Activision Blizzard: some sources would reveal the mind-boggling figures to broadcast eSports tournaments exclusively on YouTube

Last month Google e Activision Blizzard announced their new partnership, just before the start of the season Call of Duty League. In the past few hours, thanks to rumors from people informed about the terms of the contract, the figures of the collaboration between the two giants have been revealed. According to reports, the deal would amount to a total of 160 million dollars, with a three-year exclusivity, for all properties eSports by Activision Blizzard, including: Call of Duty, Overwatch e Hearthstone.

According to the sources, the agreement would include several significant incentive clauses relating to advertisements and to display goals, so the figures that could come to the league and esports teams could increase considerably. The presence of these clauses would have been crucial for the new partnership between Google e Activision could be successful, even if the overall amount allocated to OWL has not increased compared to the previous agreement with Twitch. In addition, the agreement provides that Activision Blizzard will be able to use the cloud computing services of Google Cloud. We report below what is declared by Stuart Saw, eSports manager of Endeavor:

From a market perspective, this is a great moment in esports history. This is the first time that a major Western developer has taken the exclusivity of one of its products away from Twitch, which is ironic given that Activision did the same with Call of Duty five years ago.

For YouTube this is a true statement of intent, supporting a fast growing market. If you look at Google, Youtube, Cloud, Stadia, Ads, gaming is very vertical for them. Externally, this is one of the first examples where Google's strategy is immediately obvious. They will use this opportunity against Amazon and Twitch.