Twitch
Earlier today, Emmett Shear, CEO of Twitch, sent out an email to users announcing that, as of Aug 25, popular streaming service Twitch has officially been acquired by Amazon. Initially posted on the Twitch Blog, “A Letter from Twitch CEO Emmett Shear” starts out by celebrating the over 3 years of existence that Twitch has now had. He praises the community for the continued dedication and support and attribute that to the immense success that Twitch has had over the years.
“Together with you, we’ve found new ways of connecting developers and publishers with their fans. We’ve created a whole new kind of career that lets people make a living sharing their love of games. We’ve brought billions of hours of entertainment, laughter, joy and the occasional ragequit. I think we can all call that a pretty good start.”
From there, he goes on to state that they have “chosen” Amazon because “they believe in our community, they share our values and long-term vision, and they want to help us get there faster.” Shear insists that most everything – offices, employees, brand, and independence – will stay the same; and that Amazon is simply there to support in the continued growth of Twitch. Staying true to himself and the company, Shear closes the email by thanking the community and saying “It’s dangerous to go alone. On behalf of myself and everyone else at Twitch, thank you for coming with us.”
Amazon’s acquisition is yet another interesting chapter in the development of Twitch. This is the third major announcement to come out of August for Twitch. Earlier in the month, they announced major changes to their services, and then subsequently recanted them within just a few days. At the time, there was no mention of Amazon, although there had been talks of either Google or Yahoo making a purchase. It’s probably a good thing, though, as they were under fire for their partnership with Audible Magic and the plans to rework storage for streams. Fortunately, those changes were put back on track leaving users, in the very least, satisfied with the compromise.
In all honesty, the acquisition by Amazon won’t appear to mean much beyond some behind the scenes changes, at least in the beginning. In some ways, it could be viewed as nothing more than a major server upgrade. In the long run, though, it looks to be a positive growth for Twitch. Both companies are arguably industry leaders in their own right. It’s exciting to think about what the companies could create together, moving forward. Who knows, maybe eventually that Amazon Prime account will translate to a free Turbo upgrade on Twitch!