Analysis, Finance, Internet

Five Things Which You Didn’t Know About Twitch, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s Recent Acquisition

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced on Monday that it had acquired Twitch for $970 million. What is it about the video game streaming platform that had major companies like Amazon and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) vying for its hand?

  1. Twitch is an exponentially growing video game live streaming website

The operative word here is ‘exponentially growing’. Twitch currently has over one million users who broadcast their content on its platform every month. It also claimed that, in July, the website was visited by 50 million unique visitors who spent time watching 15 billion minutes worth of content.

  1. Twitch could be the bridge between social networking and video gaming

Twitch’s increasing user base can be attributed to its support for PC, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s Xbox One and Sony Corp (ADR) (NYSE:SNE)’sPlayStation 4 games. Through this platform, video gamers playing from their living rooms could gain viewership from around the world. The website also has a feature which allows non broadcasting viewers to chat with the players and among themselves.

  1. Twitch supports advertising

While boosting its video streaming business might have been the primary concern of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) when it decided to buy Twitch, it did not hurt that Twitch also permitted advertising. Combine this with Twitch’s exponential subscriber growth and Amazon might be looking at a possible golden egg.

  1. Twitch was originally part of Justin.tv

Justin.tv, which was co-founded by Justin Kan and Emmett Shear in 2007, was one of the first websites to offer public live video streaming service. Twitch was only a part of Justin.tv, but grew in publicity and overtook its ancestor. In February, Justin.tv was renamed to Twitch and its other services were officially shutdown earlier this month.

  1. Twitch might possibly be the next YouTube

Though Twitch is currently focused on video gamers, it has been testing the waters with live music concerts. It received positive response with over 80 % of its users supporting the event when the website broadcasted a concert by musician Steve Aoki this July.