BloombergYouTube secured the exclusive rights to broadcast some of the biggest e-sports leagues, giving Google a boost in its efforts to push into the lucrative world of video games. YouTube has always been a major destination for watching people play video games, but the company is trying to take even more territory by poaching well-known game players from Twitch. “In 2020 Google is going all out to claim a piece of the US$120 billion games market,” said Joost van Dreunen, managing director of Nielsen’s video game research arm. The deal offers a strong boost to the central thesis of Activision’s e-sports efforts. Selling media rights to companies like YouTube is a central piece of how these leagues make money.

Source: Taipei Times January 25, 2020 15:56 UTC