The streamer Ninja is one of the best players in Fortnite: Battle Royale. But how did the skinny boy with colorful hair become so good? The answer is not particularly glamorous.
Who is this Ninja, anyway? Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is the most successful streamer in the world. The lanky young man with colorful hair has over 11 million followers on Twitch and earns several thousand dollars each month through their donations and subscription fees . On social media, he is regarded as the most influential athlete ahead of footballers Neymar and Ronaldo.
Moreover, Ninja is simply a damn good Fortnite player.
That actually sounds like a chill life: Gaming all day and becoming filthy rich doing it. But the truth is less glamorous, as Ninja explains in conversation with the sports magazine ESPN.
Maximal Combat Spirit
Ninja is an extreme competitor: To understand Ninja’s gameplay, one must first take a closer look at the person Tyler Blevins. The pale boy with dyed hair may outwardly appear as a laid-back jokester, but at his core, he is a tough, tenacious winner.
He approaches every game he plays with maximum commitment, according to his brother, this has been the case since childhood.
Unbeatable even as a child: Tyler would always win back then, no matter what was played. Even when his brother frustratedly punched him in the arm to make Tyler drop the controller, the young Ninja would still achieve victory.
Ninja simply does not want to lose. When he plays, he follows through relentlessly. Be it in Halo, where he made his mark as an eSports player, or now in Fortnite.
Ninja’s way of playing Fortnite has nothing to do with fun anymore
Talent is good, but it’s not enough: Ninja’s success definitely indicates that he has a talent for games. That might be an initial advantage, but if you want to reach the top, you have to train hard. And much harder than most of us can imagine.
At least one victory every day: To stay this good, Ninja must constantly practice and rethink his strategy. He plays about 50 matches a day. Out of those, he has to win at least one. Usually, it’s around 15 victories; once, it was even 29.
Every loss is a failure: Whenever Ninja does not win, it’s a big deal for him. It really frustrates him because at his level of professionalism, there are no excuses for “failure”. As a consequence, he rethinks his strategy and analyzes the past game to learn from his mistakes.
This is no longer fun: Ninja is therefore incredibly driven and competitive when playing Fortnite. This has little to do with what most players understand by “fun”.
This stands in stark contrast to Ninja’s public image, where he always presents himself in a good mood and witty to his fans.
But essentially, Ninja is not about “fun”; he’s about business. If he streams less or performs poorly, his record earnings would quickly vanish.
Training is good, but it depends on how you train: Moreover, it is not enough just to practice. If you want to be as good as Ninja, you must use your training effectively and not let up even when you are at the top.
When you reach the “goal,” the work only just begins: Especially when you are at the top, Ninja says, you must work even harder to stay there. Many players would slack off at this critical moment and then fall back down. The fact that Ninja has held the top spot on Twitch for months is a testament to his ambition and commitment.
Vacation or Streaming?
Vacations and events cost thousands of dollars: Therefore, Ninja has hardly any leisure time that he can spend quietly with his wife and dogs. If he wants to continue existing as a top streamer, he must basically always be online and cannot ease up.
When he finally had a two-day break, it cost him around 100,000 dollars. Even appearances at eSports events, such as the Pro-Am Tournament at E3 2018, cost Ninja money as he could not stream during that time.
He must weigh whether the increased publicity from such events and appearance fees offset the concrete value loss of his Twitch channel.
Honeymoon still happens: Therefore, his honeymoon was also his only vacation in 8 years. Ninja had already played Pro-Gamer Halo and other games before Fortnite and was similarly engaged in it.
For his vacation, he at least produced various videos in advance and released them at staggered times during his absence. Otherwise, the loss of viewers would have been too extreme.
And even if he takes time off and leaves his house in a walled neighborhood, he is besieged by hordes of fans and has hardly any peace.
Life on the Edge
The price of success: So if you want to become as good as Ninja, you probably have to invest massive time and energy in endless practice and sustain this for a long time. And very few can manage that without burning out first.
Wife manages everything else: Ninja likely achieves this only through his iron will and the support of his wife, who bears it all and even acts as his manager.
She also ensures that her husband gets enough food and drinks during his stressful streaming routine.
What comes after Fortnite? Currently, Ninja is maximally associated with Fortnite, and his fans love him for it. But Ninja says of himself that he could master virtually any competitive online game in a short time.
So if Fortnite ever goes downhill, Ninja would likely get involved elsewhere after a brief adjustment and would soon be back at the top.
How long will this continue? Currently, Ninja does not want to stop and rest on his earned millions. He plans to keep going until he can provide a comfortable life for his family and grandchildren. Then it would be time to slow down.
Fun fact: Ninja once quit his job at a noodle company when he could comfortably live off his Halo streaming. By that, he meant an annual income between $80,000 and $90,000!
Ninja’s hard work has now brought him to the cover of a recognized US sports magazine. This could also bring gaming itself closer to the mainstream:
