Amazon buys Twitch for $970 million

[Dark Drakan]

After everyone thought it was set in stone that Google were purchasing Twitch it seems there has been a twist in the tale and Amazon and have swooped in and purchased it from under their noses. The popular online retailer have made an agreement with Twitch's shareholders to purchase all remaining shares "for approximately $970 million in cash, as adjusted for the assumption of options and other items".

"Amazon and Twitch optimize for our customers first and are both believers in the future of gaming," Twitch CEO Emmett Shear said in a prepared statement. "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 acquisition is planned to close by the end of 2014.​

 

[Gikoku]

Hah, didn't see that one coming.. really, I didn't. Lesser of two evils I suppose, though neither of the hungry juggernauts properly know anything about video games. As long as they get a cut of them profits I guess then who cares. Can't even imagine how they'd go about blending the two services together either.. Twitch & Amazon... just as bizarre a combo as when Amazon bought out the dev studio Double Helix.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Amazon are getting more into gaming industry now & they also look over LoveFilm & Amazon Instant Video is really good. They actually improved LoveFilm Instant after their takeover & they don't want to change much with Twitch which is a bonus. I feared for Twitch when Google had them in their sights.