Amazon buys Twitch for $970 million

The deal comes as a huge surprise as only a few weeks ago Twitch was reported to be close to reaching an agreement with Google's YouTube for $1 billion.

Launched in June 2011 as a gaming-related branch of justin.tv, Twitch is currently the number-one videogame streaming service in the world. Last month, more than 55 million unique visitors viewed more than 15 billion minutes of content on Twitch produced by more than 1 million broadcasters.

According to Amazon, the acquisition of Twitch will be sealed in the second half of 2014.

"Broadcasting and watching gameplay is a global phenomenon and Twitch has built a platform that brings together tens of millions of people who watch billions of minutes of games each month – from The International, to breaking the world record for Mario, to gaming conferences like E3. And, amazingly, Twitch is only three years old," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com.

"Like Twitch, we obsess over customers and like to think differently, and we look forward to learning from them and helping them move even faster to build new services for the gaming community."

In an open letter, Emmett Shear, CEO of Twitch, reassured the platform's users that the company will maintain its independence, while its services will reach a new level under the wings of Amazon.

"We chose Amazon because they believe in our community, they share our values and long-term vision, and they want to help us get there faster," Shear wrote.

"We’re keeping most everything the same: our office, our employees, our brand, and most importantly our independence. But with Amazon’s support we’ll have the resources to bring you an even better Twitch.

"I personally want to thank you, each and every member of the Twitch community, for what you’ve created. Thank you for putting your faith in us. Thank you for sticking with us through growing pains and stumbles. Thank you for bringing your very best to us and sharing it with the world. Thank you, from a group of gamers who never dreamed they’d get to help shape the face of the industry that we love so much."