Activision Blizzard and Google have announced a partnership that will have the publisher's gaming events stream on YouTube exclusively.
Activision Blizzard and Google announced a multi-year relationship that include exclusive rights to the publisher's events, such as the Overwatch League and Call of Duty League. Google Cloud will now serve as the preferred provider for Activision Blizzard's game hosting infrastructure, while YouTube will serve as its exclusive streaming partner worldwide (except for China). All of the publisher's esports leagues and events will now be viewable only on YouTube in their respective channels.
According to the press release, players will benefit by experiencing premium network quality-of-service, which will include low latency and packet loss when playing high-fidelity games. Players will have optimal personalized interactions, as Activision Blizzard will be able to tap into Google Cloud's AI tools to offer curated recommendations for in-game offers and differntiated gaming experiences.
"We've worked closely with Activision Blizzard for the past few years across mobile titles to boost its analytics capabilities and overall player experience," states Sunil Rayan, Head of Gaming, Google Cloud. "We are excited to now expand our relationship and help power one of the largest and most renowned game developers in the world."
"We're excited to partner with Google to drive the next generation of gaming innovation for the industry," said Jacques Erasmus, Chief Information Officer, Activision Blizzard. "Google Cloud's best-in-class infrastructure gives us the confidence to deliver great entertainment to our fans around the world."
The team up between Activision Blizzard and Google begins today with the start of Call of Duty League's first season, which will see 12 teams competing in Minnesota. The Overwatch League's 2020 season, which begins on February 8th, will stream exclusively on YouTube. The esports events for other games, such as Blizzard's card game Hearthstone, will also find their home on Youtube from now on.
