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Twitch was purchased by Amazon for $1 billion

Amazon purchased Twitch for nearly $1 billion after it was speculated that the live-streaming website will be acquired by Google.

Initially, Twitch started off as a game streaming platform. Nowadays, it became the largest live-streaming site in the United States, expanding outside the gaming domain. Since it is a large competitor to YouTube, it’s not a surprise that everyone was expecting Google to buy the site. However, Emmett Shear, the Twitch CEO announced that they chose to sell to Amazon because the giant believes in their community and shares their values and long-term vision. In the same letter, Shear thanked all the members of the Twitch community for their activity. He added that, together with them, the company found new ways to connect developers with fans. Furthermore, he states that Twitch created a new kind of a career, helping people make a living by sharing their gameplays.

Besides purchasing Twitch, Amazon has taken other important steps to try and enter the gaming business. They have acquired Double Helix Games, a developer known for “Killer Instinct” and then they created “Amazon Studios”. The company also hired Kim Swift and Clint Hocking, “Portal” and “Far Cry 2” designers, respectively. All these facts, along with “Halo” writer Erik Nylund’s arrival at Amazon last year shows that the company is really determined to develop games.

Twitch allows users to broadcast all kinds of game videos, regardless of the game genre. Also, the site gets videos from experienced players, videos through which other players can learn new tricks or improve their skills. The site owners aim to connect gamers around the world by allowing them to broadcast, watch and chat from everywhere they play. It is notable that a lot of gamers choose to share their content on this site instead of YouTube because of the latter’s abusive policies such as the Content ID system which flags your videos automatically without taking into account principles such as fair use. Considering this, it might be to Twitch’s advantage that they decided to avoid selling the site to Google.

About Crisan Mircea

I'm a journalism graduate and an occasional gamer. As a kid I used to own a NES clone called "Terminator 2", which was hugely popular in my country. I like old school games and adventure games but I occasionaly play RPG's and Shooters as well, though I wouldn't call myself an expert at these kinds of games. When I'm not writing or playing games I prefer reading detective or fantasy novels.

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