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Twitch snags rights for Blizzard tournaments

Streaming site is exclusive third-party platform for more than 20 events through 2018; Twitch Prime members to get Overwatch loot

Twitch and Blizzard today announced a deal that will see the streaming video site be the exclusive third-party streaming platform for more than 20 tournaments of the publisher's games through 2018.

The tournaments include competitions in the Heroes of the Storm Global Championship, StarCraft II World Championship Series, Hearthstone Championship Tour, Hearthstone Global Games, World of Warcraft Arena Championship, Overwatch APEX League, and the Overwatch Premier Series.

The deal also includes perks for Twitch Prime subscribers. Between now and August 10, all new and existing Twitch Prime members will receive an Overwatch Golden Loot Box containing a guaranteed legendary item and three additional items. There are plans for 10 more such loot box giveaways for Overwatch players, and similar incentives for Heroes of the Storm and Hearthstone in the coming months.

"We founded Twitch as a gaming platform heavily based on our community's reaction to games like Blizzard's StarCraft II," said Twitch COO Kevin Lin. "Since then, our large, but tight-knit community, our constantly evolving suite of interactive features, and a native emote-driven chat language celebrated by viewers enable us to support and grow Blizzard esports in a manner that best serves our collective fans."

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Brendan Sinclair

Managing Editor

Brendan joined GamesIndustry.biz in 2012. Based in Toronto, Ontario, he was previously senior news editor at GameSpot in the US.