Google Bought Livestreaming Service Twitch

Google has has reached a deal to buy Twitch, the video game livestreaming service, for $1 billion, VentureBeat reports.

Rumors about a possible deal began circulating back in May, when sources said Google offered an all-cash purchase. Today, unnamed sources confirmed the deal, which is reportedly being handled by Google's YouTube division –– Google purchased the video-sharing website back in 2006 for $1.65 billion, which further increased the size of the ever-growing empire.

The original rumors suggested the asking price would be more than $1 billion. But both Google and Twitch declined comment on the matter, so the exact amount of the purchase is unknown, and other specifics have yet to be announced by both companies.

Twitch enables users to broadcast live gameplay sessions on PC and next-gen consoles. The service has more than 50 million active users, a far cry from the 3.2 million using it when it launched in 2011. This deal will not only be YouTube's biggest acquisition to date, but will also further elevate the value of video game livestreaming in a variety of different areas.