Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has acquired video game-streaming service Beam.
It is unclear how much the company paid for the service, which allows for gamers and viewers to interact directly through certain games. For example, gamers broadcasting their progress through Twitch can have viewers make decisions for them, including choosing what weapon the gamer chooses in certain first-person shooters.
Beam will be part of the company’s Xbox team. Microsoft had previously attempted to acquire Twitch, but Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) ultimately outbid them, buying the streaming service for $970 million.
Only a handful of games are connected with Beam’s capabilities at the moment, including the popular block-building game Minecraft. In other cases, you — the viewer — can choose what challenge the gamer decides to embark on.
Beam CEO Matt Salsamendi will join Microsoft’s Xbox team, which he believes is the right fit for the service due to its focus on community gaming. He will continue leading the pack for the interactive service as part of Xbox’s engineering group.
A beta for Beam was first released on January 5. Since then, it has expanded quite a bit.
Microsoft last released its quarterly earnings report about three weeks ago, posting earnings of 69 cents a share that surpassed expectations of 58 cents a share.
Revenue came in at $22.6 billion, ahead of the $22.14 billion that Wall Street projected.
The Xbox One S was released earlier this month–the 2TB version is retailing for $399.
MSFT stock is down 0.3% Thursday.
