Amazon, not Google, as was previously speculated, just bought video game streaming service Twitch for nearly $1 billion.
Amazon announced the news today, when it stated that the company had bought "all of the outstanding shares of Twitch for approximately $970 million cash." The news comes just a few weeks after multiple reports seemed to indicate that Google-owned YouTube was looking to buy the streaming service for an estimated $1 billion. That deal, reported to be set in stone by many outlets, didn't come to pass.
Justin Kan and Emmett Shear founded Twitch in June 2011 as an off-shoot of Justin.tv focusing on video game streams and eSports. Fast forward a few short years later to today, and Twitch has more than 1 million broadcasters and monthly visitors of more than 55 million.
"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," Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos said in the official press release.
Shear in a letter to the Twitch community explained the reasoning behind the decision to go with Amazon.
"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," Shear said. "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."
Twitch announced earlier this month some dramatic changes to its streaming policies, implementing an automated system for blocking copyrighted audio in addition to shutting down Justin.tv to fully concentrate on Twitch. Many viewed this as a means for Twitch to "clean up" the site in order to protect it from legal trouble in light of an imminent Google buyout. The news concerned gamers, as YouTube has a reputation for being very strict about copyright when it comes to gaming.
Google has been known to take down YouTube videos that depict too much gameplay or contained copyrighted music, especially after YouTube became monetized, with some video game-oriented channels making money off internet personalities playing through their favorite games. Twitch is monetized in a similar way, with popular streamers able to make a living off broadcasting themselves playing games. Both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One feature Twitch apps that players can easily use to upload game footage to their Twitch channel.
Despite the reports and the fear, the Google buyout never came. The automated system for blocking copyrighted audio, however, did and caused a fair share of problems for many users of the site. Criticism and negative response caused Twitch to change some of the policies, as well as allowing for users to appeal videos that have been wrongfully flagged by the automated audio recognition system.
