Friday January 04 2019, @07:12PM
I have no idea what you're talking about. I'd love an evening of dancing the punch-your-neighbors-in-the-balls.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 04 2019, @06:27PM
No thanks, I'd rather PLAY a game.