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Activision Blizzard announced today that it was looking to expand coverage of the rapidly growing esports scene by collaborating with Facebook Live and adding enhancements to its MLG.tv streaming platform.
Senior vice president of Activision Blizzard Media Networks, Mike Sespo, said that esports was a "cultural phenomenon at its tipping point." To try and build its audience — and become as accessible as possible — Activision Blizzard will be collaborating with Facebook to stream live matches on Facebook Live.
Dan Reed, head of global sports partnerships for Facebook, said that the esports community is a growing priority for the social network, which boasts 1.6 billion users.
"Facebook is uniquely positioned to help esports fans connect around exciting moments and great esports content," Reed said.
In a recent report from research firm Newzoo, more than one billion people will be aware of the community by the end of 2016. That number is up 35 percent from 2015, based on those surveyed in 16 countries across most continents.
The company using its time on stage during the 2016 NewFront conference to show off MLG.tv's new Enhanced Viewer Experience (EVE). The addition to the streaming platform includes a built-in system that will display statistics, leaderboards and up-to-the-minute updates for live matches that people are watching.
Blizzard Activision plans to reveal the new enhancements it has made to MLG.tv during its two-day Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 tournament, the MLG Anaheim Open. The tournament begins on June 10 and will also be streamed on Facebook.
