Shroud Attracts 500,000 Viewers Upon Return to Twitch

As one of the most popular live streamers in the business, the return to Twitch of Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek was always going to attract major interest, however the fact some 500,000 active viewers tuned in to his comeback was a surprise even to the Canadian. Even an apparent technical issue which caused a delay to the stream was not enough to put off viewers, who had been excitedly awaiting the return of Shroud since his stint on the Microsoft Mixer platform.

Sporting a new look with his goatee, Shroud got stuck into Valorant, the hugely popular new tactical first-person shooter from Riot Games, with the 26-year-old being responsible for over 80% of the viewership of the game already. This is a particularly impressive stat given the fact that Valorant is currently the most-viewed game on the Twitch leaderboard.

Ninja Joins Shroud in Returning to Twitch

In what was doubly good news for Esports fans, Shroud was joined on his return to Twitch by Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, who had also received a payout from Microsoft upon their closure of Mixer. Having taken a month away from streaming all together, Ninja made the announcement that he would be returning to Twitch, the platform in which his streaming career began. It is unknown as to how much the duo will receive for their return to the Amazon-owned platform, however Ninja was reportedly paid $10 million for his brief spell with Mixer.

Shroud was shocked by the viewing figures he received upon his return, with the former Counter-Strike: Global offensive Pro having estimated around 200,000 fans would tune in. However, having been one of the most popular live streamers across the board for some time, such figures were not a surprise to those in the know.

Was Shroud’s Return Worth the Wait?

In comparison to Dr Disrespect’s much anticipated return to YouTube of late, Shroud’s performance was undoubtedly more low key. With Mr Disrespect having used a Lamborghini as part of production, Grzesiek pleased fans simply by doing what he does best, gaming. Having represented Cloud 9, among other teams, during his professional days, Shroud quickly turned to streaming, with this proving to be an extremely clever move.

It did not take long for the popular Canadian to hit the top of the Twitch charts, with his streams surrounding battle royal games such as Battlegrounds and Apex Legends from PlayerUnknown, along with other multiplayer shooters, proving to be a hit from the off. With two of the biggest names in Esports streaming now having returned to Twitch, there is plenty of reason to be cheery for fans of the duo, while other platforms will be left wondering how they can match up with their rivals.