'Fortnite' Gamer Ninja On How He Got His Name and Why The Game Is Such A Hit

Ninja (real name Tyler Belvins) revealed how he created his iconic gamertag and what he believes to be the secret to "Fortnite" being a success. The gamer, who has streamed his videos for years on Twitch and boasts over 15 million followers on YouTube, said that he came up with his name all the way "back in the Halo days."

"So there's like a little move back in the Halo days whenever you were getting chased if you went around a corner, and the guy followed you and you jumped over his head and like backsmacked him. It was called like 'the ninja,'" Ninja told TooFab at this year's ESPYs. So when I did I was like, 'ah man, like I want to make that my name.'"

Fortnite, for those who don't know, is battle royale style survival game where 100 players jump out of a bus and land on a giant island. They strive to find the best weapons and resources to survive until the last player standing wins. In the game, the players even get to bust out some sweet dance moves (You can see Ninja do his fave move in the video below). Fornite, unlike other games of its kind, is completely free. This is what Ninja explained is the main reason (among others) why he thinks it is such a huge hit.

"It's a number of things," he said. "They 100% have the entire market right? The Nintendo Switch, it's on the Playstation, it's on mobile, it's on the PC, it's on the Xbox. So if anyone wants to play it, it's free and they can play wherever they want. And that is hands down, the number one thing about it."

Besides being zero dollars, how the game -- which has over 125 million users -- differs from others is that you can pretty much always play with your friends. Ninja, who makes over $500,000 a month from streaming, told us that the "fluidity" of being able to play with your pals sets Fortnite apart from the competition. The streamer even hosted a game back in March (and set the Twitch record) when he played a game with Drake, Travis Scott, and Juju Smith-Schuster, wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"It's just fun, in every single aspect of the word fun," Ninja said. "It's all the little things, the unique building style, which separates it from a lot of other battle royales. The fluidity of being able to play with your friends cross platform and no matter what, you can pretty much always play with your friends and that's something that I think that a lot of games don't do."

When asked what motivated him to stream his game online, Ninja explained that it's all due to a friend that showed him. He instantly "loved it." The gamer began streaming Halo 3 back in 2011 and now has a net worth of over $3.5 million.

With all of this fame and cash, one would think that the young millionaire would splurge on something big. However, Ninja, who just got married last year, said he's currently working on saving his money because "nothing last's forever."

"No, no not yet," Ninja said, when asked if he's splurged. "We've been very smart with it and just kinda saving it until we know exactly how we want to move forward. Nothing lasts forever and we're making sure that we're taken care of."

We have a feeling that the professional gamer will definitely be well taken care of.