While it’s possible to split hairs all day over which metrics definitively determine whether someone is the top streamer on Twitch, there’s no denying that Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek is one of the platform’s biggest stars. Or, he was. Now he’s moving to Mixer.
Grzesiek has a Twitch follower count of over seven million and a 2019 record-high hours-watched total of 15 million in February. As a streamer, he’s beloved for his absurd aim in shooters and generally chill demeanor. Today, he made the announcement that he’s moving to Mixer on Twitter with a quick trailer that jokingly winked at the pomp and circumstance that has recently accompanied these moves (with a kitty, no less). He also posted a short message.
“Same Shroud,” he wrote. “New home.”
Already, he has over 40,000 followers on Mixer, which is chump change compared to his Twitch follower count. I imagine that number will skyrocket throughout the day—especially once he does his first stream.
In August, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins—the closest thing streaming has to a mainstream megastar—also moved to Mixer, sending shockwaves throughout the streaming community. He’s now the Microsoft-owned platform’s most-followed personality, with nearly 2.5 million followers. While Mixer is definitely trying to assert itself as a viable competitor to Twitch, a recent report from streaming utilities company StreamElements suggests that the addition of Blevins has had little impact on the platform’s total number of hours watched. Between July and September, Twitch made up a whopping 75.6 percent of streaming hours watched, according to the report, while Mixer managed a comparatively measly 3.2 percent.
Of course, you wouldn’t expect Blevins to move that needle all by his lonesome, but many were predicting a major exodus of Twitch streamers to Mixer in Blevins’ wake. An additional report from a separate streaming utilities company, StreamLabs, notes that Mixer gaming stream hours have gone through the roof during that July-September period, increasing by 188 percent compared to the three months prior. This suggests that significantly more people are streaming on Mixer now, but it has yet to produce a huge increase in viewership stats. With Grzesiek now on board, perhaps that tide will begin to turn. One thing’s for sure: Mixer definitely isn’t messing around.