Don't be embarrassed that you didn't take notice of Amazon's recent purchase of Twitch Interactive. Don't worry if you noticed and it didn't mean anything to you either. These are only signs that you are old.
What is Twitch and what does it mean that Amazon is forking over $970 million in cash for the company?
Twitch Interactive is a live video gaming platform that is just 3-years young. It streams video gameplay, often tournaments, in real-time to the interwebs, and is supported by advertising.
While Twitch might have fallen under your radar, it has not for millions of online game players, fans, and advertisers.
It's reported that over 60 million people have used the Twitch site --- including 55 million unique visitors in the month of July, who viewed more than 15 billion minutes site content. The average viewer stayed on the site for 106 minutes. With those numbers, gameplay broadcasting just may be the new big streaming entertainment medium --- and Amazon's purchase means that they are intent in becoming a major player in the industry.
One way to think of Twitch is as an e-sports league, not unlike watching major league baseball or the national football league. You might not find yourself turning off the television at halftime of next Sunday's Chargers-Bills football game to visit Twitch to catch up on the progress of the latest Call of Duty tournament. But your kids just might. And Amazon will rejoice.
Sources:
Businessweek
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-09-03/twitch-ceo-sees-game-tournaments-vying-with-major-leagues
StreamDaily
http://streamdaily.tv/2014/08/25/its-confirmed-amazon-to-buy-titch-for-970m-in-cash/