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AMAZON HAS BEATEN off completion from Google to buy video game streaming platform Twitch Interactive for $970 million.
The deal was announced by Twitch’s CEO Emmett Shear this evening who said that they 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”.
Twitch is an online community that is used mainly by gamers to watch each other play.
Users can also use Twitch to chat with the platform having 55 million visitors last month.
Shear is one of the co-founders of the highly successful streaming service Justin.tv which has a gaming section. Shear ran with the idea that this was niche to be exploited and Twitch was the result.
Twitch looked likely to be taken under the Google banner with Youtube looking the favourite to land it but Amazon has managed to gazump the deal.
Amazon already has an in-house gaming studio that makes games, and its Fire TV set top box was designed to attract gamers.
As video gaming grows into an online spectator sport, gameplay video feeds are becoming increasingly lucrative.
According to eMarketer, Digital video advertising in the US will reach $5.96 billion this year, up 41.9% from 2013.
- With reporting from Associated Press
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It’s a good bet by them. Today on BBC news there was a piece about gaming spectators and the popularity rise behind watching other gamers play.
Did they do another one? Did one a few weeks ago that was very condescending.
Ustream won’t be happy . But I prefer twitch. Good buy . Game casting has been popular for ages with pc gaming
Love watching Arma 3 streams.
Sort out Irish broadband first !!!!!!
It’s very handy when it comes to buying a game if your not sure about how it plays.
I love it even after I use it as a gauge for a certain game! Hints and tips all around
whers’ all this monopoly money coming from?
A few people ask me why I bother to watch streams. For me it’s the streamers themselves. A good one can make any game extremely entertaining to watch by their own actions/reactions to the game or their interaction with other players.
Take a look at Bikeman on YouTube, especially his Day Z videos for some very funny moments (in my opinion).
Never heard of it…
Do you game online?
Productive comment there Sarah, thanks for your input
There are guys like Media Cows who make a living on YouTube playing games.
What’s the difference?
have your say