On Monday, Microsoft made it public that they are shutting down their attempt at a Twitch competitor (Mixer) less than a year after luring Ninja and some other big name creators to the brand via exclusivity deals. That shutdown becomes official on July 22.
According to Forbes, this move came after Mixer acquired almost no growth during a time period where the rest of the medium is blowing up.
The next move for Microsoft will be partnering up with Facebook Gaming, that was also announced on Monday. Facebook Gaming has reported substantial growth over the past year, and done well during quarantine. Note that Facebook has what you might call a shitty track record when it comes to accurately reporting on their own video metrics but, whatever, that's Microsoft's problem.
Mixer pages that are still in existence will be converted into Facebook Gaming pages with the very notable exception that the name-brand Mixer gamers (see: Ninja, Shroud, and more) are now effectively free agents.
Reports state that Facebook did try to keep the pair listed by name, but that an agreement couldn't be reached.
Still more reports state Facebook doubled the original Mixer offers to keep both Ninja and Shroud (we're talking deals in the eight figures) but that the answer was still no. Those now ex-Mixers will still be paid the amount of their old contracts, which means that life continues to be very, very sweet for them.
Where they go now, however, is still up in the air. That's according to messages put up on both their Twitter accounts after the news was announced:
Other smaller name creators who won't be pulling in the type of auto-deposits of the aforementioned pair also appear to have at least some support from the community, due to the fact that they're, well, now looking to continue careers under less certain circumstances:
As for the reactions to Ninja and Shroud, though? Here's a sampling. It would appear that many are jealous. I consider myself in that group:
