YouTube making $1bn move on Twitch, says report

Hollywood news site Variety says YouTube is to acquire Twitch.

The video site will purportedly pay $1bn for the broadcast site, which has risen to prominence off the back of its deep involvement with games streaming, both from big sports shows down to personal feeds run by individuals.

In recent months it has even become a game platform of sorts for unique mass-involvement games like ‘Twitch plays Pokemon’.

Twitch says it has over 45m monthly users, with over a million members uploading videos each month.

PR representatives from Twitch said the business "doesn’t comment on rumours".

Variety says the rumoured deal is the most significant in YouTube’s history, since it was also bought for over $1bn – Google bought the site for $1.65bn in 2006.

But Variety also adds that YouTube is expecting US regulators to inspect the proposed acquisition – as it is already the leading video site on the web, "the company expects the Justice Department to take a hard look at whether buying Twitch raises anticompetitive issues in the online-video market".