Blizzard purchases IGN Pro League technology and assets

Blizzard Entertainment, in their latest effort to take over the world, has purchased the IGN Pro League. Blizzard made the announcement of their ownership of IPL technology and assets on their site. Also joining Blizzard are existing member's of IPL's staff, which will help for a new team based in San Francisco "whose primary focus will be on creating high-quality web and mobile content in support of Blizzard games, while some IPL staff have joined Blizzard's existing eSports team."

Peer Schneider, executive vice president of IGN, stated, "With the continuing evolution of the eSports space and the renewed focus on our core media brand, we made the decision to sell the IGN Pro League technology and assets and become agnostic in our competitive gaming coverage. Following Blizzard's acquisition of IPL assets, IGN will partner with multiple organizations and cover their events."

In February, IGN closed 1UP, UGO and GameSpy, in addition to laying off a number of employees. At the same time, Vivek Shah, CEO of IGN parent company Ziff Davis, said that they were looking to sell IPL in an internal memo.

Blizzard's executive vice president of publishing, Itzik Ben-Bassat, said, "This new team will help us to further develop the rich media experiences that extend the fun and engagement of our games online. This is a team of passionate gamers with a proven track record, and we're looking forward to now leveraging their expertise and technology to support a variety of online efforts."

You can follow Senior Editor Lance Liebl on Twitter @Lance_GZ. He likes talking sports, video games, movies, and the stupidity of celebrities. Email at LLiebl@GameZone.com

[Blizzard]