- General
- June 19, 2019
- 5 minutes read
Twitch Acquires Bebo
Twitch CEO Emmett Shear Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch Amazon’s Twitch has acquired Bebo, a once high-flying social network…
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| Twitch CEO Emmett Shear
Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch
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Amazon’s Twitch has acquired Bebo, a once high-flying social network that sold to AOL for $850 million in 2008 before a decline that led to a trifling $1 million sale back to its founders five years later. A Twitch spokesperson confirmed the acquisition in a statement to TechCrunch. The acquisition includes both Bebo’s team (around 10 employees) and intellectual property. TechCrunch, citing unnamed sources, reports Twitch paid up to $25 million for Bebo after beating out at least two other bidders, including Discord and Facebook.
After Bebo was sold back to its founders, it headed into the world of esports, first with a streaming service and later as an organizer of tournaments for streamers. Being in esports, it’s no surprise that Twitch — the most popular game streaming site — has acquired it. Bebo’s team and tech will now work on Twitch Rivals, the Amazon owned company’s online esports competition.
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| (From left) Bebo founders Xochi and Michael Birch
image: edublogger on Flickr
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The esports market is growing, projected to be worth between $1.58 billion and $2.96 billion by 2022 by eMarketer. According to eMarketer’s report, the entire esports industry attracted 400 million users last year and made $869 million in revenues from sponsorships, advertising and player fees.
