In October we talked about Activision Blizzard forming an incredibly ambitious eSports division with former ESPN and NFL Network CEO Steve Bornstein, and Mike Sepso, co-founder of Major League Gaming at the helm. Everyone is looking to eSports to be the next big thing in entertainment, and EA won’t be left behind; it is forming its own eSports division, called the EA Competitive Gaming Division (not very imaginative, are they?). The CGD will be focusing on competition, community, and entertainment, and will be competing directly with established platforms, such as Twitch, as well as newer platforms like what we’ll soon be seeing from Activision Blizzard.
Unlike Activision Blizzard, EA has recruited its talent internally, appointing COO Peter Moore as the new Executive Vice President and Chief Competition Officer. That second title is totally badass, and though I have no corporate leadership aspirations myself, I wouldn’t mind being a Chief Competition Officer. It seems to me like Activision Blizzard has the advantage here; Blizzard has some highly competitive, very watchable games; games like Hearthstone and the upcoming MOBA Overwatch. Throw in Call of Duty to the mix and you have something highly marketable. EA has a lot of competitive games – Fifa, Madden, Battlefront, etc. – but none seem as exciting to watch as the competition. EA will need a very sleek platform in order to draw the over 300 million viewers that are predicted to be actively engaged in eSports by 2018.
Source: EA