A couple of months ago, it was reported that Google owned YouTube was thinking about acquiring Twitch. Considering that both YouTube and Twitch are video-related, it sort of makes sense. Well according to a report from VentureBeat, it seems that the deal has been confirmed, at least according to their sources who are familiar with the matter.
Both Google and Twitch have declined to comment on it, but VentureBeat did point out that both companies are slated to appear at their GamesBeat event in September, so perhaps we will learn more then, although it does seem to be a pretty long wait. Their sources have informed them that the deal had closed for $1 billion as per the earlier rumor.
They also claim that YouTube will be in charge of the acquisition and will be quite a huge change for the company. Prior to this, we had also heard rumors that Microsoft was interested in Twitch, but it seems that Twitch favored Google and went with their deal instead.
For those who are unfamiliar with Twitch, it’s basically a video service where gamers can live stream their games. For gamers this is great because you get to watch games being played live, learn a trick or two, or just watch people do reviews and play through games you might not play yourself.
Assuming the report is true, it will be interesting to see how Google plans on using Twitch to their advantage. Hopefully they will, for the most part, leave it alone and let it run itself for a while, kind of like what they’re doing with YouTube where apart from the Google+ sign-ins, the website still does what it’s supposed to.