Activision Blizzard pens European rights deal with Groupe AB

Interactive entertainment company Activision Blizzard has entered into a rights partnership with French production and distribution company Groupe AB.

Groupe AB will hold exclusive television broadcasting rights in French-speaking Europe to Activision Blizzard’s various video game franchises, including ‘Call of Duty’, ‘Hearthstone’ and ‘World of Warcraft’.

Activision Blizzard is regarded as the world’s biggest video game publisher and its titles feature in many professional esports competitions.

From December, Groupe AB will create two separate three-hour programming blocks on one of its channels that will be dedicated to esports and tournaments based on Activision Blizzard games.

The agreement also includes the option for Groupe AB and Activision Blizzard to launch an esports channel in the future.