Activision Blizzard creates new esports division on the eve of BlizzCon’s championships

Actvision Blizzard announced this morning that it’s creating a new division focused on its “esports ecosystem.”

The new division wasn’t named in the release, but as GamesBeat reported in August, Blizzard Entertainment recently registered the name Compete for an esports-related offering. Esports could be a $465 million industry by 2017. And with an already healthy competitive gaming scene around first-person shooter Call of Duty and StarCraft II, a PC strategy game, and growing segments for Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (a collectible card battler) and Heroes of the Storm (a multiplayer online strategy game known as a MOBA), Activision-Blizzard is in a good spot to become one of the biggest game publishers in esports.