[Confirmed] Amazon


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Amazon?not Google?reportedly buying Twitch for $1 billion

3 months after Google/Twitch rumors, another suitor supposedly comes calling.

 

The well-sourced site The Information (subscription required) is claiming that Amazon is in "late stage talks" to purchase Twitch.tv, the video game streaming site, for $1 billion.

 

Three months ago, Variety first reported that Google was set to purchase the site for the same amount, but we've yet to hear anything official from either company. We've been starting to wonder if the Google/Twitch deal would ever become official; if Twitch is still courting other suitors, it would explain why the deal has yet to happen.

 

The site live streams video game footage to 45 million viewers a month, and has been cleaning up the site lately with aggressive copyright enforcement and a mass deletion of old videos, possibly in an effort to attract a buyer.

 

According to the report, an Amazon/Twitch deal "could be announced shortly."

 

Source: Ars Technica

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It's confirmed:

 

A Letter from the CEO ? August 25, 2014

 

It?s almost unbelievable that slightly more than 3 years ago, Twitch didn?t exist. The moment we launched, we knew we had stumbled across something special. But what followed surprised us as much as anyone else, and the impact it?s had on both the community and us has been truly profound.

 

Your talent, your passion, your dedication to gaming, your memes, your brilliance ? these have made Twitch what it is today. Every day, we strive to live up to the standard set by you, the community. We want to create the very best place to share your gaming and life online, and that mission continues to guide us.

 

Together with you, we?ve found new ways of connecting developers and publishers with their fans. We?ve created a whole new kind of career that lets people make a living sharing their love of games. We?ve brought billions of hours of entertainment, laughter, joy and the occasional ragequit. I think we can all call that a pretty good start.

 

Today, I?m pleased to announce we?ve been acquired by Amazon. 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.

 

I personally want to thank you, each and every member of the Twitch community, for what you?ve created. Thank you for putting your faith in us. Thank you for sticking with us through growing pains and stumbles. Thank you for bringing your very best to us and sharing it with the world. Thank you, from a group of gamers who never dreamed they?d get to help shape the face of the industry that we love so much.

 

It?s dangerous to go alone. On behalf of myself and everyone else at Twitch, thank you for coming with us.

 

Source: Twitch blog

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Funny how companies state they will keep their independence when eventually, they will lose it.

 

Anyway, good deal.  Hopefully Amazon can take it to the next level.  Google really didnt need it and if they wanted to, can do the same thing with YouTube.

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I don't want to live on this planet anymore. The fact that a network where kids sit like zombies and watch other kids / people play video games is crazy. Then to think this service is worth $1 Billion.

My Nephew does it to, he will sit like a Zombie in front of the computer and just watch Mindcraft videos.

 

I understand that some people arn't good at certain games, so they watch the game they suck at being played. But I don't think that's this. I think the movie Idiocracy is closer than we think! In my day, sure we played video games, but at least we played them. We just didn't sit in front of the TV watching other people play them.

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I don't want to live on this planet anymore. The fact that a network where kids sit like zombies and watch other kids / people play video games is crazy. Then to think this service is worth $1 Billion.

My Nephew does it to, he will sit like a Zombie in front of the computer and just watch Mindcraft videos.

 

I understand that some people arn't good at certain games, so they watch the game they suck at being played. But I don't think that's this. I think the movie Idiocracy is closer than we think! In my day, sure we played video games, but at least we played them. We just didn't sit in front of the TV watching other people play them.

 

I'm sorry but I don't like your opinion. I think Twitch is awesome, and who cares if people sit at a computer watching it. It's something they enjoy, so don't worry about what other people are doing.

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I don't want to live on this planet anymore. The fact that a network where kids sit like zombies and watch other kids / people play video games is crazy. Then to think this service is worth $1 Billion.

My Nephew does it to, he will sit like a Zombie in front of the computer and just watch Mindcraft videos.

 

I understand that some people arn't good at certain games, so they watch the game they suck at being played. But I don't think that's this. I think the movie Idiocracy is closer than we think! In my day, sure we played video games, but at least we played them. We just didn't sit in front of the TV watching other people play them.

 

 

It seems you have made your definition of what twitch is based on preconceptions because you've heard it's a video site for game videos. sure there are game videos like you describe there, but those aren't the ones with viewers. Those with viewers are the ones that have a host showing you how to do stuff in games like EQ Landmark and interacting with the users and videos of competitive esposrts games that show tournament games or how to play, as well as live show channels that may or may not be game related. 

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This is a lot better than Google. 

 

I don't know, I could see Google putting this as a PERFECT fit to youtube. Amazon on the other hand..... umm... Maybe for their firetv?

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It seems you have made your definition of what twitch is based on preconceptions because you've heard it's a video site for game videos. sure there are game videos like you describe there, but those aren't the ones with viewers. Those with viewers are the ones that have a host showing you how to do stuff in games like EQ Landmark and interacting with the users and videos of competitive esposrts games that show tournament games or how to play, as well as live show channels that may or may not be game related. 

 

Link me to something interesting on Twitch.tv that restores my faith in the future of our youth.

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Thank god it wasn't Google :yes:

 

The recent changes still suck and I miss Justin.tv though :(

Which ones exactly? The only one that I didn't like, was the stream delay; which isn't that bad if you don't use the chat.

 

Link me to something interesting on Twitch.tv that restores my faith in the future of our youth.

http://www.twitch.tv/lirik is live now and he's hilarious. Try him.
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VERY happy that it's not Google. I rarely was so angry as when rumors were floating that Google would acquire Twitch. I hope Amazon doesn't enforce the kind of content auto-deletion scheme currently in use at Youtube, because that would kill Twitch.

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I don't want to live on this planet anymore. The fact that a network where kids sit like zombies and watch other kids / people play video games is crazy. Then to think this service is worth $1 Billion.

My Nephew does it to, he will sit like a Zombie in front of the computer and just watch Mindcraft videos.

 

I understand that some people arn't good at certain games, so they watch the game they suck at being played. But I don't think that's this. I think the movie Idiocracy is closer than we think! In my day, sure we played video games, but at least we played them. We just didn't sit in front of the TV watching other people play them.

 

 

How is it different than watching TV, or going to see a movie, or watching any other form of entertainment?

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How is it different than watching TV, or going to see a movie, or watching any other form of entertainment?

Exactly. But, according to warwagon I'm a 41-year-old zombie only because I enjoy watching people play Minecraft. /me shrugs
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Yes, your lifestyle sickens me, Frank.

You may only redeem yourself by making video guides on how to make "expresso" and perhaps sit like a zombie and post really bad attempts at jokes on forums.

 

Or maybe opinions that attack a large demographic should be kept to themselves.

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I don't want to live on this planet anymore. The fact that a network where kids sit like zombies and watch other kids / people play video games is crazy. Then to think this service is worth $1 Billion.

My Nephew does it to, he will sit like a Zombie in front of the computer and just watch Mindcraft videos.

 

I understand that some people arn't good at certain games, so they watch the game they suck at being played. But I don't think that's this. I think the movie Idiocracy is closer than we think! In my day, sure we played video games, but at least we played them. We just didn't sit in front of the TV watching other people play them.

 

 

Most people don't watch for the game play. They watch for the person playing the game. Just like a normal talk show on tv.

 

Some are just great people like Lethalfrag and others are quite comedic like ManVsGame. We watch them and seeing them play games as gamers is just like hanging out at a friends house and playing games. 

 

If gaming isn't something you're heavily into then I guess it wouldn't appeal to you.

 

Anyways I'm not sure how I feel about this. It can be either good or bad and we'll know when Amazon makes their presence known. However Amazon does provide some great services so I'll remain skeptical.

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I don't know, I could see Google putting this as a PERFECT fit to youtube. Amazon on the other hand..... umm... Maybe for their firetv?

 

Sorry but twitch forced into youtube, firstly reduces competition in the market, and more importantly, forced G+ user accounts with real names and crap won't work for twitch. 

 

Incidentally on twitch which don't have the policies of youtube, I don't see any of the hate and bile that fills every YT video comment. 

 

Why would twitch be a perfect for Google? Twitch already has apps for EVERY platform, either official apps, or since they don't live in the dark ages, very good(sometimes even better than official) third party clients. So twitch actually has more support than YT, what would happen if Google bought them? oh yeah, all those third party apps would be gone, and there would only be support for Chrome, Android and iOS. 

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Exactly. But, according to warwagon I'm a 41-year-old zombie only because I enjoy watching people play Minecraft. /me shrugs

 

Unless you are a kid, he wasnt talking to you. He specifically said kids and I have to agree with him.  Kids sit on their asses and watch to much TV and play to many games.  And a lot of parents use it as a way to keep their kids distracted so they can do other things.  People like to blame TV, games, music...and other things for the way their kids turned out.  Well, if they paid more attention to them, maybe they would have turned out better. 

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I don't want to live on this planet anymore. The fact that a network where kids sit like zombies and watch other kids / people play video games is crazy. Then to think this service is worth $1 Billion.

My Nephew does it to, he will sit like a Zombie in front of the computer and just watch Mindcraft videos.

 

I understand that some people arn't good at certain games, so they watch the game they suck at being played. But I don't think that's this. I think the movie Idiocracy is closer than we think! In my day, sure we played video games, but at least we played them. We just didn't sit in front of the TV watching other people play them.

 

 

Was over at a family gathering a few weeks ago.  Nephews were bored of their tablets and wanted to get on the computer and play games.  I looked at them and told them to get out of the house and go to the park.  When they said there was nothing to do at the part, I told them to use their imagination.

 

Watching TV and playing games is all well and good. I  do it myself.   But there is a thing as to much of something.  I watch game vids of people playing if I am stuck.  I do not watch vids of people playing just for the hell of it.  Whats next, a site where we can sit and watch people watch TV and listen to music?

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I think this a good deal:

-It won't get merged with YouTube, which means more competition.

-It didn't fell in the hands of any of the companies behind the big gaming platforms (namely Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo) so it's less likely to become a platform exclusive.

Not that I care since I don't use Twitch, but for those that do this seems a far better option than the most likely alternatives.

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Was over at a family gathering a few weeks ago.  Nephews were bored of their tablets and wanted to get on the computer and play games.  I looked at them and told them to get out of the house and go to the park.  When they said there was nothing to do at the part, I told them to use their imagination.

 

Watching TV and playing games is all well and good. I  do it myself.   But there is a thing as to much of something.  I watch game vids of people playing if I am stuck.  I do not watch vids of people playing just for the hell of it.  Whats next, a site where we can sit and watch people watch TV and listen to music?

 

Were they chunky? lol

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Sorry but twitch forced into youtube, firstly reduces competition in the market, and more importantly, forced G+ user accounts with real names and crap won't work for twitch. 

 

Google removed the requirement for real names from G+ over a month ago.

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