Amazon renames premium Twitch service as 'Prime Gaming'

Free version of Twitch will retain its old branding

A picture taken at the Tokyo Game Show on September 21, 2018, shows the logo of the VOD and streaming video games company Twitch (MARTIN BUREAU/AFP via Getty Images)

Amazon has renamed its premium Twitch offering as it attempts to focus on its Prime subscriptions.

Live-streaming service Twitch Prime – which offered users extra features in return for a subscription – will now be known as Prime Gaming.

The change appears to be an attempt to bring it in line with other services in Amazon's Prime line-up, such as Prime Video and Prime Reading.

Twitch was bought by Amazon in 2014, for nearly a billion dollars. It has since gone on to become easily the biggest and most famous of the live-streaming brands.

Throughout that time, the company has looked to bring the two services together, offering the ability to combine Amazon Prime and Twitch accounts to get access to the premium service.

The main Twitch site, which also offers streams of games and other content, will still be called Twitch and have the same branding.

Prime Gaming will provide the same benefits, which include a monthly Twitch channel subscription and exclusive in-game content.

The move comes amid increased competition among the streamed gaming scene, with Microsoft recently deciding to close its own Mixer platform and partnering with Facebook Gaming instead.

Amazon also has its hands dipped in the development side of the gaming business under its Amazon Games arm.

Additional reporting by agencies