Update:

Twitch has confirmed that Amazon will acquire the company later in 2014. Amazon will acquire all of Twitch's outstanding shares "for approximately $970 million in cash" by the end of the year.

“Amazon and Twitch optimize for our customers first and are both believers in the future of gaming,” said Twitch CEO Emmett Shear. “Being part of Amazon will let us do even more for our community. We will be able to create tools and services faster than we could have independently. This change will mean great things for our community, and will let us bring Twitch to even more people around the world.”Shear added on the Twitch Blog , "We chose Amazon because they believe in our community, they share our values and long-term vision, and they want to help us get there faster. We’re keeping most everything the same: our office, our employees, our brand, and most importantly our independence. But with Amazon’s support we’ll have the resources to bring you an even better Twitch."

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Despite earlier reports that Google had reached a deal to buy Twitch for $1 billion, new reports suggest that Amazon is in late-stage talks with the livestreaming service.There has been no confirmation from either company as of now, but IGN has reached out to Twitch for comment. A person who was briefed closely on the matter said Amazon will purchase Twitch for more than $1 billion, according to tech blog The Information and the Wall Street Journal . The same source also said the deal could go through as soon as today.Initial rumors originally surfaced in Variety in May , and were subsequently supported by reports from WSJ, in which the deals were reportedly far from complete.IGN will update this story with any comment from the companies involved.

Mike Mahardy is a freelance journalist writing for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter