Soleil ‘Ewok’ Wheeler has become the latest former Mixer star to officially return to Twitch this week, with the 14-year-old Fortnite pro inking an exclusive deal with the Amazon-owned platform after becoming a free agent on July 22.
FaZe Clan member Ewok was one of a number of high-profile Twitch streamers lured to Mixer at the height of the streaming wars between the two platforms and other rivals like YouTube and Facebook Gaming.
Wheeler, like Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins, Michael ‘shroud’ Grzesiek, and more, was blindsided by the news Mixer would be shutting doors on July 22. She had only streamed on the Microsoft-run platform for two days shy of 36 weeks.
On August 12, the deaf streamer confirmed she would return to Twitch in mid-August. She went live a day later. In her return stream, Ewok boasted viewership highs of 30,000 and more as she streamed Fortnite, Fall Guys, and more.
I'M BACKhttps://t.co/M09WUN8wZ8 pic.twitter.com/GNFbjE7xHa
— XSET Ewok (@Ewok) August 13, 2020
The star’s decision to return to Twitch over rival platforms like YouTube or Facebook Gaming came down to the past, Ewok admitted. Her fanbase developed there — she still boasts 285,000 followers — and she “loves” the Twitch community.
“I decided to return to Twitch because the platform has a vast network and I had already built a community there before switching to Mixer,” Ewok told ESPN ahead of her August 12 return stream.
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“Twitch is also the best platform for me to continue building my brand,” she continued. “I also miss Twitch Rivals, and meeting people that have supported me since day one.”
The 14-year-old also admitted she doesn’t hold any bad blood for what happened with Mixer and its shock July shutdown. “Mixer is a part of my journey I will always cherish. I learned from the community there… they helped me grow.”
Ewok wasn’t the only former Mixer star to go live on Twitch on August 12 either. Shroud, who was at one stage the most followed streamer on the platform before his Mixer defection late in 2019, also celebrated his big return.
Grzesiek re-debuted on the Amazon-owned platform at 10am PT on Wednesday, and soared to 516,000 viewers nearly immediately. He also unveiled his new rebrand — and a fully-grown beard to boot — during his return stream.
Mixer’s other high-profile signing, Ninja, has yet to confirm his future streaming plans. The Fortnite star briefly went live on YouTube on July 8, and returned to Twitch for another short broadcast just over a month later.
Ninja described his current situation as “complicated” during his second stream. He jokingly added nothing had been sorted just yet, and he was “kind of in a thing, but not really. There’s obviously other people… We’ll leave it at that.”
