IMG: Twitch
Variety reported back in May that YouTube, part of the Google family, had reached a deal to acquire the game-streaming service Twitch for $1 billion. The companies refused to comment on the matter at the time, and two months later everyone assumed the deal had fallen apart.
However, a report from GamesBeat states that the acquisition will indeed go through. The exact price won’t be known until the official announcement is made, and both Google and Twitch are still declining to comment. The news comes just a few days after the end of this year’s Dota 2 tournament that offered a record prize pool of more than $10 million.
Twitch is by far the United States’ largest live-streaming website. The purchase would be the biggest acquisition by Google since it acquired YouTube in 2006. There are currently over 45 million monthly Twitch users who watch an average of 106 minutes of video a day, a huge database that Google will have access to once the acquisition is complete.
Twitch was created by the founders of Justin.tv, which is a website designed for users to “lifecast” themselves with online video. After the number of video gamers utilizing Justin.tv became large enough and many users were mainly utilizing the service to broadcast their gameplay, the company launched the Twitch.tv service in mid-2011.
The company has currently raised around $35 million in funding. Investors for Twitch include Bessemer Venture Partners, Alsop Louie Partners, WestSummit Capital, Take-Two Interactive Software, Thrive Capital and Draper Associates. Twitch Interactive and Justin.tv has around 130 employees.
