Earlier this morning we heard Amazon was in “late talks” to purchase the video gameplay website Twitch. Now, an Amazon press release officially confirms the acquisition. The company will purchase the site for $970 million, a number a bit less than the rumored $1 billion amount. Google had originally intended to purchase the site for $1 billion, but apparently that deal was put to rest, opening the door for the online retail giant Amazon.
Twitch, a spin-off of the now shutdown website Justin.tv, was ranked in January, 2014 the fourth largest website in terms of peak internet traffic in the U.S., and now claims over 55 million visitors per month.
The 3-year-old website streams video game playthroughs, competitions, and other video content live or on-demand. Users are able to connect with other gamers throughout the world through chat and social media integration.
“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. “
The website was recently voted by TIME.com as one of the “50 Best Websites of 2014.”
Source: Amazon Press Release
