Unconfirmed report says Google has just bought Twitch for $1 billion Follows similar Variety report from May, but still no info on timel...
Unconfirmed report says Google has just bought Twitch for $1 billion
Follows similar Variety report from May, but still no info on timeline or terms.
After months of speculation, a report has linked Google to a $1 billion acquisition of the video-streaming site Twitch.tv. VentureBeat's Wednesday report went so far as to call the deal "confirmed," but it didn't list an exact price, announcement date, or other key details, relying solely on "sources familiar with the matter."
The deal, originally reported by Variety in May, may seem like a small drop in the bucket for Google. YouTube racks up over one billion monthly viewers compared to Twitch's 45 million. But the gaming-focused Twitch enjoys an edge thanks to dedicated features like internal console apps, screencasting, and live chat. The acquisition looks particularly attractive in the wake of e-sports' recent rise in Western popularity.
Though Twitch was founded by co-creators of Justin.tv, another streaming site, no report has mentioned whether the originating video-streaming site will be involved in the deal. If that amount remains around $1 billion, it'll be quite the coup for investors who have only sunk roughly $35 million into Twitch thus far.
Representatives from Twitch declined comment to Ars, while a Google spokesperson responded by saying, “We don’t comment on rumor or speculation.”
So the big end-of-market-day news swirling around currently is that Google just dumped a billion dollars on Twitch’s doorstep. Twitch, a streaming video game company, would likely be paired up with YouTube to influence their gamers to promote from within.
Nifty concept if you have the cash. Google does. If their acquisition is successful, they will have fended off bids from worthy competitors like Microsoft. Nobody is commenting on the deal, so I guess I will:“This seems like an expensive acquisition, but Google has a way of finding value and maximizing on it,” said Jeff Klima, a source familiar with the deal.
That works, right?
