Thursday, October 22, 2015

Activision Blizzard Launches New Esports Division, Taps Former ESPN CEO

Santa Monica-based videogame publisher Activision Blizzard announced this morning that it has launched a brand new, Esports division, which will focus on competitive gaming and growth of esports. As part of the new division, Activision said it has named Steve Bornstein, the former CEO of ESPN and the NFL Network, as Chairman of the division, and name Major League Gaming (MLG) co-fouunder and president Mike Sepso as Senior Vice President. Esports is the fast growing area of videogames which pits professional, videogame players against each other. "I believe esports will rival the biggest traditional sports leagues in terms of future opportunities," Bornstein said in a statement from Activision, and that there is a tremendous growth possible in advertising, ticket sales, licensing, sponsorship, and merchandising. Activision titles in the Esports are include StarCraft, World of Warcraft, Heroes of the Storm, HearthStone, and more.

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