Amazon To Buy Twitch For $970 Million 61
Dave Knott (2917251) writes Amazon has agreed to acquire the live game-streaming service Twitch for approximately $970 million in cash, a move that could help Amazon bolster its position in the fast-growing business of online gaming and give it technology to compete with video-streaming rivals Netflix and YouTube. The acquisition, which has been approved by Twitch's shareholders, is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Google had for some time been reported to have interest in acquiring Twitch, but those talks cooled in recent weeks. Google was unable to close the deal, said sources familiar with the talks, because it was concerned about potential antitrust issues that could have come with the acquisition.
Re:Sad (Score:5, Insightful)
Why should it surprise you that people enjoy watching good videogame players? They're been watching good sports players for centuries. Shit, people will pay thousands of dollars for a Superbowl ticket these days in the nosebleed section.
Re:Sad (Score:5, Insightful)
2500 years ago, the Ancient Greeks gathered by the thousands to watch naked men grapple each other and throw sticks in the air.
1500 years ago, the Byzantines gathered by the hundred thousands to watch men ride in circles in carts.
500 years ago, Europeans all over the continent dressed up in hundreds of pounds of metal and ran into each other waving sticks.
50 years ago, Americans began watching young men throw pieces of pig hide at each other by the millions.
Curiously, the Apocalypse has failed to manifest itself for any of these events. Rather, Classical Athens, Justinian's Constantinople, Renaissance Europe, and Cold War America all tend to be considered civilizations at the height of their political and/or cultural dominance.
Somehow, I suspect that I'm not going to be meeting the Four Horsemen anytime soon because of Twitch (unless I'm watching someone play Diablo, maybe).