Amazon adds Twitch to their cart

Amazon has purchased Twitch. The deal ends weeks of speculation that the streaming service was being heavily courted by Google, with many media outlets incorrectly reporting that the deal was finalized. Fans of the video streaming service were stunned earlier in the month when new rules regarding copyrighted material appeared to mimic the heavy-handed ContentID system employed by YouTube. It was speculated by many that Twitch was cleaning up their copyright dispute issues to demonstrate to potential buyers that they had systems in place to deal with potential lawsuits. Emmett Shear, CEO of Twitch, believes the partnership will benefit gamers.

“Amazon and Twitch optimize for our customers first and are both believers in the future of gaming. Being part of Amazon will let us do even more for our community. We will be able to create tools and services faster than we could have independently. This change will mean great things for our community, and will let us bring Twitch to even more people around the world.”

The price tag for Twitch was $970 million in cash. Amazon probably should’ve waited for Twitch to show up in a Lightning Deal.