Google reportedly seals the deal on Twitch $1 billion acquisition

Google has agreed to purchase game livestreaming service Twitch for $1 billion according to sources familiar with the matter. Both companies have declined to comment as of writing.

VentureBeat, who is reporting the news, admits they don't have all of the specifics on the deal or when it'll be officially announced, but they claim Twitch investors that participated in past funding rounds are pleased with the returns they are getting.

News of the merger first broke back in May when Variety claimed YouTube was looking to spend $1 billion to acquire Twitch. If announced under the YouTube banner, it would be the largest acquisition related to YouTube since it was acquired by Google back in 2006 for $1.65 billion.

Twitch has exploded in popularity over the past few years. In June 2011, the service boasted 3.2 million monthly active users. That figure has since jumped to more than 50 million monthly active users with more than 1.1 million people broadcasting each month. Over 13 billion minutes of video are watched each month through the service.

Twitch's popularity goes hand in hand with the rise in popularity of eSports in general. Valve inked a deal with ESPN just last week for coverage of The International Dota 2 Championships, an eSports tournament with a prize pool of more than $10 million. A five-man Chinese team by the name of NewBee took home the $5 million first place prize.

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Google reportedly seals the deal on Twitch $1 billion acquisition

Google has agreed to purchase game livestreaming service Twitch for $1 billion according to sources familiar with the matter. Both companies have declined to comment as of writing.

VentureBeat, who is reporting the news, admits they don't have all of the specifics on the deal or when it'll be officially announced, but they claim Twitch investors that participated in past funding rounds are pleased with the returns they are getting.

News of the merger first broke back in May when Variety claimed YouTube was looking to spend $1 billion to acquire Twitch. If announced under the YouTube banner, it would be the largest acquisition related to YouTube since it was acquired by Google back in 2006 for $1.65 billion.

Twitch has exploded in popularity over the past few years. In June 2011, the service boasted 3.2 million monthly active users. That figure has since jumped to more than 50 million monthly active users with more than 1.1 million people broadcasting each month. Over 13 billion minutes of video are watched each month through the service.

Twitch's popularity goes hand in hand with the rise in popularity of eSports in general. Valve inked a deal with ESPN just last week for coverage of The International Dota 2 Championships, an eSports tournament with a prize pool of more than $10 million. A five-man Chinese team by the name of NewBee took home the $5 million first place prize.

Next iFixit teardown reveals Amazon Fire Phone not designed for easy DIY repairsPrev Pinterest has a better male-to-female workforce ratio, but lags in ethnic diversity

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Nvidia's Shield tablet is available now and promoting Twitch streaming

Nvidia is expanding its line of mobile gaming products with the Nvidia Shield Tablet today. Right now, you can pre-order the tablet for $299, with the option to add a wireless controller for $59.

The $299 covers the 16GB wifi version, but you can nab a 32GB LTE version for $399. The tablets sport a Tegra K1 192 core GPU, 2GB of RAM with a Cortex A15 CPU, front-facing speakers, and a multitouch display. 

The tablet will be the first mobile device to integrate Twitch streaming as well, with Twitch offering a mobile SDK for developers to use. There's also a 5MP camera, microphone, and accompanying chat overlay to make streaming your games as effortless as possible -- at least, that's the hope behind Nvidia's push to incorporate streaming sessions. 

This tablet will also be the first to stream PC games via Nvidia Grid, a cloud-based gaming service that early adopters in Northern California can utilize to stream a library of PC games, then save them in the cloud. 

If streaming online isn't your thing, there's the option to use Nvidia Console Mode, which allows you to stream your games at home in native 1080p HD. 

The Shield Tablet looks as though it's making great strides in closing the loop between mobile gamers and console gamers, making streaming easier and more accessible to everyone. It's releasing July 29, so if you're interested in pouncing on it early, you might want to consider pre-ordering soon.

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