Activision Blizzard Inc.’s newly launched sports “stadium” in Taiwan should boost exposure and standing for “Overwatch,” the hit first-person shooter game developed by Irvine-based subsidiary Blizzard Entertainment Inc.
The title, which has amassed more than 25 million registered players across the world since its May release, was the centerpiece of the first tournament held this month at Blizzard Estadium, a 500-seat facility in Taipei. The city is a long-standing hotbed in the competitive gaming segment with its own established leagues.
Eight of the top e-sports teams in the Asia-Pacific region competed in the Overwatch Pacific Championship on April 8 for a prize pool of about $270,000. The top three teams will advance to the playoffs of the 2017 Overwatch World Cup scheduled for Nov. 3 or 4 at Blizzcon, Blizzard’s annual fanfest at the Anaheim Convention Center.
The tournament will likely coincide with the launch of the Overwatch League, which could rival the largest esports competitions in the world. The league, similar to professional sports, will pit cities against each other in a regular schedule of contests. Owners, who haven’t been announced, will have guaranteed slots and rights to ensure stability and transparency for their investments, according to Activision.
“Overwatch,” Blizzard’s first new title in 18 years, is a smash hit. The game has generated about $1.2 billion in revenue for the company since its release and helped Orange County’s largest software maker post record sales last year of $2.4 billion, up 55% over 2015, with operating income of roughly $1 billion, up 81%.
Fans logged more than 22.5 million hours watching “Overwatch” game streams on web channels last month, according to viewership tracker gamoloco.com.
Latest on Luckey
The recent departure of Palmer Luckey exacerbates the growing chasm between the founding team of Oculus, which got its start in Irvine, and its integration under Menlo Park-based Facebook Inc.
Word of Luckey’s exit came about three months after Oculus co-founder Brendan Iribe shed his title as chief executive to lead a PC-based virtual reality division at the social networking giant. In January, Facebook tapped Google veteran Hugo Barra to lead all VR efforts, including Oculus.
Iribe and Luckey, who both have palatial properties in Newport Beach, were instrumental in transforming a concept steeped in science fiction to Oculus’ meteoric rise, which included two venture capital funding rounds totaling $91 million and its $2 billion sale to Facebook in 2014.
The sale catapulted Luckey to the Business Journal’s business person of the year in the tech sector that year. It hasn’t been as rosy since then.
A Dallas jury in February ordered Oculus—and Luckey and Iribe specifically—to pay $500 million to Zenimax Media LLC for copyright and trademark infringement and breach of a nondisclosure agreement.
Luckey, who grew up in Long Beach, didn’t respond to Business Journal inquiries on his immediate plans after Facebook.
His status took a hit in liberal tech circles when reports surfaced last year that he bankrolled a pro-Donald Trump organization that put out criticisms of Hillary Clinton for months leading up to the presidential election.
Alteryx Up
Irvine-based analytics software maker Alteryx Inc. had a market value last week of about $940 million, right on par with Business Journal estimates leading up to its initial public offering.
The company’s shares, which began trading March 24 under the symbol AYX on the New York Stock Exchange, are up about 7% from its first trading session.
