Emmett Shear
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Twitch's CEO sees Amazon integration as an opportunity, not an obligation
When Amazon purchased Twitch for almost $1 billion, the question burbled to the top of everyone's mind: Which Amazon service will invade the platform first? The idea hangs with minor dread, a concern that a corporate agenda will ruin what customers have come to love about the game-streaming service. Twitch CEO Emmett Shear isn't worried, however. He's been adamant Twitch sold to Amazon because it promised autonomy. "Our attitude toward it is not that this transaction happened, therefore we have to do integrations," he explained at TechCrunch Disrupt. "It's that now we have the opportunity." Amazon, he explains, offers Twitch new resources for security, licensing and marketing -- but says that Twitch will only integrate Amazon services that benefit the consumer.
Execs explain the rationale behind Amazon buying Twitch
If yesterday's news that online megaretailer Amazon had purchased streaming game footage hub Twitch for $970 million took you by surprise, you're not alone - not by a long shot. However, a recent Time interview with Amazon vice president of games Michael Frazzini and Twitch CEO Emmett Shear explains exactly why the two companies are now joined at the hip. When asked why the acquisition makes sense, Shear explained that both Amazon and Twitch "have a shared vision for the gaming industry." Further, Shear points out that Amazon is willing to give Twitch the freedom to operate as it always has, only with the not insignificant resources of the world's largest online retailer backing the streaming site's moves. Frazzini, in turn, underlined Amazon's ongoing campaign to forcibly insert itself into the world of gaming. "Obviously if we're going to be in the devices business, we have to be thinking hard about games," Frazzini told Time. "And at the center of that is the customer experience, which is what's so interesting about Twitch for us. Twitch has that same point of view. They think long term." Above all, like most corporate maneuvering, this acquisition is driven by potential profit. As Time points out, Amazon's motivations for entering the gaming space hinge on the average gamer's purchasing patterns. As the article put it, "Amazon loves people who buy games through Amazon, said Frazzini, because gamers tend to come back and buy all sorts of other things." [Image: Twitch]
Massively interviews TwitchTV's Justin Kan
If you've stayed up-to-date with Massively's livestreaming, then you know that we recently made the switch to TwitchTV to meet all of our streaming needs. There have been some bumps in the road along the way, but overall the experience has been wonderful. We've even added several new personalities to the mix and now stream fan favorites like APB: Reloaded, EVE Online and others. Justin Kan, president of Justin.tv (of which Twitch is a part), sat down and answered several of our questions about the livestreaming service. Click past the cut to read the interview!
