Fortnite Star Ninja Among Time's Most Influential People

Joining the likes of U.S. President Donald Trump, recording artist Taylor Swift and Pope Francis,Fortnite's Ninja has become the first ever eSports personality named to Time's 100 Most Influential People list.

CLAIM UP TO $1000 SIGNUP BONUS HERE

Ninja is 28-year-old Tyler “Ninja” Blevins from the Detroit area, one of the biggest Twitch streamers.

Ninja's profile was written by Pittsburgh Steeler’s player JuJu Smith-Schuster.

"I play in the NFL, so you’d think I wouldn’t be star-struck much. But last March, when I—along with Drake and Travis Scott—got in a Fortnite game with Ninja for the first time, I was at a complete loss for words!" the quite clearly star-struck Smith-Schuster wrote. "I was among the millions of people all across the world who had been watching Ninja (real name: Tyler Blevins) play Fortnite, the popular videogame, every day for months. He was the unquestioned best in the world at his craft, something I had so much respect for both as an athlete and as a fan. Now, he was single-handedly blending gaming and pop culture."

Place bets on all eSports matchups and futures here

"I’ve been a huge video-game fanatic my whole life. But people have seen it as childish and a waste of time. Ninja was huge in building up the credibility of e-sports. At the end of the day, Ninja is an absolute legend, and someone to whom we owe a lot for making gaming what it is today."

Ninja's live streams earn up in the neighborhood of $500,000 per month, and he doesn't even have to leave his bedroom. 

Ninja's success is intertwined with the popularity of "Fortnite: Battle Royale," a free game with more than 200 million players worldwide.

He has 10 million followers on Twitch, and he boasts another 20 million YouTube subscribers.

Ninja only began earning millions in 2018, but gaming competitively since 2009.  His focus has been primarily on the "Halo" franchise.

- Alistair Prescott, Gambling911.com