by Joseph Knoop
The popular videogame streaming service Twitch TV is set to be acquired by YouTube for $1 billion, according to a report by Variety.
The all-cash deal will be incredibly significant for YouTube, which was acquired by technology giant Google for $1.65 billion in 2006. The deal comes a few months after former Google ad exec Susan Wojcicki was named YouTube CEO.
Reps for both companies declined comment at press time.
Regardless, this is huge news for the gaming industry, especially the demographics that watch "let's plays" or competitions through the popular Twtich streaming service. Twitch claims to have over 45 million monthly users, 1 million of which upload videos each month. This isn't the only major deal Twitch has made, either. Between exclusive content from GameSpot, Joystiq, and Destructoid, the service was poised to lead over industry competitors like UStream.
What are your thoughts on this? Much like Facebook's acquisition of Oculus VR, it'll be interesting to see where the monolithic companies take these smaller, yet no less grand success stories.
Update:
According to the source, Twitch went over many different options of what to do. Twitch went over bids from companies like Microsoft, before deciding on Google/YouTube because "It fit better" says a source close to the talks. The amount of money in the deal has been finalized, but according to the source, there is still a few more loose ends to tie up.
Source: Variety/Polygon
Image Credit: BigGiantCircles
