Amazon acquires game streaming site Twitch for nearly $1bn

Online retail giant Amazon has bought game streaming site Twitch for $970m (£585m) in cash.

It had been rumoured that Google was close to buying the three-year old company, but Amazon has now swooped in to complete the purchase.

The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of the year.

Twitch has become a leading game streaming site since its launch in June 2011, and last month attracted more than 55 million unique visitors who viewed more than 15 billion minutes of content.

“Amazon and Twitch optimise for our customers first and are both believers in the future of gaming,” said Twitch CEO Emmett Shear.

“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.”