Blevins was one of a few select professionals with huge followings pulled in by videogame giant Electronic Arts Inc to play and promote its latest title, "Apex Legends," in the first hours of the launch last month, generating a buzz that notched 10 million signups in the first three days.
The 27-year-old, famous for his hair color changes - currently a bright, turquoise hue - tweeted about the free-to-play game early on Feb. 5 and streamed the action to his more than 13 million followers on game-streaming site Twitch. For this he was paid around $1 million, a source told Reuters.
The amount underlines the increasingly cut-throat fight for dominance of the free-to-play battle royale genre that, through Epic Games' global smash hit "Fortnite", has pushed major publishers like Electronic Arts to change how they do business.