Blizzard has purchased the rights, assets, and technology behind the IGN Pro League, boosting its existing eSports team for further coverage of Blizzard games.
After the sudden cancellation of the IPL 6 event back in March, the future of the IGN Pro League was uncertain, but the Blizzard deal ensures that it will continue, moving over to become part of the developer’s eSports team.
Blizzard has sponsored eSports events before, most notably the 2012 Battle.net World Championship, where it gave away $100,000 to the winner – one of the biggest prizes in eSports at the time. However, the tournament didn’t receive as many viewers as some third-party sponsored events like Major League Gaming or the League of Legends Championship Series.
Following the release of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, it seems Blizzard is increasing its commitment to eSports. The IPL originally featured games from many different publishers, but it’s unclear whether Blizzard will focus primarily on their own games or allow others in their tournaments. We’ve contacted Blizzard for more detail.
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