Major League Gaming Bought out by Blizzard in a $46 Million Deal
Major League Gaming (MLG) is no more. According to a report by eSports Observer, the North American eSports league has been bought out by Call of Duty and Hearthstone studio, Activision Blizzard.
The sale, which happened prior to New Year’s Day, was approved as a “corporate action without a stockholders’ meeting by less than unanimous written consent,” according to the report. MLG’s CEO Sundance DiGiovanni has been replaced by MLG CFO Gred Chisholm.
In a letter sent to shareholders, it was revealed that Activision Blizzard paid for “$46,000,000 in cash and assumed certain liabilities,” of MLG.
While both companies refused to comment on the buy-out as of press time, sources from MLG have told eSports Inquirer that they will release a full statement later this week.
Several shareholders took to Twitter to express their dismay. Although the letter published by eSports Observer was dated December 22, Series B shareholder and eSports personality Scott “SirScoots” Smith says he was only notified one day before the new year.
I have Series B shares in MLG due to the Gotfrag buyout and I was only notified about this sale earlier today, not sure about others.
— Scott Smith (@SirScoots) January 1, 2016
MLG was established by DiGiovanni and Mike Sepso in 2002 and quickly became the face of North American eSports during its decade long run. With the move, speculation points to Activision Blizzard doubling down to produce more eSports events surrounding its formidabble gaming portfolio. Activision Blizzard recently appointed Sepso as senior vice president for eSports, with Steve Bornstein (former CEO of ESPN and the NFL network) as the chairman.
MLG has assured that the move will not affect prior scheduled tournaments that are not part of Activision Blizzard’s games portfolio, including the CS:GO Major Championship in March at the MLG Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Going down the line however, fans and shareholders doubt that support will be shown towards other games MLG has hosted in the past, including Valve’s Dota 2 and CS:GO as they are direct competitors of Blizzard’s other eSports titles.
Banner photo from Gamer Headlines
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