Speaking to American financial news outlet TheStreet.com today Activisions Blizzard's CEO, Bobby Kotick, mentioned some tantalizingly sparse details about a forthcoming Overwatch League.
The initial focus of the piece was on the possibilities for Augmented and Virtual Reality technologies, but Kotick breezed past the topic to focus on esports:
Regarding eSports, he's noticed the number of spectators of these online gaming competitions has risen to 100 million, watching what he described as "user-generated" content.
"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 explained.
People should expect to see the emergence of professional leagues, with in-person spectating, and arena events, he noted.
It has long been speculated that Blizzard would be announcing their own league or circuit for 2017, but here we have the first rumblings actually on the record. Roll on Blizzcon.
Perhaps the most curious component is his distinction between native esports teams and those owned by professional sports teams. Does it mean anything or is he simply trying to lend credibility to the esports movement? Let this simple Irish fool know in the comments.