Rumor: Live Game Streaming Platform Twitch Has Accepted A $1 Billion Google/YouTube Buyout Offer

Google has reportedly succeeded in securing the acquisition of the game streaming service Twitch. If the deal goes through, Twitch will apparently become part of YouTube. The sale price is being reported as an even $1 billion in cash, which works out exactly one Instagram.

Twitch has become indispensable in the growing world of e-sports. If you want to watch someone play video games, Twitch is the way to do it, and Google wasn't the only company that wanted a piece of it. Microsoft has also been wooing Twitch, hoping to snap it up before Google could seal the deal. In the end, a YouTube acquisition makes more sense for Twitch. Many of those streaming videos end up on YouTube anyway, and Microsoft isn't exaclty big in streaming video.

Twitch has been seeing a massive increase in usage over the last year, and it now pushes more traffic than Amazon or Facebook during peak hours. It took $20 million in venture funding last year, but Twitch is expected to turn a profit in 2014. If this deal turns out to be legit, an announcement will probably be made soon.

[Variety]

Ryan Whitwam

Ryan is a tech/science writer, skeptic, lover of all things electronic, and Android fan. In his spare time he reads golden-age sci-fi and sleeps, but rarely at the same time. His wife tolerates him as few would. He's the author of a sci-fi novel called The Crooked City, which is available on Amazon and Google Play. http://goo.gl/WQIXBM

source: androidpolice