Google-owned YouTube has reached a deal to buy the popular video streaming site, Twitch, for $1 billion dollars in cash according to those “familiar with the pact.” The deal will affect over a million users who upload video to Twitch every month. YouTube is already preparing for U.S. regulators to challenge the Twitch deal since it may raise anticompetitive issues in the online-video market.
I can’t help but be very, very afraid of this deal. YouTube has been under fire for the treatment of their content providers ever since the controversial Content ID system became the law of the land, causing many to jump to Twitch. Now that Twitch is (possibly) under the Google umbrella, it may become apart of the same system that many were trying to escape from. If Twitch does become apart of Content ID, it could absolutely cripple the streaming service since the majority of users don’t have the game company’s permission to stream their content.
Maybe I’m just being overly pessimistic, but the deal would definitely make Google the undisputed leader of online video by a wide margin.
Do you think the acquisition is good for Twitch or is this just YouTube’s way of buying out the competition? Post your thoughts in the comments.
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