What would YouTube and Google want with a website known for streaming video games? It is a question that many are asking after we learnt that the tech giant is in talks to purchase Twitch for $1 billion. Let's look at the data, and the Reddit Twitch community for answers.
What would YouTube and Google want with a website known for streaming video games? It’s a question that many have been asking after news broke that the tech giant is in talks to purchase video game streaming community Twitch for $1 billion.
What is Twitch?
Twitch is a video platform that allows gamers to share what they are playing live to millions of viewers.
How well is it doing?
In March 2012, nine months after it started, Twitch already had 16 million unique monthly visitors and was growing by about 11% per month. By September 2012, the company received a $15 million round of funding, followed by another $20 million in 2013.
Do people actually want to watch each other play video games?
Yes they do, and they are. You cannot see them, they are tucked away in their bedrooms. Looking at data taken in February, Twitch has now grown to 45 million monthly active users and it gets more traffic during peak hours than Tumblr and Facebook. Twitch’s 2013 stats reveal that 58% of its viewers watch 20 hours a week or more. Twitch has an average of 540,000 primetime viewers, beating many cable networks that young people watch, like MTV.
What would YouTube want with a game-streaming company?
YouTube has played with live video in the past. They streamed the presidential debates and also the Summer Olympics. However, the company is fairly late to the user-generated streaming video party, only offering that option to everyone as of December. YouTube is well aware of how important gamers are. The most-subscribed YouTube channel is PewDiePie, the Swedish gamer who creates humorous videos of himself playing a bizarre slew of games. Several other large gaming channels are not far behind.
How could Twitch benefit?
YouTube, with Google behind it, is one of the few companies in the world that could help deliver Twitch on a bigger scale, keeping up with the demand of its users.Delivering high-quality streaming video to millions of viewers across the globe can be a technical struggle.
What do Twitch users think? Are they flooding Reddit with abuse?
Well, lets just say the hashtag #RIPTwitch began trending on Twitter when the news broke of the potential acquisition.
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