Google announced a multi-year strategic relationship with a prominent game developer that spans various segments of the company. Google Cloud will develop into Activision Blizzard’s most popular provider for game hosting as YouTube becomes the exclusive live eSports streaming partner.
The deal strives to “power new player experiences” for the game developer’s hundreds of millions of monthly active users. In selecting Google Cloud, Activision Blizzard cites a “highly reliable global footprint, advanced data analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.”
The two companies previously worked on cellular titles and analytics. As the popular cloud provider, Google shall be responsible for Activision Blizzard’s gaming infrastructure. In the meantime, Alphabet division DeepMind has worked with Blizzard on an AI that surpasses humans in StarCraft II.
In the meantime, YouTube will now host Activision Blizzard’s eSports leagues and occasions. This includes live streams by the Call of Duty League, Overwatch League, and Hearthstone Esports channels, in addition to “archived and different particular content.” Given YouTube’s lack of presence, today’s deal doesn’t apply to China.
This partnership begins and will proceed throughout 2020. YouTube Gaming wants to compete with the likes of Twitch, Mixer, and Facebook Gaming. It already has 200 million signed-in users watching gaming content each day. This leads to 50 billion hours of watch-time for gaming-related videos ever year, whereas 35 million people in 2019 uploaded a related video.