Amazon to Acquire Video Game Streaming Site Twitch
Amazon will acquire Twitch for over a billion dollars today. Twitch is a video game streaming website, that allows users to broadcast games and watch others play online.
Though the deal has not been formally announced by either company, sources have told the Wall Street Journal and The Information that the deal is set in stone. Google attempted to acquire Twitch earlier this year.
UPDATE: Just after 4 p.m. on Monday, Amazon announced the details of the deal. The official sale price is $970 million in cash, just under the $1 billion anticipated.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos offered this statement,
Broadcasting and watching gameplay is a global phenomenon and Twitch has built a platform that brings together tens of millions of people who watch billions of minutes of games each month – from The International, to breaking the world record for Mario, to gaming conferences like E3. And, amazingly, Twitch is only three years old. Like Twitch, we obsess over customers and like to think differently, and we look forward to learning from them and helping them move even faster to build new services for the gaming community."
Twitch CEO Emmett Shear said,
Amazon and Twitch optimize for our customers first and are both believers in the future of gaming. Being part of Amazon will let us do even more for our community. We will be able to create tools and services faster than we could have independently. This change will mean great things for our community, and will let us bring Twitch to even more people around the world.”
The deal is expected to close later this year.
This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/technology/2014/08/amazon-acquires-twitch/379090/
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