With gaming becoming a multi-billion dollar industry, Google seems to be looking to get its hands on it too. Rumors have been rife that YouTube Twitch world's largest video game live-streaming network, for $1 billion.
According to Variety, the acquisition will be made in cash and will be announced within days. On the other hand, the Wall Street Journal confirms the deal, although it adds that the talks are still in the early stages, with many details yet to be revealed. The authoritative newspaper cites two people as its sources, whom it does not name.
Twitch (originally a subsidiary of Justin.tv) launched in 2011 with the goal of creating its own gaming network. Since then, it has managed to garner massive traffic, averaging 45 million unique monthly viewers and 1 million gamers streaming their own content.
Twitch was fully integrated into the Xbox One and Playstation 4 gaming consoles, allowing users to "stream" and watch content from their TV.
YouTube has attempted to compete in the game live-streaming arena, but it has never had the success of Twitch.
