FX.co ★ Amazon to buy videogame website for $970 mln

As videogames become a spectator sport, Twitch Interactive Inc. has been gaining in popularity as an Internet video channel for broadcasting games and watching people play online. No wonder, after Twitch management announced selling its game service, a number of hi-tech corporations were competing to acquire the world’s largest videogame website. Amazon and Google were the main rivals to strike the deal. However, after a series of long talks, e-commerce giant Amazon was able to satisfy its ambitions buying Twitch in one of its biggest-ever acquisitions. Amazon said it is paying $970 million in cash for the online gathering place for gamers in exchange for the whole stock available at Twitch. The parties are ready to settle the deal by late 2014. For Twitch, Amazon agreed to pay more than $100 million in additional payments if certain performance objectives are met, which could lift the final price tag above $1 billion. “Broadcasting and watching gameplay is a global phenomenon, and Twitch has built a platform that brings together tens of millions of people who watch billions of minutes of games each month,” Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive officer, commented on the acquisition. Twitch seized on the popularity of games like "League of Legends" and "Minecraft," developing tools to let players broadcast their game sessions to an audience of more than 55 million users and generating revenue from advertising and subscriptions. Astonishingly, the large-scale videogame service is just three years old. From now on, Amazon will keep Twitch’ San Francisco office and all of its roughly 170 employees will take jobs at the new owner. Twitch CEO Emmett Shear, had many kind words to say about the acquisition, “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. …With Amazon’s support we’ll have the resources to bring you an even better Twitch.”