Mixer Allegedly Paid Ninja 20-30 Million Bucks

You might recall that streaming superstar and hair dye enthusiast Ninja made the decision last year to jump ship from Twitch and join Microsoft’s own streaming platform, Mixer, for an undisclosed but presumably enormous sum of money. The details of the deal were kept under wraps, but the goals of it were quite clear: to bring more views to the struggling platform by poaching the biggest name in video games streaming.

We know it worked to some small extent (although the longevity of this measure hasn’t been proven), but the real question asked by all was if Ninja’s boost to Mixer was worth the price they had to pay – and some new numbers revealed by CNN business suggests the answer is maybe no.

Because they’ve sourced the hefty sum Mixer paid to be between $20 and 30 million.

Oof.

Now, there are probably caveats: specifically, Ninja probably has to give up a portion (if not all) the revenue he’d normally make on Mixer to Microsoft, making the 20 to 30 million more like an advance than a proper paycheck. But when you consider he’s still getting fat stacks from book deals, merchandising, official skins on Fortnite (yeah that’s a thing now) and hosting gigs, it’s safe to say Ninja is not wanting for cash.

Ninja’s team has not confirmed this number, but it seems reasonable for a guy who makes over $10 million/year playing games.