Not only is Twitch is in a being acquired sort of mood lately but they’re also in an acquiring sort of mood. This week, the leading online game streaming service announced that it was buying one of the top companies in eSports. Twitch announced the acquisition of the GoodGame Agency, an eSports marketing company whose portfolio includes leading eSports teams Evil Geniuses and Alliance.

While many fans of eSports know the Evil Geniuses and Alliance team brands, they may not be aware of the GoodGame Agency, the company that actually owns both teams.

GG is an eSports marketing company that provides a multitude of services beyond team ownership. They also do web design, viral video creation, event and tournament management and facilitate brand deals between parties in the gaming and eSports spaces. In the announcement on their website, GG CEO Alex Garfield says that the company has been responsible for “funneling more than $10 million toward players, teams, tournaments, and other parts of the eSports ecosystem.”

From Twitch’s perspective, the acquisition of GoodGame isn’t about eSports specifically but is about GG’s expertise in funneling money into and through eSports and the possibility of leveraging that through the whole Twitch ecosystem.

In a press release, Twitch COO Kevin Lin said, “GoodGame was a natural fit for Twitch because of our shared experience in creating compelling monetization opportunities for content partners and helping sponsors get the most out of their investments.”

The timing of the announcement shouldn’t be overlooked either. Last week, Valve unveiled the public beta for Steam Broadcasting but it doesn’t seem to have any of the monetization potential that Twitch does. They’re also competing against YouTube and MLG for live streamers though they’re leading the battle for game streaming. If they’re able to bring more money to streamers or money to more streamers, that could keep them on top of the live streaming pile as they should be able to retain and add new streamers to the offerings on Twitch.

The success of the partnership may come down to what streamers think of monetization after GoodGame is put to work on it. I’d imagine that subscriptions and donations are much, much more lucrative than ads. However, any improvement to ad rates would be a benefit to streamers. A little more money there could be passed back to viewers through lower subscription fees. I doubt that’s going to happen because nobody ever voluntarily gave up more money but somebody might consider that.

Sources: GoodGame, Gamasutra