The best Fortnite player in the world, ‘Ninja’ Tyler Blevins, says he currently makes more than $500,000 a month and may just become the world’s first $10 million a year gamer. Ninja has over 20 million subscribers to his YouTube channel and a reported 200,000+ paying subscribers watching Blevins livestream on Twitch.
‘Ninja’ Tyler Blevins, coming off appearances on Ellen and Jimmy Fallon, discussed his Fortnite success and wealth in an interview on CNN Business:
Blevins Makes More than $500,000 a Month
Losing tens of thousands of dollars sitting for this interview is a perfect assumption. With Fortnite alone I’ve streamed 3,400 hours this past year. That’s 142 days of gaming and streaming. On a good month I make more than $500,000 a month.
When I started making more than $80,000 a year streaming and gaming was the deciding factor in leaving college and quitting my job at Noodles & Company. That was the deciding factor by my Mom. By no means was she going to let me quit my job or drop out of school.
I say “drop out of school,” I don’t even like that because I always had every intention of going back. I actually did go back when I had an eye issue thing and my stream took a dive. After hitting $80,000 a year I said Mom, I’m doing this until I make less and then I will go back.
Could be the First $10 Million a Year Gamer
I definitely could be the first $10 million a year gamer. It’s rare that I meet people that don’t know what I’m doing. But if I had a dollar every time I was at an airport and someone asks what I’m doing. I say I’m going to a tournament. I answer it’s a video game tournament. They are amazed I make money playing video games. The gaming tournament explanation is simple. A bunch of people buy a team pass. That money goes into the prize pool winner take all.
70 Percent of Revenue Comes from Twitch and YouTube
Streaming is the hardest part for people to understand. How do you make money streaming? The answer is ad revenue. There are going to be ads in commercial breaks. Those advertising companies pay the network and it’s the same way with streaming. However many people see the ads, you get money there. Also, people can subscribe.
I make most of my money from Twitch and YouTube. It’s constant, it’s consistent, it’s monthly. About 70 percent of my money comes from Twitch and YouTube together. And then like brand deals with Red Bull and others make up the rest. It’s really simple, it’s like subscribing to a magazine, Spotify, or anything like that. It’s the same thing.
My favorite reference is a guy on the street playing the violin. He’s not expected to get any money, maybe a couple of bucks. If you enjoy it a lot sometimes people will throw in twenty’s and five’s. It’s the same thing with me, but I absolutely have a big violin case.