Twitch, bought for a billion dollars in 2014, has acquired Internet Games Database (also known as IGDB).

If you haven’t used it before, IGDB is a database that gathers all relevant information about games in one location and builds “social and exploratory features on top of this information”. This includes descriptions, release dates, credits, images, videos, and relevant social media links.

The acquisition will allow Twitch to improve its search and discovery functionality.

But don’t fret if you rely on IGDB as Twitch plans to keep the website running whilst it still is used by Twitch for its data.

The news was confirmed by Jerome Richer De Forges of IGDB on Medium stating “we are very excited to announce the next chapter of our story: IGDB has joined the Twitch family! Millions of people visit Twitch every day to connect with their favorite streamers and communities. This opportunity takes IGDB to a whole new level, giving us the opportunity to be an even bigger part of your gaming life”.

It's not just Twitch getting the benefits of such an extensive database, with IGDB looking at tapping “into the their experience, resources, and skills, which will enable us to accelerate our progress and deliver the version of IGDB we all always dreamed about”.

Furthermore, any users and businesses that are taking advantage of the IGDB API will not have to worry. “The API is here to stay”. IGDB plans to merge both premium and free tiers into a single new free tier and users will be able to “contribute information to Twitch as well as IGDB and the thousands of apps, services, and websites that are powered by this information”.