http://esportsobserver.com/mlg-sells-substantially-all-assets-to-activision-blizzard-for-46-million/

This is pretty big news in the E-sports world. Activision Blizzard, Inc. has basically acquired MLG (and not in a very subtle or friendly way either apparently). I know they've been investing in E-sports for a while but this is a pretty big move. I expect aggressive moves in the tournament scene for games like Hearthstone, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, SC2, CoD, ...

Eurogamer has added a quote from Robert Kotick:

"Our acquisition of Major League Gaming's business furthers our plans to create the ESPN of esports," said Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick. "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."

Added a quote from good old Mr. Moneyball himself.

would be interesting to see if they keep supporting non-Activision Blizzard games like CSGO

@dystopiax: I think it would be a bad business move not to. You can't make the "espn of esports" by excluding some of the most popular games and their fanbases (Lol, dota, and csgo). They couldn't build on just blizzards games alone. I mean heroes is great to watch and overwatch looks cool, but they aren't that heavy of hitters yet. The starcraft scene can be significant especuially for wcs, but its not growing anytime soon. Hearthstone would be the only thing really pulling viewers.

Thank fuck Leauge Of Legends are independent of MLG otherwise this news would probably be devastating for Riot

@mezza: LoL controls their tournament scene and MLG was already not involved, CS Go is continuing for now, no idea what they do/did with Dota.

The International is the product they need to compete with.

I wouldn't worry about CSGO, because Valve knows how to do it if MLG drops the game. Dota 2's scene is a huge success.

But if Activision is just trying to fill it with their own games, it seems like a silly investment, because they are big enough, and have enough games that they could've just branded their own thing.

I cannot fathom Activision coming in and dropping all the other games. It literally benefits no one, especially not them, because by doing do they would immediately limit the scope of their audience. At worst, their games are going to get a bigger presence/push than some of the competition, but that's about it. Kotick isn't an idiot.

If anything, this move gets me more excited than I ever was anything related to MLG because if there's any current company I can see creating the ESPN of esports, it'd probably be Activision.

I'm just curious to see how the new wave of dank memes will turn out.