Activision Blizzard to Buy Major League Gaming

By Ezequiel Minaya

Activision Blizzard Inc. said Monday that it has agreed to buy Major League Gaming as the videogame giant continues to pursue a foothold in fast-growing business of competitive videogames, or so-called e-sports.

"Our acquisition of Major League Gaming's business furthers our plans to create the ESPN of e-sports," said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision.

Details of the transaction weren't released.

Last year, Activision launched a new division dedicated to e-sports that sits alongside the company's two publishing units, Blizzard Entertainment and Activision Publishing.

Activision hired Steve Bornstein, an executive formerly with ESPN and the National Football League, to help its e-sports efforts. Major League Gaming's co-founder Mike Sepso also joined Activision's new division.

Based in New York, Major League Gaming organized tournaments as it sought to created a professional league for videogames. The company stumbled in recent years, however, racking up debt.

Write to Ezequiel Minaya at ezequiel.minaya@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 04, 2016 18:07 ET (23:07 GMT)

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