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Logitech Just Spent $118 Million on a Twitch Streaming Service to Sell More Webcams
The acquisition of streaming service Streamlabs is possibly an attempt to shore up their hardware business
Twitchcon starts today in San Diego, and the first big news story in the world of streaming has already broken before the final attendees touch down on the tarmac: Swiss hardware company Logitech has announced it has bought streaming service Streamlabs in a deal potentially worth $118 million.
Streamlabs is one of the two major providers of streaming services — essentially, a backend control panel that allows streamers to do everything from cut between shots, control audio, monitor analytics and manage their community, including donations. Seven in 10 Twitch streamers use Streamlabs, according to the company, including big names like Tfue, Dr Lupo and Ninja (though he has since moved to competitor streaming service Mixer).
Such streaming services have always been one of the odd quirks of sites like Twitch: rather than a seamless backend allowing them to stream immediately, users have had to pick up third-party software (Streamlabs’ major competitor is StreamElements). But Twitch has recently been trialling its own innate, in-house streaming software: Twitch Studio.
Though Twitch’s offering is currently in beta and offers a limited number of features — making it comparatively underpowered for professional streamers — it’s likely that the feature set will grow beyond those that are useful only for newbies to the platform. That could then put it into direct competition with the company Logitech just splurged at least $89 million, and up to $118 million dependent on revenue targets being hit, on.
While a Twitch-owned streaming software service is a big deal, Travis Shreffler, founder of Bottlespark, a company that connects streamers and advertisers, is uncertain whether Twitch can make up lost ground that quickly. “I think Twitch is three years behind on it,” he explains. “Streamers are only likely to switch if there’s a killer feature. Most of the professionals still use regular OBS since it’s the most feature-rich streaming software.”
