MLG Sold To Activision

[Praw]

[ZipCity117]

So, no Benson?

 

Trying to put a positive spin on things...

[Joseph]

Either 2 things are happening:

 

1. All events they have committed to go on as scheduled. (Probably)

 

2. Regime change, fresh slate.

 

Most likely #1

[GoldenboyFTW]

So which one is dead, Console esports or NA esports? Put on a poll.

Neither.

[Bloodshot1990]

Happy new year?

[Riddler]

so does this mean sundance wont tease the halo noobs anymore?

[araess]

Don't the major shareholders/a board have to approve something like this? I'd be majorly pissed if I wasn't notified.

 

Also I'd be curious to know if Sunny made the decision to leave or if him being replaced was a shock because if Activision made the decision to remove him it's more cause to hate them for me.

 

 

 

 It was not a decision by Sundance. B-1/B-2 and A shareholders have a vote on any change of the board/liquidation of assets or buy out agreement. I dabble in the stock market daily, not blue chip stocks but I tied up quite a bit into investments. Its hard to explain, but while the "Board" owns a good percentage of the pie, the shareholders/investors also hold a portion of the company as well (Considering a risky investment for a possible return). We will probably never know how large the percentage of MLG is owned by shareholders. IMO considering even if they filed Chapter 7 they would be worse off. 

 

 

"Disadvantages of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy for Corporations and LLCs

Filing a Chapter 7 means the end of the business.  You will no longer be able to operate it or negotiate its sale to a third party under more favorable terms.  Further, you can usually sell your company's assets at a better price than the bankruptcy trustee.  So if you were personally liable for the company’s debts, you may be left with a larger personal liability than if you had negotiated with the creditors and sold the assets yourself."

 

Anyways I am confident 343 will do as needed, But I am thankful for all the amazing memories MLG provided me  to look back on. I attended 15 events, I Had the opportunity to see places all over the United States for following my passion. The most important impact MLG made for me was I found some of my best friends that I will have contact with for the rest of my life. They also Inspired me to always think there is more to life than simplicity and chase what you love. Its really heart breaking news to here, But I felt this coming for a while as MLG's investments did really look to have great returns (exp. The MLG Arena) Thank you for a great childhood.

 

 

 

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twitch.tv/araess

[beamimpact]

MLG isnt a thing since years anymore, ESL and other organisers took over a long time ago

[PlzLearn]

MLG isnt a thing since years anymore, ESL and other organisers took over a long time ago

 

Not true, MLG has been and is the largest TO in North America. Yeah its not as big s ESL is in Europe, or LCS is Worldwide, but saying it "isnt a thing since years anymore" is simply not true.

[Gold]

Well that's sad

[Crozzling]

I read it and I don't understand business talk but to me it seemed as if it was essentially saying most of the 46 million is going to pay off MLG's debt?  With the remainder being held in escrow, which is a trust that pays out when certain conditions are met right?

[aKREZZ]

rip

[Joseph]

[RyanW]

Hard to imagine Activision and MLG still being involved with HWC, isn't that a huge conflict of interest for them?

I mean stuff like this happen all the time. Microsoft bought Mojang and Minecraft and still support Minecraft on Playstation and just released it on Wii U. So it's not too far fetch to say that MLG will still run things like normal for a bit until Activision has a plan on what they want to do.

[SAYOCEAN]

Price seems fine to me since ESL is valued at double, something around 85m and they are twice as big as MLG.

 

I am by no means anything near an expert on these type of things, but I would say ESL is worth at 5-10x as much as MLG (based on total event produced, revenues, and overall viewership). If Sepso (whose investment firm also has put a ton of money into MLG) doesn't get hired by Activision as their new VP of Esports, I doubt this acquisition ever happens. 

 

Hard to imagine Activision and MLG still being involved with HWC, isn't that a huge conflict of interest for them?

 

Correct. They're also presently committed to some CS:GO stuff. I expect they will fulfill all their existing obligations then proceed to just do stuff exclusively for Activision/Blizzard. 

 

I don't know what this really means though. This is the second league Blizzard has acquired. When they bought IPL before, all the talented people left and most of everyone else was slowly fired over the next few years. Will be interesting to see what transpires here.

[2pro4show]

Much respect to Sundance, Adam and everyone at MLG for what they've built over the years. I hope the brand survives long enough to see at least one more Halo tournament with the MLG name for nostalgia's sake.

[Rocker]

End of an era

[TiberiusAudley]

I am by no means anything near an expert on these type of things, but I would say ESL is worth at 5-10x as much as MLG (based on total event produced, revenues, and overall viewership). If Sepso (whose investment firm also has put a ton of money into MLG) doesn't get hired by Activision as their new VP of Esports, I doubt this acquisition ever happens. 

 

Sepso is a Senior VP at Activision-Blizzard, though.  Wouldn't Vice-President of Esports be a demotion?

[ahawowow]

So. Puckett works for Activision now.

 

MLG is now Activision property.

 

Does this mean we might see Puckett at NA Regionals after all?

[Joseph]

A little disappointing that we are basically going to see a "flash" of Halo from MLG before the entire infrastructure / employee base is more or less dismantled - which we are already supposedly seeing with Sundance allegedly being ousted.

 

We were partnered with MLG / on their ad network until mid 2014, and while it was overall a pleasant experience - I heard a few solid rumors that they were either going under or being purchased. This and a handful of other things fueled my decision to terminate our network agreement (which went over smoothly) and depart from the network.

 

I am sure that any network payments would have been fulfilled under activision, but the rumors of potential employee turnover / full on restructuring made me naturally uneasy.

 

 

I think the whole situation became fairly obvious when all of their "talent" and Mike Sepso departed to Activision. Pucketts departure in particular made me think something serious was about to happen, as I doubt he would leave for no reason or for slightly more cash.

 

MLG played a big role in helping Beyond grow, and they provided some great support for us when we really needed it. If all the rumors are true, I hope that everyone lands on their feet.

[Voodooman]

Let's make these Regionals in Columbus a Grand time than for a last MLG hurrah! 

[Pyroteq]

I don't like that major leagues like MLG are disappearing in favour of publisher/developer run tournaments...

 

It basically means the community no longer gets to decide the best rules and instead the devs/publishers make game modes that they want to show off to casual audiences...

 

Sad.

[SAYOCEAN]

Sepso is a Senior VP at Activision-Blizzard, though.  Wouldn't Vice-President of Esports be a demotion?

 

I'm not sure if he's a Senior VP or w/e. I don't think it's relevant to the point I'm making.

[Joseph]

I don't like that major leagues like MLG are disappearing in favour of publisher/developer run tournaments...

 

It basically means the community no longer gets to decide the best rules and instead the devs/publishers make game modes that they want to show off to casual audiences...

 

Sad.

 

Really wont make too much of a difference to be honest. A 3rd party tournament host like MLG who is being paid by developers to run a game, are generally going to feel immense pressure to run whatever the dev requests. (EX: ESL doesnt make their own settings)

 

The only way this does not happen is if you have a completely clueless developer who does not care about eSports enough to make their own settings / tells a 3rd party host to create their own using their experience and knowledge (Bungie for reference). 

 

I know what you mean though, but it has kind of been like this for a while.

[Dysphoria]

I don't like that major leagues like MLG are disappearing in favour of publisher/developer run tournaments...

 

It basically means the community no longer gets to decide the best rules and instead the devs/publishers make game modes that they want to show off to casual audiences...

 

Sad.

 

 

It's funny that everyone had begged and pleaded for dev support and now it's turning into a reality, but it's doing more harm then good. Now devs want us playing out of box settings and that just doesn't work competitively speaking especially for console FPS due to catering games for the no thumbs. Just look at the joke of a league Bo3 is now. pros are forced to do 'gentlemen's agreements' because apparently we can't be banning tripmines, C4, awareness/radar crutch based perks because people sure want to watch pub esque gameplay! H5 could've been much better to had we had more control -- especially with Forge being as good as it is we could make no sprint; no spartan abilities a reality, not to mention we could get rid of the autos and radar once and for all. Apparently competing for $2mil+ with casual settings seems fair though, right?