Update Twitch has now made the official announcement on their acquisition by Amazon via a post from their CEO Emmett Shear. He stated, "We chose Amazon because they believe in our community, they share our values and long-term vision, and they want to help us get there faster. We're keeping most everything the same: our office, our employees, our brand, and most importantly our independence. But with Amazon's support we'll have the resources to bring you an even better Twitch." Amazon has also issued its own press release, stating that it is purchasing Twitch for $970 million in cash. It added that the acquisition will officially close sometime in the second half of 2014.
Original story Amazon may be about to make an end run around Google in a bid to purchase the Twitch.tv game video streaming service. The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon will acquire Twitch.tv for over $1 billion, according to an unnamed source.
In May, Google's YouTube subsidiary was rumored to purchase Twitch.tv, which has 45 million viewers a month, for over $1 billion. That deal was reported to be finalized back in June. However, neither YouTube nor Twitch.tv announced that such an acquisition had taken place.
So what happened? It's not clear what caused Google to step out and Amazon to step in to purchase Twitch.tv. The Wall Street Journal claims the official announcement on the deal could be revealed today. We should soon see if these reports are accurate. What do you think of the prospect of Amazon purchasing Twitch.tv and what do you think Amazon will do with the game video streaming company?
Source: Wall Street Journal
