Game streaming is big business. And like TV streaming before it, everyone with two wires to plug together wants a slice of that delicious viewer pie. (Ew.) Which explains why Microsoft is hopping in the pool with its own streaming service acquisition.

It’s been two years since Amazon ponied up nearly a billion dollars to buy Twitch, the biggest name in “watching someone else play No Man’s Sky while you’re at work,” and that purchase has indeed worked out well for them. Twitch remains the go-to name in games, but where there’s money to be made competition will swiftly arise.

Enter Beam. The company is a competitor to Twitch, less well-known but with potential. Or at least, as Ars Technica reports Microsoft sees potential there, and has snapped Beam up.

Beam offers a different set of features from Twitch, including its own level of game-style accomplishments — you earn points for doing some things, which you can then spend on other things. And those built-in metagame features Beam promises feel very in-line with Microsoft’s existing XBox Achievement structure and culture.

Microsoft, with its ownership of the Xbox and Windows platforms, probably really hates seeing all that sweet customer interaction and potential revenue go to third parties like Amazon. But whether Beam will become a go-to default down the line remains to be seen.

Neither company disclosed the actual terms of the deal.

Microsoft acquires game-streaming site, will integrate features into its games [Ars Technica]

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