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Michael Grzesiek, better known by the gamertag Shroud, is returning to Twitch after his exclusive contract with Mixer ended with the platform’s abrupt shutdown in July.
Shroud has inked a new exclusive deal with Twitch and will soon start streaming on the platform after more than a month of silence. “I am so excited to be able to announce my return to Twitch and more importantly get back to streaming,” Shroud said in a statement. He added that, “As I was exploring options, I realized that there was no better place than Twitch to engage with the best and most loyal gaming community worldwide.”
Shroud was among the players wooed to Microsoft’s Mixer last year as it looked to take on Twitch. He signed a lucrative deal with the streamer in October following the defection of Tyler “Ninja” Blevins to the platform. It meant saying goodbye to the 7 million followers he’d attracted on Twitch, where he built a name for himself through his Counter-Strike: Global Offensive gameplay.
But Microsoft announced in June that it would be shutting down Mixer after the platform struggled to draw audiences amid steep competition from Amazon’s Twitch and YouTube Gaming. The shutdown released Shroud, Ninja and several other streamers from their contracts, though they had the option of moving to Facebook Gaming. Unlike Ninja, who has streamed periodically on YouTube and Twitch following Mixer’s shutdown, Shroud had stayed quiet.
His return to Twitch reunites him with the platform where he first made his name as a streamer. “There’s nothing better than a homecoming, so we’re thrilled to welcome Shroud and his incredible community back to Twitch,” said Michael Aragon, senior vp content at Twitch. “Our mission is to bring people together every day, and we look forward to seeing the FPS legend back in action, exclusively on Twitch.”
Shroud is repped by gaming management firm Loaded, which helped him negotiate his Twitch deal. Said Loaded co-founder and senior vp talent Brandon Freytag: “This relationship is a perfect match as one of the most skillful gamers is returning to the home of livestream gaming.”
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