Ninja is the first player on the cover of ESPN Magazine

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ESPN

Ninja is the first professional player to appear on the cover of ESPN magazine.

Tyler Blevins, the famous 27-year-old streamer, is known to have played at Fortnite and has over 11 million fans on Twitch.

He reached the mainstream earlier this year when he broke Fortnite's streaming records after playing with Drake.

But some people wonder if a player should be in the same category as the athletes.

He became great thanks to Fortnite – and Drake

Ninja debuted as a competitor of e-sports, playing mostly Halo.

He switched to streaming, making himself known for the Royal Battle – or the last standing player – of the unknown player's Battlegrounds game.

But when Fortnite introduced his royal battle mode, Ninja jumped the ship and then began to get really big.

In March, Forbes announced 3 million followers and 4 million YouTube subscribers.

It now has 11 million followers on Twitch and 18 million subscribers on YouTube.

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It was a Twitch stream with Drake really pushing Ninja numbers.

Playing in a four-man squad with Toronto rapper, American footballer Juju Smith-Schuster and Travis Scott, Ninja's stream has reached more than 600,000 viewers – breaking the record of a non-tournament match.

Ninja makes almost all of its money, of which ESPN brings in nearly a million dollars a month from Twitch.

It is paid for on its channel commercials, paying subscribers, exceptional fan donations – as well as other revenue from YouTube and referrals.

It was not easy

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The Chicago-based streamer also made the headlines, with its new fame, for the wrong reasons.

In March, he apologized for saying the word on a livestream when he hit.

Then, in August, he was criticized for saying that he "did not play with players" out of respect for his wife Jessica, who is also his manager and a professional player.

"Even if there is a hint of flirtation, it will be caught and will be put on every video and be clickbait forever," he told Polygon in an interview.

He is quite devoted

While Ninja's popularity reached Fortnite, he began broadcasting Call of Duty Blackout, which is another royal battle game.

He says that he's doing so well by practicing continuously, continuing about 12 hours a day.

With an average of about 15 wins out of 50 a day, he is still trying to finish the day with at least one win.

He told ESPN, "When I die, I am so upset."

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