Just when it had been assumed that Google would be the successful buyer for video game streaming network Twitch, there has been a last minute entrant to the bidding war by the name of Amazon, and they have been chosen to purchase the company. Amazon are best known for their shopping website, but have since broadened their horizons with their Kindle eBook services and the buyout of DVD rental service LoveFILM. Amazon have reportedly paid $970 million for the takeover, which equates to £585 million in the UK.
Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos stated, “Broadcasting and watching gameplay is a global phenomenon and Twitch has built a platform that brings together tens of millions of people who watch billions of minutes of games each month. We look forward to learning from them and helping them move even faster to build new services for the gaming community.”
This will be good news for many prospective streamers, as they feared that the possibility of being owned by Google could mean that restrictions may have eventually be placed on livestreams, or they could be penalised for using copyrighted material by their contraversial Content ID system. Regardless of the outcome, Twitch is now under the Amazon brand, so it will be a matter of time to see what changes will be made in the next few months.
Do you believe that this will benefit Twitch’s users? Let us know what you think in the comments below.