Twitch, a popular streaming for video game Company, is in the process of being acquired by Youtube for more than $1 billion. It was disclosed by the resource close to the deal. The deal, which is in the form of all-cash, will be announced as a great news. After the deal is completed, this acquisition will be the most significant in the history of YouTube, which was acquired by Google in 2006 for $1.65billion. This deal was initiated after the new CEO of YouTube, Susan Wojcicki, was named at the start of this year.
The deal is yet not confirmed by any resourced from YouTube or Twitch. Twitch is based in San Francisco. It allows its user to upload and watch free, live gameplay videos. These videos can be streamed through MS Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4 consoles. The company also sells a monthly $9 subscription, which is ad-free. Subscription to individual channels is done for $5 per month. They claim that they have more than 45 million users every month. Out of these, more than 1 million members upload videos every month to Twitch. The company also distributes shows from other partners including CBS Interactive’s GameSpot, Joystiq and Destructiod.
Some sources have mentioned that YouTube is preparing for US regulators to challenge the Twitch deal. At the moment, YouTube is unanimously the No. 1 platform for all the internet videos. It is serving more than 6 million hours of video every month to more than 1 billion users throughout the world. The company is expecting that the Justice Department will take a hard look at certain aspects of the deal including, whether buying Twitch will raise anticompetitive issues in this huge market of online-videos.
Justin Kan and Emmett Shear were the co-founders of Twitch in 2011. They are also the co-founders of Justin.tv, which is one of the first websites to host live streaming videos generated by users. Shear is the current CEO of Twitch.
The startup for Twitch in 2011 has raised more than $35 million in funding. Main investors for Twitch include Bessemer Venture Partners, Alsop Louie Partners, WestSummit Capital, Take-Two Interactive Software, Thrive Capital and Draper Associates.
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