Yahoo launches e-sports site

Yahoo has launched a new site dedicated to esports coverage of major videogames and events.

Yahoo Esports will cover live gaming tournaments, focusing on players and competitions with commentary, interviews and in-depth features. It will also maintain industry-wide calendars, stats and player rankings.

Yahoo said that Yahoo Esports is part of its continued investment in Yahoo Sports, and will tap into a growing industry that had global audience reach of over 226 million in 2015.

“We’re approaching our coverage of esports with the same tenacity and professionalism we always have with Yahoo Sports, News and Finance,” said Bob Condor, vice president of Yahoo Sports Media.

“Coupled with our experience in building great products, we’ve gone out and assembled an experienced and innovative content team that will cover esports from every angle.”

The move marks the latest investment on the esports space following YouTube’s rollout of its dedicated YouTube Gaming video service in the UK and US in August 2015 and Amazon’s US$970 million buyout of Twitch in August 2014.

Videogame enthusiasts watched 459,366 years worth of video on Twitch in 2015, according to recent stats from the games-focused video platform and community.