Google’s YouTube has reached a deal to buy Twitch, a popular videogame-streaming company, for more than $1 billion, according to sources familiar with the pact.
The deal, in an all-cash offer, is expected to be announced imminently, according to Variety. If completed the acquisition would be the most significant in the history of YouTube, which Google acquired in 2006 for $1.65 billion.
Microsoft and others have reportedly made serious offers, but YouTube was deemed the better fit. Twitch would probably not want to tie the service to Xbox, as it’s embedded in Sony’s rival PlayStation console as well.
San Francisco-based Twitch.tv lets users upload and watch free, live gameplay videos that can be streamed from Microsoft Xbox and PlayStation 4 consoles.
Initially available on PC, Twitch claims about 45 million visitors to its site each month, with more than 1 million members who upload videos each month. It also has deals to distribute shows from partners including CBS Interactive’s GameSpot, Joystiq and Destructoid.
Posted on Mon, 19 May 2014 13:10:11 +0000 at http://www.dailywireless.org/2014/05/19/...ch-for-1b/
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