IPL, IGN's in-house eSports league, has been in limbo since restructuring earlier this year, when IGN expressed that it would no longer be operating the organization . Rumors of potential buyers abounded, but today, Blizzard Entertainment announced that it has locked in a deal for "technology and assets" from IPL to support "online content initiatives." A number of former IPL employees will be joining Blizzard's eSports team, while some others will be forming a new team "creating high-quality web and mobile content in support of Blizzard games."
This may seem to run counter to assertions last month that Blizzard was not interested in IPL , but the word at the time was that they had "no plans to take over operation of the IPL business or operate third-party eSports leagues." It seems likely that the new recruits may be helping out with Blizzard's first-party StarCraft II World Championship Series, which has recently been restructured to act as a more unified framework for all StarCraft competitive play.
We're reaching out to Blizzard for comment on what specifically was acquired and how it will be used, and we'll update you here when we know more.
