Ninja and Twitch have angered some of the site’s most popular personalities, after the streamer starter popping up in advertisements across the site promoting his New Year’s Eve event. Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, who has 12.6 million followers on the site and is its most well-known streamer by a considerable margin, will have his own 12-hour NYE event broadcast in New York’s Times Square. Twitch has been keen to push this special show, deploying ads on other streamers’ videos to raise awareness of the live stream.
However, other streamers have disapproved of Ninja appearing in ads on their videos, believing it to be a conflict of interest. With many streamers holding their own New Year’s live streams, Twitch is clearly directing its viewers to Ninja’s event, which could lead to them receiving fewer viewers during their own NYE streams.
This is going to be a NYE in Times Square like you've never seen before #ad pic.twitter.com/Tt6GpHla5Z
— Ninja (@Ninja) October 26, 2018
Twitch streamer BikeMan tweeted that he was “not a fan” of the ads, adding that it’s “just common sense” that a rival streamer appearing in his Twitch ads is a conflict of interest.
I will register my opinion on Twitch advertising Ninja's New years Eve stream on other broadcaster's ad rolls, and likely my own channel. I don't like that. It is a direct conflict of interest and I am not a fan of it. This should be a given, and just common sense. @Twitch
— BikeMan (@BikeMan) December 28, 2018
Dr Disrespect also chimed in on the issue, telling twitch to “get these ugly looking New Years Eve ad rolls off my page.”
Dear @Twitch , get these ugly looking New Years Eve ad rolls off my page.
Don’t ever do it again either.
Ever.
— Dr Disrespect (@DrDisrespect) December 28, 2018
In a now-deleted tweet, Ninja responded to the controversy surrounding the ads. “This event is going to be broadcasted to millions of people and continue to grant exposure to twitch which in turn allows other streamers to gain viewers,” he tweeted. “Whats not to like? or is it just because its me?”
Ninja has become the face of the Twitch within the past year, having held special live streams with celebrities such as Drake and generating nearly 400 million views on the site. While it’s understandable why Twitch would want to promote his NYE event, the concerns of the site’s other streamers are also valid. With New Year’s Eve set to be a high-traffic day for Twitch, many will inevitably be concerned that their viewers are being directed to a rival streamer’s channel.
Ninja’s New Year’s Eve live stream will be broadcast on his personal channel from 4 pm ET December 31st to 4 am ET January 1st.
