Des öfteren wurden nun schon Berichte publik, die von einer Übernahme von Twitch durch Google berichteten. Der Deal würde kurz vor dem Abschluss stehen und es würde dem Unternehmen helfen, zusammen mit der Tochter Youtube ein quasi Monopol an Live-Streams aufzubauen.
Laut Berichten von The Information und des Wall Street Journals soll sich anscheinend aber ein ganz anderes Unternehmen den Gaming-Streaming Dienst schnappen. Die Rede ist von Amazon. Mit der Übernahme von Killer Instinct Entwickler Double Helix und der Vorstellung von Fire TV, machte der Versandriese schon erste Schritte in den Videospielmarkt; eine Übernahme würde also gut in das Portfolio passen.
Die Rede ist von mehr als einer Milliarde US-Dollar, die für Twitch gezahlt werden sollen. Wenn man dem Wall Street Journal glauben kann, ist der Deal auch schon so gut wie in trockenen Tüchern. Warten wir also erneut ab, ob es diesmal offiziell etwas zu vermelden geben wird.
UPDATE: Mittlerweile ist es offiziell. Der Versandriese Amazon übernimmt tatsächlich Twitch. Der Preis liegt bei 970 Millionen US-Dollar. Hier die offizielle Pressemitteilung:
SEATTLE—August 25, 2014—Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Twitch Interactive, Inc., the leading live video platform for gamers. In July, more than 55 million unique visitors viewed more than 15 billion minutes of content on Twitch produced by more than 1 million broadcasters, including individual gamers, pro players, publishers, developers, media outlets, conventions and stadium-filling esports organizations.
"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 – from The International, to breaking the world record for Mario, to gaming conferences like E3. And, amazingly, Twitch is only three years old," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "Like Twitch, we obsess over customers and like to think differently, and we look forward to learning from them and helping them move even faster to build new services for the gaming community."
"Amazon and Twitch optimize for our customers first and are both believers in the future of gaming," said Twitch CEO Emmett Shear. "Being part of Amazon will let us do even more for our community. We will be able to create tools and services faster than we could have independently. This change will mean great things for our community, and will let us bring Twitch to even more people around the world."
Twitch launched in June 2011 to focus exclusively on live video for gamers. Under the terms of the agreement, which has been approved by Twitch's shareholders, Amazon will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Twitch for approximately $970 million in cash, as adjusted for the assumption of options and other items. Subject to customary closing conditions, the acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2014.
"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 – from The International, to breaking the world record for Mario, to gaming conferences like E3. And, amazingly, Twitch is only three years old," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "Like Twitch, we obsess over customers and like to think differently, and we look forward to learning from them and helping them move even faster to build new services for the gaming community."
"Amazon and Twitch optimize for our customers first and are both believers in the future of gaming," said Twitch CEO Emmett Shear. "Being part of Amazon will let us do even more for our community. We will be able to create tools and services faster than we could have independently. This change will mean great things for our community, and will let us bring Twitch to even more people around the world."
Twitch launched in June 2011 to focus exclusively on live video for gamers. Under the terms of the agreement, which has been approved by Twitch's shareholders, Amazon will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Twitch for approximately $970 million in cash, as adjusted for the assumption of options and other items. Subject to customary closing conditions, the acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2014.