Google Buys Game-Streaming Site Twitch For $1 Billion | TechTree.com

Google Buys Game-Streaming Site Twitch For $1 Billion

The deal hasn't been made public yet, but Google has supposedly made an all-cash deal.

 

Internet search giant Google has signed a deal to purchase game livesteaming firm Twitch for $1 billion, which will join Youtube to expand its video empire. VentureBeat reports that the deal underscores the value of Internet live streaming and the rise of competitive gaming as a spectator sport.

Not everything about the deal is known at the moment, such as when it will be announced or the exact purchase price. Past rumours have suggested that Google made an all-cash deal to Twitch, and the latest word is that Google has valued Twitch at $1 billion.

Sources talking to VentureBeat said that investors who have put their money into Twitch in past rounds are extremely pleased as they're getting significant returns. Both companies however have declined to comment, but it's been heard that Youtube has been put incharge of the acquisition.

Twitch allows users to broadcast their own gameplay sessions from their PC, Xbox One, or PlayStation 4 to viewers online. The idea has been a huge success, and the number of spectators sometimes runs into millions, opening up possibilities of serving ads.

In May this year Twitch made up 1.35 percent of all Internet traffic according to research firm Sandvine. With figures like that, Google could be looking at the service as the next YouTube which it bought back in 2006 for a whopping $1.65 billion.

The biggest difference between Twitch and YouTube is that while Google's service mostly functions on videos being uploaded, content on Twitch is being live streamed. YouTube is still the largest online video service in the world, but Twitch is posting an insane rate of growth.


TAGS: Google, YouTube, Twitch.tv, game-streaming

 
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