Google’s video empire expands with Twitch joining YouTube in billion dollar purchase.
Google Inc. has officially agreed to buy video game live streaming service, Twitch for $1 billion. This is a direct follow-up to their 2006 acquisition of video-sharing website YouTube, which was purchased at $1.65 billion. With the influx of competitive gaming drawing viewers in the millions, ESPN has even jumped on board in recent months to broadcast Call of Duty Championship with Major League Gaming and the Evolution Championship Series just last week.
The service gained popularity among the PC crowd, but reached new heights on both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 with many users showcasing their online gaming sessions to the world. In comparison to just 3 million month active users in 2011, the service now has a whopping 50 million active users each month – with the number of new members drastically increasing each month. We’re assuming Twitch TV will remain as a subsidiary of YouTube for Google’s updated video empire, and will not be merged as YouTube gaming like some are speculating.
Details are extremely scarce at the moment, but a press release from Google explaining the new purchase should surface in the coming days.
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