Twitch reverts Tyler “Ninja” Blevins' channel to offline mode after he calls Twitch out for using it to promote other streamers, including a porn broadcast
Ninja (aka Tyler Blevins) has largely avoided any bad blood between him and Twitch following his jump to Mixer, but that apparently didn't last long.
EngadgetJon Fingas
Context & Ripple Effects
Ten days after Ninja announced his full-time move to Microsoft's Mixer, his abandoned Twitch channel is still live — and Twitch is using it as recommendation real estate, surfacing other streamers to his remaining audience. The blowup came when one of those promotions was a porn broadcast; Ninja called Twitch out publicly, and Twitch responded by flipping the channel back to offline mode. The friction matters because it punctured the 'no bad blood' framing around his exit and put Twitch's handling of departed stars under scrutiny.
First-order effects
Twitch keeps editorial control over Ninja's dormant channel after his departure, but using it to promote other streamers — including an adult broadcast — turns his residual audience into a liability he publicly disowns.
Ninja gains a public grievance against Twitch just as Mixer needs credibility against the market leader, giving Microsoft's platform an opening to position itself as the less adversarial home.
Other elite streamers weighing platform switches now have a concrete example that leaving Twitch means ceding their channel and audience graph to the incumbent, raising the effective cost of exclusivity deals elsewhere.
Platforms may formalize what happens to channels after a creator leaves — offline defaults, promotion policies, and takedown rights become part of the negotiating package rather than an afterthought.
The trend: Streamer-platform relationships are shifting from exclusive loyalty toward portable, multi-platform creator brands, with dormant-channel control emerging as a flashpoint in that renegotiation.
1/ Our community comes to Twitch looking for live content. To help ensure they find great, live channels we've been experimenting with showing recommended content across Twitch, including on streamer's pages that are offline.
Now @Twitch is recommended PORN on @Ninja 'a channel to his young fans! Honestly I would sue at this point! This disrespect has went on long enough! #DramaAlert pic.twitter.com/gN2OGXvVY8
4/ On a more personal note, I apologize want to apologize directly to @ninja that this happened. It wasn't our intent, but it should not have happened. No excuses.
2/ This helps all streamers as it creates new community connections. However, the lewd content that appeared on the @ninja offline channel page grossly violates our terms of service, and we've permanently suspended the account in question.
Update: @Twitch has reverted @Ninja's channel to the default offline status, which in turn brings back offline chat. Right now, Twitch users are burning the company and it looks like mods are removing controversial comments. Story here: https://www.engadget.com/... pic.twitter.c…
Petty to have the “he's at another castle” in the first place , but how they did not recognize that porn was the top stream there for awhile is beyond me... probably too busy ignoring Alinity throw her cat around 👀 https://twitter.com/...
I love 2019 Professional gamers with multi-colored hair act more professional and mature than billion dollar corporations. What a world. https://twitter.com/...
This will not work unless you give streamers power to customize who can be seen on their own channel. Judging by this thread, it has already clearly proven it can be grossly misused. https://twitter.com/...
CEO of @Twitch explains how porn ended up being shown on @Ninja's profile. Basically a feature aimed at creating new engagement on abandoned channels combined with failure to filter said recommendations led to kids looking for Fortnite videos recommended pornographic content. htt…
No one wants this. This is the ninja ads on your channel all over again & shows how disconnected Twitch really is from all the streamers who care for the platform. Please start asking partners/affiliates before implementing these, have focus groups like Twitch Tour more often 💜 h…
You should be better than this @twitch. I'd be willing the bet that changing the face of Tyler's channel to show others is TECHNICALLY ok, and covered in TOS... but.... c'mon son. https://twitter.com/...
This is so disgusting. Tyler has worked so hard to have a brand that's suitable for all audiences. We have no control of what they're doing to his Twitch channel which is directly affecting his brand in a bad way. So pissed. https://twitter.com/...
Bravo @Twitch! It's become clear that you are a little upset about losing @Ninja but recommending porn to his young audience and using his channel to promo other streamers!? #NewLow https://www.engadget.com/...
This is a big yikes. Twitch repurposed @Ninja's channel after his switch to Mixer, highlighting top Fortnite streams instead. Earlier today, it let an account stream porn to 20k+ people for 2 hours in the Fortnite category. This, of course, was replicated on Ninja's channel. http…