Ninja, the former top Twitch streamer, recently hit 2 million subs on Mixer. That just puts him about 12 million behind what he had when he left Twitch.

Streamers have many reasons why they make the decisions they do, from which gaming peripherals to buy to where they're going to post their content. These decisions are rarely made on a whim, but the fans also rarely get to see the inner workings behind those decisions. Ninja, a.k.a. Tyler Blevins, recently made a decision that surprised not only his fans, but most of the live streaming community. He decided that on August first of this year, he would leave his Twitch fame behind to start anew on Microsoft’s Mixer.

Before making the switch, Ninja enjoyed an eight year stint on Twitch, becoming the biggest streamer on the platform due to his attitude and energy. Being a professional gamer by all definitions, streaming is his income, and so the decision for him was likely purely business. While Mixer obviously profits off him moving to their site, they of course had to pay him a significant amount to switch, but the recent subscribers they are picking up will handily foot that bill before too long. Ninja, on the other hand, gets to refresh his subscribers, knock off the cobwebs, and will most likely be back to making the same amount or more than before in no time.

Related: Dr Disrespect Claims He Knows How Much Ninja Received For Mixer Deal, Thinks It Was A Bad Move

Some fans were upset with Ninja for making the move for what is being perceived as "monetary reasons." But that’s why he’s streaming in the first place. He’s trying to make what he loves his career like we all would. So if making these decisions is securing his future of gaming and streaming professionally, good for him. It makes sense, considering the knowledge that Twitch subscriber counts and especially new subscribers are down across the board with new platforms competing for the market. Not to mention the free month that people get on Mixer for subscribing to Ninja has helped to convince a LOT of people to jump to suppport him.

In the long run, this decision could be the thing that got him from 14 million to 2 million in just a few weeks, or it could be something positive for Ninja and his brand. Of course, he has upset a lot of his fans who don’t want to pay for multiple streaming services, and there is an argument to be made for him leaving a platform that basically helped him gain followers in the first place. No matter how you slice it, this decision was a divisive one. But in the end, Ninja could prove to people who don’t believe in him that he earned whatever followers he has simply by convincing them to move to Mixer. Streaming isn’t just a group of excited gamers anymore, it’s a multi-million dollar business and current events are no longer individual decisions, but contracted deals to maximize profit. Ninja certainly made that profit, even after going down 12 million followers. 

Next: With Ninja Gone, Who Is Twitch's Next Star?