Twitch's more than 55 million users are rejoicing over Amazon's official announcement to purchase the gaming video platform for $970 million, saying "at least it wasn't Google."
Earlier this year, Variety came out with a report that Google was in "advanced talks" to acquire Twitch for $1 billion, presumably to integrate the budding platform into its own YouTube, the world's largest video sharing network with more than a billion users every month. However, the deal reportedly fell through due to antitrust issues and Google unwilling to provide a higher breakup fee. This is the fee paid by an acquiring firm to the target company in case an acquisition bid fails.
When the Google bid made headlines in May, users of Twitch quickly rose up in arms to express their disapproval of the acquisition, with #RIPTwitch becoming a trending hashtag on Twitter. Users were concerned that Google buying out Twitch will have the video service invaded by Google's other services, such as Google+, advertisements and the Content ID copyright system that has infuriated YouTube users.
"Remember, Amazon owns a TON of companies that they let do their own thing: Zappos, IMDB, Goodreads, Alexa, etc.," says one user named davidpox on the Twitch subreddit.
Twitch CEO Emmett Shear has confirmed the deal and that Amazon will not meddle in most of Twitch's affairs.
"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," he says in a letter to Twitch users. "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."
One Twitch user going by the nickname DoctorWaluigiTime sums up the overall mood of the Twitch community after the Amazon announcement:
"I think a lot of the Internet is in a 'glad that Google didn't get them' state of mind right now."
A few users, however, are not sharing in the celebrations. Australian user Heenicks_ says he was glad when he heard that Google was acquiring Twitch but did not have the same feelings when Amazon came out with the surprise buyout since Amazon's business is largely focused in the United States.
Another user, Mat Jones, who broadcasts his games over Twitch, says he is wary of Twitch's sudden moves to show potential buyers it is taking itself seriously. One such move he is referring to is Twitch clamping down on videos that include copyrighted music, including videos of games played with music in the background or the game's own soundtrack.
"I'm not going to be able to stream and tell people what I'm listening to right now," he says. "But I'm also concerned that Twitch itself isn't going to be able to tell whether something they find in the game is actually breaking copyright rules."
