Report: YouTube to Acquire Video Game Streaming Service Twitch for $1 Billion

According to a report on Variety from this weekend, video game streaming network Twitch is in talks with Google/YouTube to be acquired for the sum total of $1 billion. All cash.

It’s currently unknown how quickly (if at all) this deal is to go down, as conflicting reports from Variety, and The Wall Street Journal claim that the purchase is “imminent” and “isn’t imminent” respectively. But here’s what we know from all combined reports so far.

Yesterday, May 18, Variety released a report claiming that YouTube was in talks to buy Twitch for the aforementioned price of $1 billion in an all-cash offer, and would be announced immediately. Twitch declined comment from sites who requested it, as did YouTube.

Later, The Wall Street Journal reported from “two people familiar with the matter” that the acquisition discussions were “at an early stage” and that a “deal isn’t imminent.” The report also claimed that Twitch had explored methods to raise extra funding instead of outright selling to the highest bidder.

And speaking of bidders, a new report on The Verge, also from “people with close knowledge of the talks,” claims that multiple bids from other interested parties like Microsoft were also evaluated by Twitch, but eventually looked over in favor of Google’s offer. Twitch believes that YouTube, even with their competitive history with video streaming, will help it reach its goals of becoming the definitive platform for game streaming.

One individual close to the deal says that the two have agreed on the price, and are working out specifics of how Twitch’s branding and individuality could change.

We’ll update this post as the situation changes.