Activision-Blizzard CEO may have let slip news of an official 'Overwatch' league

LOS ANGELES -- A pro Overwatch league has been confirmed, but it may not have been done on purpose -- Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick seemed to offhandedly mention the new venture during a speech about the growing popularity of esports.

Intentional or not, at least we know we're getting one.

Though the Vanity Fair News Summit in San Francisco may not be where you'd expect major esports news to break, that's exactly where Kotick's remarks seemed to confirm that an Overwatch league is in the works:

"You will have the Overwatch League which will have a certain number of teams. Those teams will be a combination of professional sports teams as owners and endemic sports teams as owners."

And that was it -- there were no further details from Kotick or Overwatch developers Blizzard. Mashable's inquiries to Blizzard were not immediately returned.

Overwatch has had multiple tournaments, run by third parties, since it's May launch -- but no leagues yet.

This is exciting news for Overwatch fans because gaming leagues, much like traditional sports leagues, have different spanning seasons and higher prize pools, gibing pro competitors more incentive to play the game full-time. We may even see big-name teams shift focus from other larger esports games.

Kotick's remark that the league would be "a combination of professional sports teams as owners and endemic sports teams as owners" seems to hint that 76ers owned Team Dignitas could already be involved in the league. Kotick also said in his speech that arena events are a possibility.

Earlier this year Activision-Blizzard acquired esports company Major League Gaming, a clear indication that the companies have big plans for pushing esports further mainstream, including the Enhanced Viewing Experience platform, which makes watching esports easier for newcomers.

MLG announced early Monday morning that they would be holding their first Overwatch tournament at MLG Vegas December 16-18, so we may get a taste of how they'll handle eliminations in the future from this upcoming event.