Activision Buys MLG for $46 million

Activision recently expressed a desire to expand its already gigantic share in the eSports pie, both by founding a Call of Duty World League and starting an eSports division headed by giants in the athletic and eSports field. And while I was excited, if a little worried, about what these new plans would actually entail, I dont think I--or anyone, really--could have predicted what would happen next.

Activision is taking eSports to the next level, ladies and gentleman, as it was recently revealed that they have purchased the old giant of eSports, Major League Gaming, for 46 million buckaroos.

The details around this deal are mired in financial and business lingo--heres the source article Im pulling this from, if youre interested--but heres the jist of it: the MLG organization was in dire straights and suffering heavy losses in terms of money and growth. Since this purchase was done behind closed doors without consent from shareholders, its speculated this move was done to salvage the brand and the games associated with it rather than out of any genuine desire to own the MLG organization.

But still, they own it now. What that means, exactly, outside the certainty that MLG is going to be radically changed, is very unclear. All we know is coming from a shareholder's letter, nothing else has been addressed to the press by either the MLG organization or Activision itself.  But we can be sure that big changes are coming in eSports, and it seems Activision has its eyes on even bigger conquests in the future.

I'll keep you posted as this develops.