Twitch set to acquire GoodGame – an agency decicated to gaming and esports

Twitch for me is the go-to place when I need a game viewing fix – especially the eSport kind. The video streaming service is worth a pretty penny, being recently purchased by Amazon for a cool $970 million. They’re now looking to grow even more and are set to acquire GoodGame.

Have no idea who or what GoodGame is? Here’s a brief description (via the Twitch Blog):

GoodGame is an all-in-one talent and content company focused on gaming and esports. Over the past decade, its staff of industry veterans has worked with teams, represented players, managed tournaments, created content, and brought numerous marquee advertisers into the gaming space. GoodGame prides itself on being community-focused with the goal of supporting as many players and teams as possible by providing new and compelling monetization opportunities

They are the agency responsible for teams such as Evil Geniuses and Alliance for example. Their slogan describes them best – “We connect brands to gamers”.

Why are Twitch interested in acquiring them though? Kevin Lin, the COO, offers an explanation:

“GoodGame has an amazing reputation in the industry for its expertise in both sponsorship sales and talent support. Their passion for helping content creators and pro players achieve success has elevated the entire industry in the minds of brands worldwide.”

“GoodGame was a natural fit for Twitch because of our shared experience in creating compelling monetization opportunities for content partners and helping sponsors get the most out of their investments. We have worked with GoodGame CEO Alexander Garfield for several years, and there is a clear opportunity for him to bring his skills and experiences to many more of our partners.”

It makes sense in my head, for both parties involved. GoodGame will be getting financial piece of mind, and Twitch will be getting a team that can help them further improve their service.

People tend to think that this sort of thing is a simple matter of “selling out”. This is not the case. Alex Garfield, the CEO of GoodGame, posted a lengthy open letter explaining his reasoning and thought process. This particular extract sums it up the best:

This isn’t going to be one of those post-acquisition blogs in which the fact that there’s money involved in the transaction is conveniently glossed over. There’s no doubt that being bought by Twitch means all of our employees will be taken care of very well. But at the same time, we’re talking about a group of people who’ve dedicated most – if not all – of their adult lives to esports and to growing this industry. It’s a deserving bunch. On top of that, we’ve reserved a portion of the transaction for a player pool, which means that every player currently contracted with GoodGame will receive a small portion of the company’s sale. And as an Amazon subsidiary, we’ll also be able to offer our players other additional benefits to which they didn’t previously have access.

TL;DR – it’s a good deal for everyone involved. And while I’d be lying to you guys if I said that the level of support didn’t factor into my decision, I’d be lying just as much if I told you that the support alone would’ve been enough. Don’t get me wrong, the financial security doesn’t hurt. But I didn’t put ten years of my life into this company – and this industry – only to sell my soul in public for a couple of bucks.

No word-mincing. No bullshit. That’s not what this is.

I think Twitch have made the right move. We’ll have to wait and see how things pan out come 2015 though. What do you think? Will this acquisition yield positive results?

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Last Updated: December 10, 2014