Skip to main content

EA reportedly paid Ninja $1 million to stream Apex Legends for a day

According to a report from Reuters, Ninja was paid $1 million by Electronic Arts to tweet about Apex Legends and stream the game when it was first launched in early February.

Respawn Entertainment lead producer Drew McCoy said the studio’s goal was to “create a day where you couldn’t escape Apex” and added that Electronic Arts partnered with streamers from all over the world to help spread the word.

Recommended Videos

Twitch streamers and YouTube video creators have been creating sponsored video game content for years, with publishers paying for them to play upcoming titles on their channel. We sincerely doubt that any of them, however, managed to make as much as Tyler “Ninja” Blevins reportedly did for playing Apex Legends.

What’s perhaps most staggering about the $1 million figure is that it appears to have only required a one-day commitment from Ninja. When questioned about the partnership by Kotaku, Electronic Arts said that by midday on February 5, those streaming the game were all doing it entirely by choice. Apex Legends launched on February 4 without any prior announcement, being available to download for free as soon as Respawn Entertainment’s short livestream was completed.

Team Shroud at TwitchCon Doritos
Kimberly White/Getty Images

Ninja told CNN in early 2019 that his total income for last year amounted to nearly $10 million. If his deal with Electronic Arts is indicative of how this year will go, he could smash that figure.

$1 million certainly sounds like a lot of cash for a publisher to pay one person to promote a game, but it appears to have helped Apex Legends find an audience. The game passed 50 million players in early March, and is one of the most-streamed games on Twitch. It still has a long way to go if it wants to surpass the player-count for Fortnite, but it certainly proves that there is room for one than one smash-hit battle royale game.

EA certainly needs the boost from the game, as well, as several of its other recent titles have underperformed. Sales for Battlefield V were below the publisher’s expectations, and BioWare’s online role-playing game Anthem was met with scathing reviews. Respawn Entertainment will be expected to help turn things around with a second game, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, which will arrive this holiday season.

Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
Apex Legends adds ‘cool dad representation’ with new hero
Newcastle raises his shield in Apex Legends.

Apex Legends' latest season, Saviors, is around the corner and it's adding a new hero: Newcastle. During a press event, Respawn Entertainment shared new details about the character, including his support move set and dad-inspired design.

Newcastle has one of Apex Legends' most intriguing backstories to date. Newcastle is a Captain America-like superhero in the game's world who has tried and failed to qualify for the Apex Legends tournament time and time again. As it turns out, he's so desperate to enter it because he's in deep in debt. When a negotiation with his loan sharks turns violent, Newcastle's dad, who's related to Bangalore, decides to don the Newcastle mask and enter the battle royale in place of his son.

Read more
Apex Legends’ new season drops a dead kaiju in the game
A dead monster lies on Apex Legends' Storm point map.

When Apex Legends' newest season, Saviors, drops on May 10, it'll bring some major changes to the battle royale game. Notably. the game's Storm Point map will see a drastic change thanks to a new activity and a giant, crustacean monster that's died in the middle of the battlefield.

Apex Legends: Saviors is the shooter's 13th season and it's continuing its story in some creative ways. Not only does it add a compelling character in Newcastle, but it also opens up the game's lore further by introducing the monster, which has some history with the game's heroes.

Read more
Apex Legends Mobile drops this month with exclusive modes
Promo art for Apex Legends Mobile shows different characters.

The long-awaited Apex Legends Mobile is finally set to launch in May. While the game doesn't have a set date, developer Respawn confirmed new details about the title.

Apex Legends Mobile isn't a port of the popular battle royale game. Respawn emphasizes that it is a completely stand-alone experience designed with mobile in mind. The developer has been testing the game in a series of betas worldwide over the past year, but it's officially opening the doors sometime this month.

Read more