Biography
Who is Ninja?
Early life and education
Richard Tyler Blevins was born on June 5, 1991, in Taylor, Michigan. This location is a suburb of Detroit. He spent his childhood in the Chicago suburbs after his family moved there when he was an infant. He has two older brothers named Jonathan and Chris.
During his school years, he attended Grayslake Central High School. After graduating from high school, he made the decision to pursue video games as a professional career path. He began entering competitive tournaments and joined professional organizations to live stream his gaming sessions.
Professional gaming and esports career
His professional gaming career began in 2009 with Halo 3. Over the years, he played for several organizations including Team Liquid, Cloud9, Renegades, and Luminosity Gaming. He transitioned into streaming in 2011, initially playing games like H1Z1 and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds before finding major success with Fortnite Battle Royale.
In August 2017, he won the PUBG Gamescom Invitational Squads classification. His viewership increased significantly alongside the rising popularity of Fortnite during late 2017 and early 2018. By March 2018, he became the first streamer on Twitch to surpass 3 million followers on the platform.
Media appearances and projects
Beyond gaming, he has participated in various mainstream media projects. He appeared on the television game show Family Feud in 2015 and later as a contestant on Celebrity Family Feud in 2019. In 2018, he became the first professional esports player featured on the cover of ESPN The Magazine.
He collaborated with record label Astralwerks for the album Ninjawerks: Vol. 1, which was released in December 2018. He also appeared in YouTube Rewind 2018 and featured in an NFL commercial that aired during Super Bowl LIII in 2019. Also, he participated in the second season of The Masked Singer as the character Ice Cream.
Business ventures and platform changes
In 2019, he signed a deal to stream exclusively on Microsoft's Mixer platform, though he eventually returned to Twitch in 2020 after Mixer shut down. He has since adopted a simulcasting approach, broadcasting content across platforms including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. He also partnered with MasterClass in 2022 to teach a curriculum on becoming a successful streamer.
He has been involved in several charitable efforts throughout his career. In February 2018, he raised over $110,000 for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Later, he participated in the #Clips4Kids event which raised over $340,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. In 2024, he and his brother Jonathan raised $93,000 for cancer research.
Birthday and age
Ninja was born on June 5, 1991, which makes Ninja 35 years old today. That birthday falls under the Gemini sign. Ninja shares the date with 28 other famous people.
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