Mentioned in this article Games: Vainglory

According to a report by The Information, social-media giant Facebook is looking to deepen its involvement in esports. Facebook is said to have held “extensive talks” with Super Evil Megacorp, the publisher behind mobile esports title Vainglory. Kristian Segerstrale, CEO of Super Evil Megacorp, confirmed the talks, however, told The Information that nothing is said and done yet.

The report also states, that Facebook is in talks with Activision Blizzard to earn additional streaming rights for its game titles. In May, Activision Blizzard and Facebook teamed up to deliver esports content on the social-media network already. Major League Gaming’s Anaheim Open in June 2016 was the inaugural event live broadcasted on Facebook (MLG was acquired by ActiBlizz early 2016). Back then, Facebook’s head of global sport partnerships, Dan Reed, told Variety that esports is a growing priority for the company.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“With over 1.6 billion people on the platform and a growing suite of VOD and live-streaming products that partners can use to increase engagement, Facebook is uniquely positioned to help esports fans connect around exciting moments and great esports content.”[/perfectpullquote]

Facebook also announced its games platform Gameroom, its PC Steam competitor. The web app was known to be in development, its launch finally announced yesterday at Unity’s game development platform conference. What’s more, Facebook hired esports expert and former professional player Stephen “Snoopeh” Ellis six months ago.

All in all, Facebook looks to get into the pit with the likes of Amazon (Twitch) and Valve (Steam) as its foray into esports continues.