Amazon seems to have surprised almost everyone with their newly acquired videogame-streaming platform.
For months it was speculated and nearly confirmed multiple times that Google would be purchasing twitch.tv and it had caused quite a bit of dissent among the twitch community.
Those who had expressed their concerns with Google purchasing the popular videogame streaming platform can rest easy. Amazon has purchased Twitch for a total just shy of $1 billion and the move looks to benefit both sides.
With over one million users and hundreds of millions of clips and videos on the site, Twitch.tv CEO Emmet Shear has been able to create and evolve an outstanding service in just three years.
In an open letter to all twitch.tv users, Emmett Shear explained his excitement for the move.
“We chose Amazon because they believe in our community, they share our values and long-term vision, and they want to help us get there faster. We’re keeping most everything the same: our office, our employees, our brand, and most importantly our independence. But with Amazon’s support we’ll have the resources to bring you an even better Twitch.”
The new found assets that Amazon can supply looks to make this an excellent deal for both Amazon and Twitch. Amazon has been known for their incredible customer support and will likely dismiss many of the worries regarding a new stringent copy-right system and will certainly reject the feared implementation of Google Plus-like comment system like that currently on Youtube.
Along with Amazon’s incredible server infrastructure the purchase should aid twitch immensely — especially since Twitch will be maintaining independence with Amazon making them a full-owned subsidiary.
As Amazon moves more toward the hardware business they’re certain to recognize the vast popularity of videogames within our culture and this move exemplifies that.