In a blog post, Twitch said picking up Curse will give gamers “the tools and resources they need to achieve the ultimate gaming experience”.
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The Twitch announcement made no allusions to that earlier deal, though their relations with Riot’s also extremely close – the two are partnered for the broadcast of Riot’s esports programs. Gamers count on Curse for the latest news and information, gaming-optimized voice comms, comprehensive databases and wikis, engaging communities, managing mods for their favorite games and their MCN Union for Gamers. Each month, more than 100 million community members gather to watch and talk about video games with more than 1.7 million streamers. It’s easy to see Twitch tapping Curse’s communication tools to improve Twitch chat, just as Curse may be able to roll out more features with Twitch’s (and in turn, Amazon’s) backing. The site was mostly designed for himself and a few friends.
“We’ve always been fans of Curse, which is an innovator in the games industry with a strong culture built around its offerings”, Twitch chief executive Emmett Shear said in a release. Before joining Twitch, the company had 141 employees in six offices spread out across the globe, including locations in the UK, Germany, and Australia. “We’re kindred spirits in many ways and are looking forward to working together to enhance our users’ gaming experience”.
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According to the Curse company biography, the website was originally created to organize CEO Hubert Thieblot’s collection of adds-ons for World of Warcraft. At the time, Twitch CEO Emmett Shear said his company approved of the Amazon acquisition because both entities shared the same long-term vision and values. Riot Games, publishers and developers of League of Legends, had spent a whopping $30 million dollars on Curse a year ago, in what was presumed to be a buyout of their Voice Over IP services.
