In Fortnite, the cult of personality around the Twitch streamer Ninja is taking on new dimensions. He has once again broken the viewer record on Twitch. This time without the help of rapper Drake, but with a kind of Saturday night show in Las Vegas.
With around 630,000 concurrent viewers, Fortnite player Tyler “Ninja” Blevins set the viewer record on Twitch for a solo streamer in March. Previously, the numbers were significantly lower. About 390,000 concurrent viewers wanted to see a controversial LoL pro or a macho type with a mullet.
“Well,” one might have said back then: Ninja had help. After all, in March he played several rounds of Fortnite with the mega-popular rapper Drake.
But now Ninja set a new record over the weekend, completely without rapper help. However: This was not a typical Saturday night Fortnite stream.
A kind of charity tournament breaks the Twitch record
As reported by Forbes, Ninja streamed at a Fortnite live event in the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas and reached over 680,000 viewers at its peak.
The event was somewhat of a: eSports meets entertainment with Fortnite as the backdrop.
Ninja played three rounds of three games with fans and other top Fortnite players, totaling nine Battle Royale rounds. In total, there was $50,000 in cash and some prizes up for grabs. For a win, there was $2,500 (about €2,034) and $2,500 for anyone who managed to eliminate Ninja.
Ninja himself, clearly the star of the evening, only won one game out of the nine. The money went to an Alzheimer’s charity.
14-year-olds and unknowns with victories
Forbes notes that some of the top Fortnite players were flown in specifically to participate in the event. Among them were Dr. Lupo and TSM_Myth.
However, the favorites, apart from Ninja, didn’t win any games. The victories went to others. An unknown player named “Blind” won the first two matches in a row. A 14-year-old secured the victory in the penultimate game.
TSM_Myth has a rough evening but contributes to the record
Especially TSM_Myth, who is considered one of the best and most popular Fortnite players in the world, seemed to have an unfortunate evening and couldn’t leave a lasting impression in the three rounds he played.
However, he surely contributed to the fact that Twitch streamer Ninja reached so many viewers. For most of the time, the viewer count was between 400,000 and 500,000, but when Myth came on towards the end, the numbers shot up, reaching the new Twitch record. Although Twitch has not officially confirmed this yet.
Significantly more defensive gameplay
However, the style of play that evening was different from the usual style.
Typically, streamers play aggressively and take risks. But that evening, many focused on playing carefully and surviving as long as possible. Therefore, the actual Fortnite hotspot “Tilted Towers” was deserted.
Ninja gave a lot of autographs to young fans during the event.
Gamers instead of boxers – Vegas wants to become a gamer mecca
It’s no coincidence that this event took place in Las Vegas. For some time, the gambling metropolis of the world has been trying to focus more on eSports and gaming. With gaming events that have a show character, they aim to attract a younger audience and draw them to the traditional “gambler trip to Vegas.”
The eSports Arena Las Vegas in the famous Luxor Hotel is probably the focus of this strategy. The arena opened at the end of March 2018.
In the past, Vegas attracted an audience with boxing matches and artists. In the future, the attraction could be a gamer like Tyler “Ninja” Blevins.
The plan seems to have worked out this time.
More about top players in Fortnite:
Is this the best Fortnite player in the world? The numbers say: Yes
