The Overwatch League and the Call of Duty League will stream exclusively on YouTube as part of a multi-year deal announced between Google and Activision Blizzard. News of the partnership was announced just hours before the inaugural Call of Duty League match was played in Minneapolis on Friday.
Google Cloud will serve as the preferred cloud provider for Activision Blizzard, which developed gaming titles such Guitar Hero and Crash Bandicoot in addition to Overwatch and Call of Duty. YouTube, which is owned by Google, will also stream Hearthstone esports matches in addition to Overwatch and Call of Duty. Matches from all Activision Blizzards-owned esports leagues and events will stream worldwide on YouTube, excluding China.
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“We’re excited to partner with Google to drive the next generation of gaming innovation for the industry. Google Cloud's best-in-class infrastructure gives us the confidence to deliver great entertainment to our fans around the world," Jacques Erasmus, chief information officer at Activision Blizzard, said in a press release.
In 2018, Twitch paid a reported $90 million to exclusively stream two seasons of the Overwatch League. Since that deal, Twitch’s grip on being the leading streaming platform in the gaming industry has faded. In recent months, the Amazon-owned platform has lost gaming superstar Ninja to Microsoft-owned Mixer; while Facebook signed a notable Super Smash Bros. player who previously streamed on Twitch.
