The market for streaming content has never been so heated, and different sites and platforms are trying to grab up all the talent they can. But with a business dominated by a certain amount of celebrities, Mixer only seems interested in snagging one major player from Twitch: Ninja (Tyler Blevins). While this may have been the most publicly talked-about news for a while in the streaming community, it seems like a logical first step, not the only one.
In fact, with Twitch being the number one platform in streaming by a wide margin, it would only make sense for Mixer and other platforms to be trying to recruit every streamer worth their subscriber count from Twitch. But with as much money on the table as Ninja can bring into the fold, it might also be a move that cost them their ability to grab up other talent in the near future.
It could simply be that with a company that isn’t the top of the market - Mixer can’t offer enough to Twitch streamers at large to convert to their platform. However, it could also have something to do with whatever amount of money they gave Ninja to come over in the first place. Not a lot of companies can afford to sign a big contract with a big star, then turn around and immediately do that again - just ask major sports teams and LA talent agencies.
But aside from the weight of the financial burden it took Mixer to sign on Ninja, there are a lot of other aspects to the game that aren’t being analyzed by most people. This is by no means a surprise. With streaming as a community and a business being at the forefront of technology, there are numerous misconceptions about the nature of what this business is and how it operates.
With their more in-depth communication system to fans, and what some people consider to be a better interface overall, Microsoft has done their homework and used their technological skills to make Mixer an immediate threat to the more pedigreed Twitch. Now that they have the platform necessary to compete, and have built a certain amount of loyal followers, it seems like acquiring new talent should be the number one priority.
But with several different companies and platform in the industry, it can be hard for outside observers to really see what’s going on behind the scenes when the biggest decisions are being made. Often, a decision as well thought-out as trying to get Ninja has been in the works for months without so much as a word to the public. If the news got out early, Twitch could have made a play to keep Ninja on their platform, and if the public heard about it before it happened, who knows what their opinions would have been? Allowing the news to come out when they want it to gives Mixer a measure of control over how the story breaks, and as is, the switch has been treated so far like a profitable player being traded from one team to another.
This really starts to get down into the meat and potatoes of the issue, which is that this is simply a result of esports being taken more seriously. If Ninja was playing for the Lakers and got traded to another team, the reaction would be the same. He would be derided by several fans for leaving his perceived ‘home team’. Other fans would also be happy for him, assuming he signed the deal for an increase in pay. Still others would be confused as to why he left the team that made him famous in the first place.
The entire feel of this is identical because that’s precisely what this is: one major player switching teams. The most likely reason that Mixer isn’t trying to get more of Twitch’s players, is that Ninja cost them a LOT to sign and they are currently hoping that some of his former ‘teammates’ will make the decision to switch on their own. Not to mention the fact that Ninja basically put out an open invitation for other Twitch streamers to join him in the transition.
Of course, he was tactful enough to say it in a way that didn’t seem like recruiting.