by JR Cook - 10 years ago     show comments

If you are a Twitch streamer, you will definitely be interested to know that Google is rumored to be purchasing Twitch for $1 billion in a cash-only acquisition.  Twitch, which currently has more than 45 million monthly users was founded in 2011.

As it is being purchased as a YouTube acquisition, it is likely that Google is looking to integrate more YouTube features into Twitch, which could include things like ad revenue sharing and Google+ integration.

For streamers, this does open up the door for more ad revenue, especially for those streamers who don’t qualify for the Twitch partnership program.  But how it will affect subscriber payments for Twitch streamers who charge a monthly subscription fee remains to be seen.  If the acquisition does go through, Google could decide not want to bother with the hassle of subscriptions, or somehow move it to a third-party where the streamer is responsible for it.

It could make it easier for streamers to upload content to YouTube, or even have it done automatically for all streams.  However, as streamers often play music while streaming, how that might be affected with a YouTube deal could be significant.  Videos have been removed from YouTube for having specific songs merely played in the background of a video, so streamers might be caught in the middle when it comes to playing music while streaming versus agreements YouTube already has for Content ID and automatically removing such infringing content.

An acquisition by Google would also open up the door to a lot more advertising on Twitch itself.  Right now it is mostly limited to pre-roll video advertising or partners who can also play video ads mid-stream.  But there is the potential for text/image ads outside of the streaming area as well, not to mention Youtube style text ads appearing right on the videos themselves.

From a space perspective, this will hopefully mean that Twitch streamers can automatically save streams for longer periods of time, rather than having to save them as a highlight if they want to keep some beyond the usual 4-7 days. It was a change that was pretty unpopular with streamers, and gamers found it was easy to forget to save highlights before the archive was deleted.

Google could want even more integration with services like Google+, or they could try and tie it into Google+ Hangouts. However, many gamers prefer to be known only through their gamertag or gaming handle, and not their real name, and if Google does decide to integrate Google Accounts through Twitch, gamers could lose the anonymity they currently enjoy.

The announcement of the acquisition is expected “imminently” and will have to go through US regulators for approval as they are both leaders in their product areas.

When asked for comment, Twitch’s PR director simply stated they do not comment on rumors and did not deny the rumor.

For those asking about the story today, Twitch doesn't comment on rumors.

— Chase (@ChasejustChase) May 18, 2014

Update:  I asked Google for comment, and a Google spokesperson responded with “We don’t comment on rumors or speculation.”