In an article released by Variety in the early hours of the morning, Youtube is reportedly buying up the livestreaming site Twitch for a billion dollars. Not only is this a huge amount of money for Youtube to spend on this acquisition but if proved true, it makes Youtube the dominant player in the game streaming market, owning the two major sites for videos and streams about games.
However, the Variety article suggests that this is not a done deal just yet, as Google’s lawyers may have to deal with competition laws in the US due to both sites being the top contender in their respective fields and a recent article posted by the Wall Street Journal states that while the deal may be in the works, this “deal isn’t imminent”. Furthermore, Twitch’s PR Twitter account has responded to the rumour, saying that “Twitch doesn’t comment on rumours.”
So, what do you think of this if it is proved true? People across the Internet have reacted in a very calm and collected manner, if the avalanche of angry Tweets and Facebook posts is anything to go. As someone who makes Youtube content and occasionally streams on Twitch, I wonder how issues like the ContentID crisis and the growing corporate aspect of Youtube may affect Twitch if the deal goes through.
For more comment and news on this rumour, check out our VGU Talks on this very subject: http://videogamesuncovered.com/vgu-talks-youtube-buys-twitch-for-1000000000
Also, check out this article on the state of gaming content on Youtube, for more thoughts on the future of this element of the games industry: http://videogamesuncovered.com/the-state-of-gaming-on-youtube