Activision Blizzard To Launch Official Overwatch Esports League

Activision Blizzard To Launch Official Overwatch Esports League

October 26, 2016

Activision Blizzard has a smash hit on its hands in Overwatch, the wildly successful first-person shooter game that was released in May. The title’s burgeoning esports presence certainly deserves a decent chunk of the credit for this sustained popularity, and the company is looking to further capitalize by bringing this growing scene in-house.

According to an interview with The Street, Activion Blizzard’s CEO Bobby Kotick revealed plans to put together the first dedicated esports league for Overwatch.

What we’re doing is creating professional content. So we’re organizing around teams and leagues. You will have the Overwatch League which will have a certain number of teams. Those teams will be a combination of professional sports teams as owners and endemic sports teams as owners.

Kotick went on to mention that in-person spectating and arena events are in the works for this new league. Since no formal announcement has been made yet, other details are scarce at this juncture. However, there is plenty to speculate on due to Activision Blizzard’s current presence in the esports space.

This move seems to be a natural progression for the Activison Blizzard, as it has already partnered with a number of tournament organizers—such as Turner for the Overwatch Open and ESL—to bring top-flight competition to the masses. It also oversees the Call of Duty series, which is one of the more popular esports titles on the market. What Overwatch has lacked, however, is a stable league that consistently brings together the best teams and players in the world to compete for a title on a regular basis. With the acquisition of Major League Gaming earlier in the year, the company now has the means to put together a viable league that meets its lofty standards.

We’d love to have you as a customer too, so please informative store buy generic cialis contact us soon. It works very fast as it is cheapest viagra in uk absorbed by the digestive system. It is aimed to defend PDE-5 enzyme, a kind of proteins that damage the muscles of blood vessels in the penis http://amerikabulteni.com/2012/03/21/oz-hakiki-mad-menden-reklamcilara-damn-good-advice/ generic cialis on line and thus Kamagra relaxes the muscles and helps in a proper penile erection. It needs a physical discount levitra online picture, for thoughts alone are simply too abstract.

IMAGE DISTRIBUTED FOR BLIZZARD – Overwatch fans crowd in front of the world’s largest Tracer action figure on Hollywood Blvd. on Friday, May 20, 2016, in Los Angeles. Overwatch launches on PS4, Xbox One and PC on May 24th. (Jordan Strauss/AP Images for Blizzard)

Kotick noted in his speech that the number of esports spectators has risen to 100 million people, making the stakes extremely high for this league. It remains to be seen whether or not this new Overwatch venture will adopt television as a medium for viewers to consume the content, or stick strictly to online streaming. Turner has tried to popularize esports on television with its ELEAGUE programming, which focuses on Counter-Strike seasons, but has also hosted an Overwatch event that garnered respectable ratings.

Be sure to check back here on Forbes to find out more about this exciting new venture from Activsion Blizzard as soon as more details are released.+

Source: Forbes

Blog

Activision Blizzard To Launch Official Overwatch Esports League