Google confirms purchase of Twitch for $1 billion
After all the rumours and speculation, back-and-forth, and legal wrangling, it is complete: Google has completed its purchase of Twitch.We had heard rumours about it, but it's now official. The exact price of purchase and official announcement are yet to come, but investors are reportedly happy about the deal. Considering Google's ownership of Youtube, this will give them firm control over online game session streaming. Venturebeat states:
The deal underscores the value of live Internet streaming and the rise of competitive gaming as a spectator sport - something that draws millions of viewers, can offer prize pools that surpass pro golf's marquee events, and provides a multibillion dollar opportunity for advertisers.Author note: What do you think of this, pipers? (That's how we're calling ourselves, right?) Considering Google's often clumsy attempts to control copyrighted material on Youtube, does this spell doom for many Twitch channels? As Twitch users would say, is it time for us to declare: "Rip in peace, Twitch."?
Got to confess I don't get this purchase because I don't get this economy. Gaming I get, though I'm not really a gaming. But competitive game-watching seems kind of pathetic to me, and yet it's a huge, apparently billion dollar economy? Consider me mystified. 'Scuze me while I go cut the grass of my lawn using a push, bladed-reel lawnmower, apparently.