Google acquires Twitch for $1 billion - report

In May we reported that Google was looking into purchasing streaming video service Twitch for $1 billion, and now it looks like it could be a done deal.

According to a report by VentureBeat citing "sources familiar with the matter," the buyout has already happened.

This would arguably give Google a monopoly over streaming video since it already acquired YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion. Allegedly the Twitch purchase is being handled by Google's YouTube division.

These days Twitch is most known for its streaming video game integration on PS4, Xbox One and PC. Microsoft said it streamed 2.7 million minutes of footage the day the Twitch app launched on Xbox One, the most it ever had on a hardware launch.

Twitch was founded just over two years ago by co-founders of Justin.tv Justin Kan and Emmett Shear. In its first month it had 3.2 million monthly active users, while it now has over 50 million monthly active users with approximately 1.1 million members broadcasting videos each month.

According to networking equipment company Sandvine, Twitch accounted for 1.35 per cent of all internet traffic in March.

Twitch has declined to comment on this story.