The fortune of Twitch streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is estimated at 50 million US dollars (around 48 million euros). He owes much of this money to the game Fortnite, in which he had a surge in popularity in 2017 and 2018. However, in 2025, he is frustrated that Fortnite allegedly pays other streamers to showcase the game, while he himself ends up with nothing.
This frustrates Ninja today: In a stream on Twitch in mid-February 2025, Ninja complains about the developers of Fortnite, Epic Games. He has heard and is quite sure that Epic has paid his former companions TimTheTatman and CourageJD to play Fortnite.
Ninja expected that he would also be approached for sponsorship, but Epic did not reach out to him.
This bothers Ninja quite a lot now.
Show me some love
Ninja says: In a Twitch stream with his brother Brandon Blevins, Ninja said (via twitch) that he feels “subtly insulted by Epic Games.” While he understands that he probably won’t be paid to play Fortnite since he plays it anyway, still.
I am one of the very few big streamers who play Fortnite, and just because I play it anyway, you pay a bunch of other people to play it even if only for a day. Not even for a day, just for two hours?
That bothers him. Epic should show him some love. Somehow, all of this goes against his grain.
It’s frustrating, but I get it. They want to reach new people. Tim plays other games. They want his viewers. I understand that. But please… show me some love.
Ninja says: Those who do not understand him are not intelligent
Is he not aware of the irony? Ninja made his current huge fortune through Fortnite, and he seems to realize that himself. But still.
In the stream, he says:
It’s not like I need the money, but it’s about principle. I mean, I can already see the comments: “No, dude, wow, you as a millionaire complain because you’re not getting paid” – No, it’s about principle. And anyone who can’t understand that is not intelligent.
Ninja truly believes he made Fortnite big – not the other way around
What’s behind it: For 8 years, Ninja has been filled with the idea: No matter how much he gets, he deserves it, and actually a lot more is due to him.
His fundamental assumption, even after 8 years, is “Ninja made Fortnite big”, while all the facts support that Fortnite made the previously almost unknown streamer Ninja big and later unbelievably rich.
Ninja ruthlessly rode the absolute hype game Fortnite for two years and then in 2019 let his enormous success in the game be crowned by an unbelievably good Mixer deal. This hype period and this deal with Mixer apparently resulted in a large part of his fortune, which is now estimated at 50 million US dollars.
In principle, Ninja left his viewers and also Fortnite when the game was no longer performing well and when younger players like Tfue threatened to surpass him. Because in May 2019, despite all efforts, Ninja simply could not qualify for the Fortnite World Cup. Other players were already much stronger than him, who at the end of his 20s was already considered a senior
in Fortnite esports.
Yet despite his huge success, Ninja has never shown any sense of gratitude back to Fortnite. Instead, Ninja has been complaining for years that Epic Games should have courted, promoted, and supported him even more: His skin in Fortnite came way too late. Had it been released during the hype period, he and Epic could have made even more money.
A enough
has never been enough for Ninja here.
It’s a skewed perception. Yes, Ninja was the biggest gamer in the world in 2017 and 2018, but he became that because of Fortnite. Before that, no one had him on their radar.
The idea that Ninja made Fortnite big and is owed special love from the game for eternity is an exclusive view that Ninja holds and apparently cannot let go of. But probably this drive is also the successful model that defines him. Meanwhile, at least you can see that he realizes how strange he comes across in these moments. He always emphasizes that’s just how his brain works – that’s how he’s wired. Twitch: Ninja reveals the “disgusting” amount he earned at the height of Fortnite
