Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
It was a bit of a head-scratcher when Amazon announced it was spending nearly $1 billion in cash to buy Twitch, but it turns out that once again the retailer was ahead of the curve, realizing that a lot of people wanted to watch other people play video games.
Why it matters: Twitch is now the most popular streaming platform for gamers, with 15 million daily users watching 2.2 million broadcasters. (80% of them are male.)
- It has invested in going after highly sought-after gaming events and influencers that have also turned into big money for streamers.
- It also leverages a Twitch Prime service that gives each person who connects an Amazon Prime account a single subscription to use on any Twitch channel.