For those of you that like to follow the more competitive side of gaming, you've no doubt heard about Major League Gaming, or MLG. The organization regularly puts on tournaments and competitions for games such as Starcraft, League of Legends, Super Smash Bros., and Call of Duty; pitting the very best of the best against each other live on MLG.tv, one of the biggest broadcast networks for competitive gaming. Now, it's set to get even bigger.
It was just recently announced that Activision Blizzard has acquired MLG and absorbed nearly all of its assets. For the foreseeable future, it'll be business as usual, but there will likely be much expansion in the coming year, as it seems that Activision Blizzard has big plans for bringing eSports to mainstream audiences. Bobby Kotick - CEO of Activision Blizzard - had this to say on the acquisition:
Our acquisition of Major League Gaming's business furthers our plans to create the ESPN of esports. MLG's ability to create premium content and its proven broadcast technology platform - including its live streaming capabilities - strengthens our strategic position in competitive gaming. MLG has an incredibly strong and seasoned team and a thriving community. Together, we will create new ways to celebrate players and their unique skills, dedication and commitment to gaming. We are excited to add Sundance and the entire MLG esports team to our competitive gaming initiatives.
What do you think? Are you glad to see Activision getting behind this? What are your thoughts on eSports? Drop us a comment in the section below.
[source majorleaguegaming.com]
Comments 31
conflict of interest is at maximum levels.
It's a good thing I'm not into watching other people play video games. I really wouldn't want to support anything Activision is behind. Yuck.
Oh sweet! As much as I hate the MOBA genre (but I love me some CS:GO) I'm glad they have someone with bottomless wallets to help the format along with the entire sport grow as a whole.
Can't imagine Dota 2 will be played anymore though, not with Blizzards Hero's of the whatever.
I've never heard of it before. Now that Activision are involved I feel even less interested.
'Create the ESPN of esports...' how corporate can you get!
Will be interesting to see if games other than their own will be allowed in the future.
Not good. Those Blizzcon virtual tickets gives me a good idea and i'm not really interested to pay to see them advertising their games online.
Oh....No..
MLG has been losing money for years. Activision will do nothing but make it an advertising platform.
@CharlieSmile Well said madame.
@DarthNocturnal and he still does... http://twitter.com/ColinCowherd/status/677954264564498432
Seeing as how they were dumb enough to buy King, I'm not surprised.
Sometimes, I see many devs surviving because of them buying other small companies to compensate their struggles.....like SEGA for example.
ive enjoyed watching esports from time to time and as long as they treat it as a seperate entity and cover non activision / blizzard games in the same way as they would their own, I cant see a problem with this. if they stop showing or cut back on other companies games then I think that is a very sad thing.
Well, RIP Smash Bros Melee and Wii U circuits then. It's a shame too, they really tried to make up for what happened in Anaheim with their 2015 run. We also got one of the best grand finals sets for Wii U that day.
Correction... "creating the nfl network of esports" cus conflict of interest... Cus activision. Cus blizzard.
And Activision grows bigger and bigger...
Sigh....isappointed:
Watching other people play play games doesn't interest me, which is also why I don't care for Let's Players. This decision won't affect me at all.
I dont like Activision but great strategy!
Which noobs are getting #REK'D in Heroes of the Storm this week? Find out next on eSportsCenter sponsored by Mountain Dew, Doritos, and Activision/Blizzard.
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I am looking forward to the day where guys can get drunk at a sports bar yelling stuff like "pwn those noobz IPfreelee93" for an esport game on the TV. That would be more entertaining than the game itself.
I just hope they aren't as biased as ESPN is to East Coast Sports...
...but then again.
Even though Activision Blizzard has its IPs, do you think it would knock out any other games from the MLG circuit? I feel like there'd be a backlash of a sort.
@Yorumi While I generally agree, it's in Blizzard's best interest for there to be a thriving eSports scene and it's close to the heart of those who run it as the emergence of StarCraft in Korea was an integral part of the growth of eSports. With HearthStone, StarCraft, and Heroes of the Storm all succeeding in large part because of a healthy eSports scene it makes sense to bolster it and push it into a wider audience doing whatever it takes.
The hope is that whoever is running it understands that, especially in its fledgling state, the eSports scene needs every niche community to be bolstered and that one company trying to dominate with its games is only going to cause it to split and weaken. You'll see statements to that effect soon from whoever begins to run this stuff and I'd wager you'll see a good showing in the first couple of years at least.
That said, I think you are right that when anything happens to make a Blizzard game grow in popularity there will always be a suspicion or a feeling that it didn't earn its way.
So, the question becomes whether it is worth having this possibility to significantly grow the visibility of eSports and videogames in general. I don't know the answer to that one.
Wow. Blizzard will do anything to get the eSports scene for Heroes of the Storm going.
Wishful thinking, but maybe an official Esports channel?
To be fair MLG had $45 Million in debt and counting due to it being horribly unprofitable to operate.
Activision-Blizzard's games were the main games at MLG, so it is a natural fit.
Activision agreed to absorb all the debt and give all the stakeholders a profit, in the terms.
Wow
Before you know it, they'll own the rights to Doritos and Mountain Dew.
@Iggly
They don't need too, Pespi already labels and markets both as gamers fuel and food for "hardcore" gamer.
There is a whole product line from multiple food and drink companies that are making food and drinks for "hardcore" gamers.
@Xenocity It was a joke if you couldn't tell by the wink.
@Iggly
I was trying to convey my disgust with food being marketing at gamers
This exciting session of people sitting down and clicking buttons was brought to you by Doritos and the American College of Rheumatology.
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