Amazon Purchases Twitch for $970 Million
In contradiction to earlier rumors and speculations in the past few weeks, Amazon has just purchased online gaming community Twitch TV for nine hundred and seventy million dollars.
This comes at a surprise given the previously suggested involvement of Google in the sale, following foul reactions from many fans and streamers of the Twitch community. An open letter from Twitch CEO Emmett Shear confirms the sale, while also confirming that Twitch has no intention of changing in it’s office, employees, brand or independence.
One could assume the ‘independence’ Emmett mentions was at jeopardy in the hands of Google – hence why no sale was made, as Twitch did not simply want to become part of the Youtube/Google machine, instead electing to choose a partner that would allow Twitch to remain it’s own brand, not merely an asset of a far bigger conglomerate. This is undoubtedly good news for both Twitch and Amazon, and bad news for Google (assuming allegations were correct at the time or at one-point), as it’s clear to see why Google would want to acquire Twitch – in order to create a virtual monopoly of online gaming content, let’s plays and coverage.
The purchase will mean financial stability for three-year-old company Twitch which’ll allow the platform time to grow and expand. Will it be a love affair or a messy divorce? Only time will tell.