Google Is Said to Have Held Acquisition Talks With Twitch

Google Inc. (GOOGL) has held talks to purchase video service Twitch Interactive Inc. to boost its YouTube site, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

With Twitch, Google would gain a platform that has more than 45 million active viewers a month. The San Francisco-based company acts as a social gathering place for video gamers, letting them discuss games or watch other players. Twitch is available on Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox One game consoles.

Variety reported earlier this week that the two companies are in talks on a transaction that could value Twitch at about $1 billion. Tim Drinan, a spokesman for Mountain View, California-based Google, declined to comment yesterday, as did Matthew DiPietro, vice president for marketing at Twitch.

Walt Disney Co.’s recent agreement to purchase Maker Studios for as much as $950 million has set off a scramble among well-capitalized companies to invest in or acquire online video companies that have a large viewer base. Google is stepping up efforts to bolster its video offerings as more users go online to find such content. YouTube was the No. 1 provider of video content in the U.S. during March, according to ComScore Inc. (SCOR)

Google has been on an acquisition tear as it looks to bolster services and attract more users. The Web-search company acquired digital-thermostat maker Nest Labs Inc. for $3.2 billion in February, and it has made several smaller deals in the past few weeks. Those include Stackdriver Inc., a startup that specializes in helping companies use online computing services, and Adometry Inc. to boost its Web measurement and analysis services.

To contact the reporters on this story: Brian Womack in San Francisco at bwomack1@bloomberg.net; Cliff Edwards in San Francisco at cedwards28@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pui-Wing Tam atptam13@bloomberg.net; Anthony Palazzo atapalazzo@bloomberg.net Stephen West

Source:

www.bloomberg.com

Posted by Editorial Team on 9:33 PM in Adometry Inc, Google, Google Is Said, Have Held Acquisition, Matthew DiPietro, Microsoft Corp, online computing services, purchase Maker Studios, purchase video service, specializes

If Comcast, Electronic Arts deal pushes through, customers can buy games through their TVs

Cable TV subscribers may soon be able to stream video games right into their living rooms as Reuters reports Comcast is currently in talks with Electronic Arts (EA) to allow cable subscribers to stream EA games through its cloud-connected Comcast X1 platform.

Reuters cites five anonymous sources who each confirmed that Comcast and EA have just finished two years of testing and are now well on their way to finalizing an agreement that would stream video games using X1, Comcast's sophisticated video operating system with voice control, Internet applications and other advanced features. Experts have touted X1 the best operating system of its kind.

"Comcast and EA's aim is to make buying games as easy as ordering a pay-per-view movie, sources said. This could create a new distribution model that circumvents console and video-streaming device makers," writes Reuters.

The report singled out lucrative titles such as "FIFA," "Madden," "Plants vs. Zombies" and "Monopoly" as some of the first games that will be streamed through X1. It also mentioned that users will be able to turn their existing tablets into consoles, which suggests that the games offered will be smaller, mobile games instead of games that require a full-blown console.

Sources told Reuters that Comcast will offer casual and family games before considering first-person shooter and action games, based on user preferences.

"If the agreement goes through, it would mark the boldest step yet by a cable company to muscle into the territory of leading video-game console manufacturers such as Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp.," Reuters reports.  

Comcast has been hoping to ward off what it sees as potential invasions of its home turf by other technology companies, including Sony and Microsoft as well as new players in the television industry Apple and Amazon.

Apple TV allows users to stream iOS games straight from their iPhones and iPads to their TV sets. It won't be long before Apple will also bring streaming video games through its set-top box, developers believe. Fire TV, which was launched just last month, came with more than a hundred free and paid video games from various game publishers, including EA.

If the partnership pushes through, it could create a potentially massive market for Comcast, which currently has 22 million cable subscribers in the United States - more if its controversial acquisition of Time Warner Cable receives approval from antitrust regulators.

The X1 system allows users to find programs, record and store them in the Comcast cloud. Comcast is reportedly installing up to 20,000 of new X1 boxes every day.

Source:

www.techtimes.com

Posted by Editorial Team on 1:45 AM in Amazon, buy games, Cable TV subscribers, Electronic Arts, family games, FIFA, first games, Microsoft Corp, Sony Corp, stream video games