Mixer is shutting down and moving to Facebook Gaming

Ninja is one of the most popular streamers in the world

Microsoft's streaming platform Mixer is shutting down and moving to Facebook Gaming.

Like Twitch, Mixer is a live-streaming platform which allows people to watch their favourite streamers play video games.

Mixer made headlines around the world last year when it signed huge streamers like Ninja and Shroud in an exclusive deal - meaning they would only stream games on Mixer.

However, Ninja and Shroud have both reportedly turned down the offer to stay with Mixer as it merges with Facebook Gaming, despite them offering to pay them a lot of money to stay.

This now means that they are free to use whichever platform they want to stream on.

From 22 July, Mixer's website and app will redirect users to Facebook Gaming instead.

What happened?

Mixer is joining Facebook Gaming

For many years Xbox owner Microsoft has tried to take on the streaming juggernaut that is Twitch with Mixer.

Twitch started in 2011, and Mixer started five years later in 2016 (under the name Beam) - during this time Mixer's audience did grow, in fact last year it doubled, but it never quite reached the viewership that Twitch has.

Mixer bosses said they are moving it to Facebook Gaming because they want to "better serve our community's needs".

"We've decided to close the operations side of Mixer and help the community transition to a new platform," said Xbox chief Phil Spencer in a blog post.

He also said the move was part of a wider agreement between Xbox and Facebook, with Xbox aiming to introduce gaming features that work on Facebook and Instagram in the future.

This includes Microsoft's Project xCloud which aims to bring gaming "to all kinds of screens and windows in your life, including those on Facebook".

Facebook said it was "proud to invite everyone in the Mixer community to Facebook Gaming".