Ninja Hints He May Return To Esports After Halo Infinite Announcement
Long before his signature frosty blue spikes and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-esque bandana, Tyler "Ninja" Blevins competed at the heights of Halo esports for the likes of Cloud9, Team Liquid, and Luminosity.
The Twitch sensation has since moved on to become arguably the face of gaming, before toning down his efforts due to "chat baiters". Having progressed to dominate Twitch through the Fortnite craze and a multitude of sponsorship deals, including a sixth-month $30million deal with Mixer, Ninja has since long forgotten about Halo, although his desire to compete has seldom wavered.
Iced on top and within games, Ninja took a stab at becoming a competitive VALORANT player before finding that he struggled to balance his teams' needs with his many other responsibilities and the freedom of streaming.
However, his love affair with esports could be set to reignite, as 343 Industries finally announced the date for the Halo Infinite launch.
With Halo Infinite rolling in on a Warthog for the festive season, Ninja has now teased fans that upon December 8, he could be testing the waters with a new esport.
The internet phenomenon hinted at going professional in Halo again, as his inevitable return to the futuristic plasma-firing FPS franchise beckons.
During his Halo esports tenure, Ninja's most notable achievement was reaching the quarter-finals of the 2016 World Championships on Halo 5. Prior to that, the rising star won a range of small-tier tournaments, collecting a few thousand dollars along the way.
Former teammate and long-standing Halo professional Faisal "Goofy" Khan also ramped up speculation of Ninja's return, inferring a partnership may be on the cards. The two exchanged on Twitter with some cryptic glances.
Recently, Ninja poured $100,000 of his own money into a Halo 2 throwback tournament on Twitch Rivals. OpTic Gaming's Nick "MaNiaC" Kershner was on the winning side in a star-studded lineup, on which Ninja helped to cast and commentate. MaNiac and co. were able to get the better of 100 Thieves rival Ian "Enable" Wyatt and two-time world champion Paul "SnakeBite" Duarte.
The quality of Halo Infinite will likely determine the streamers' decision to go pro again, although 343 Industries will be hopeful that their year-long delay will be enough to bring Halo back to the forefront of console gaming once again.