In order for Twitch to survive and thrive in the shadow of the behemoth that is YouTube, it needs to secure exclusive content everybody will tune in to watch. And today, Twitch managed to do just that by signing a lucrative two-year exclusive deal with Blizzard.
The deal will see Twitch gain exclusive third-party live streaming rights to select Blizzard eSports content including more than 20 major Blizzard eSports events taking place throughout 2018. To compliment the streaming, Twitch users will gain access to "several stellar perks" for Blizzard games.
The games covered by this deal include World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Overwatch, StarCraft II, and Heroes of the Storm. The confirmed list of exclusive streamed events so far includes the following:
- Heroes of the Storm Global Championship (HGC)
- StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS Circuit)
- Hearthstone Championship Tour (HCT)
- Hearthstone Global Games (HGG)
- World of Warcraft Arena Championship
- Overwatch APEX League
- Overwatch Premier Series
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As for the perks, Twitch Prime members will receive special in-game loot and deals for Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, and Overwatch. Those same members will also receive a Golden Loot Box for Overwatch with a guarantee each one will contain a legendary item for a hero alongside three further in-game items (emotes, voice lines, character skins). A further ten loot boxes are planned for Overwatch and similar promotions will be offered for Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm.
For Blizzard, this taps a guaranteed audience for its eSports events from the already eSports-focused Twitch service. For Twitch, this deal should increase the amount of viewers it attracts, but more importantly for parent company Amazon, it will increase the number of Twitch Prime subscribes, which costs $10.99 per month. And chances are if viewers subscribe for two years to watch Blizzard eSports, they'll continue their subscription after that for the other perks on offer.
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