Facebook hires former pro player Snoopeh in bid for eSports stars

Facebook's interest in eSports seems to go beyond Activision and Overwatch. 

TechCrunch today is reporting on Facebook's recent hiring of Stephen "Snoopeh" Ellis, a former League of Legends pro player who's spent his post League career building business relationships with streamers and developers for companies like Unikrn and Repable.

According to TechCrunch's sources, Ellis' hiring is part of a larger initiative within Facebook to target developers and pro players to bring their streaming sessions over to Facebook's video platform.

If TechCrunch's sources are to be believed, it's a move to cut in on Twitch and Youtube's territory, and one TechCrunch compares to the company's development of celebrity relationships in the past. 

Facebook declined to comment for TechCrunch's article, though a PR rep did confirm that Ellis was "joining a collaborative effort between the sports and games partnership teams to support the eSports and gaming communities using our platform.”