Not satiated with its acquisition of YouTube, Google is buying Twitch, the video game streaming service, for $1 billion, according to a report that cites anonymous sources familiar with the matter.
While the deal hasn't been officially confirmed, Twitch has been on Google's menu for months now. Both Google and Twitch have declined to comment on the latest reports of an agreement between the two companies.
Twitch investors have stated that their investments in the company have been expected to give them exponential return. Google was said to be conducting the deal, using its YouTube arm as its proxy.
Twitch, which launched in 2011, said it attracts more than 45 million viewers to its live streams each month. The company has monetized its service with ad dollars and a subscription model that allows streamers to deliver perks to channel subscribers.
While tech and financial analysts have asserted that Google's acquisition of Twitch would be good for gamers and great for the live streaming service, many gamers have expressed fears that Google's swift and strict moderation of YouTube content could carry over to live streaming and degrade the Twitch experience.
Google has pulled YouTube videos that depicted "too much" gameplay of a video game or contained copyrighted music. Gameplay and music have faced much harsher scrutiny by Google when the content has been monetized on YouTube, in similar fashion to the donation cans Twitch streamers use to collect subscription dollars for their performances.
"Without the appropriate license from the publisher, use of video game or software user interface must be minimal," stated Google about YouTube. Video game content may be monetized if the associated step-by-step commentary is strictly tied to the live action being shown and provides instructional or educational value. Videos simply showing a user playing a video game or the use of software for extended periods of time may not be accepted for monetization."
Live-streaming copyrighted games and music has been basically untested in courtrooms, which leaves a bit of uncertainty for the future of Twitch, according to Mark Methenitis, an intellectual-property attorney from Dallas.
"At this point, it's still sort of a Wild West in terms of definitive rulings from courts," said Methenitis. "Nobody really knows, because no court has weighed in."
Along with fears of being haunted by copyright law, some gamers have expressed suspicions that Google will continue its campaign to push Google+ by implementing it into Twitch as it did with YouTube.
