Twenty-seven-year-old Twitch streamer and Internet personality Tyler “Ninja” Blevins reportedly earned nearly $10 million in 2018 from viewers who enjoy watching him play games like Fortnite, according to CNN. This figure was announced to CNN during Ninja’s press campaign on New Year’s Eve in New York City.
Ninja currently has over 20 million YouTube subscribers and 12.5 million Twitch followers — of which 40,000 are paid subscribers. Twitch subscribers are spread across three tiers: $4.99, $9.99, and $25 per month to watch Ninja play games. And about 70% of his income comes from YouTube and Twitch. Blevins also generates income from sponsors such as Samsung, Red Bull, and Uber Eats.
Back in March, Ninja broke a streaming record while playing Fortnite with Drake. That stream hit 628,000 concurrent viewers. But that record has been broken since then.
Fortnite maker Epic Games is reportedly expecting to hit $3 billion in profits this year. Currently, there are more than 200 million registered Fortnite players around the world, which is a 60% increase since June.
Blevins sees himself as a small business owner. “They’re gonna find another coffee shop if you’re not there … you have to be there all the time,” said Blevins via CNN.
Currently, Blevins live streams Fortnite about 12 hours of a day, which is about 4,000 hours of playing the game per year — or the equivalent of 140 days.
Last month, Blevins appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” where he taught Fallon how to do the “Pon Pon Dance”:
Blevins is also further capitalizing on his brand by releasing a rap album called “Ninjawerks.”
And during the New Year’s Eve, Blevins streamed on his Twitch page in front of an invite-only audience in Times Square between 4 PM ET and 4 AM ET.
