twitch2Update: Amazon’s $970M acquisition of Twitch is largest in its history

Original story: Amazon is on the verge of acquiring video game streaming company Twitch.

The Information and The Wall Street Journal report today that the Seattle online giant is in “late-stage talks” to acquire Twitch for $1 billion. This is particularly interesting given that Google had reportedly agreed to purchase Twitch for the same price just last month.

Twitch, which lets users stream their video game sessions, has more than 55 million monthly active users and has raised $35 million since debuting in 2011. Over the past three years, the San Francisco-based company has become the ESPN of the video game industry, where viewers go to watch live footage of video games being played.

While Google buying Twitch made sense — gamers already upload tons of gaming content to YouTube — an Amazon acquisition is a little more curious. The company isn’t a big player in the gaming scene, although its $99 Fire TV set-top box does play Android-based games with an Amazon controller. Amazon has also bolstered its Amazon Game Studios team with top talent this year.

We’ve reached out to Amazon for comment, and will update this story when we hear back.

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