LONDON, October 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
VisitScotland, the Highland Council and Activision Publishing
Partner on the First Ever 'Virtual' Twinning of a Real World
Destination with a Video Game World
VisitScotland, The Highland Council and Activision
Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard,
Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), today announced that the Isle of Skye in
Scotland has 'virtually'
twinned[1] with Skylands, the home of upcoming game,
Skylanders SWAP Force™. The stunning Scottish
Highlands have been brought together with the virtual islands of
Skylands, to celebrate the month of SWAPtober and the launch of
Skylanders SWAP Force™. The virtual twinning marks the first
time a video game world has twinned with a real destination.
Skylanders SWAP Force will be available at retail
stores on 18th October.
(Photo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131017/647576-a )
(Photo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131017/647576-b )
(Photo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131017/647576-c )
Located off the west coast of Scotland, the Isle of Skye boasts stunning
mountain scenery, sea lochs and wildlife and attracts visitors from
all over the world.
VisitScotland's Alan Mackenzie,
who is based at VisitScotland's Information Centre in Portree,
said: "The Isle of Skye is renowned for its stunning landscapes,
which possess an almost ethereal quality, and its abundance of
wildlife, making it the perfect place to virtually twin with
Skylands, home to Skylanders SWAP Force. We're thrilled to
be teaming up with the SkylandersTM franchise for
this unique partnership, which will help raise the profile of this
beautiful part of the world, encouraging families to enjoy a
real-life adventure on the Isle of Skye - nowhere else on Earth
comes close!"
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1. No official deed of twinning has been signed by the Highland
Council. As the Skylands are a magical land - it makes it
difficult to get paperwork in the post
To commemorate the virtual twinning, Activision and
VisitScotland brought the virtual world of Skylands to the stunning
Scottish Highlands through:
- An inaugural visit to the Isle of Skye by Wash Buckler,
one of the new Skylanders SWAP Force characters; Wash
Buckler toured some of the island's most famous landmarks and
visited the children at Portree Primary School.
- A SWAP takeover of the Isle of Skye website
http://www.skye.co.uk, where Skylanders franchise fans
worldwide can type SWAP on the homepage to watch the magic
unfold.
The Skylanders franchise pioneered the genre of 'bringing
toys to life' by combining physical figures with the virtual world
of video games. Skylanders SWAP Force builds upon the
success of the franchise with its signature gameplay and
collectible toy experience, adding a dimension to the "toys to
life" innovation. The game introduces an all-new play pattern
- swapability - that lets gamers reconfigure 16 SWAP Force
inter-action figures into more than 250 unique characters by
swapping the top and bottom halves of the inter-action
figures*.
"We're thrilled to continue to combine physical and virtual
experiences through the Skylanders franchise, and what
better way to do so than making the Skylands the first video game
world to twin with a real destination," said Michael Sportouch,
Vice President and General Manager, Activision Publishing. "With
the launch of Skylanders SWAP Force around the
corner, it was perfect timing to merge the magical world of
Skylands with the beautiful Isle of Skye. We're sure this
partnership is going to spark the imaginations of families whenever
they visit the Highlands, but fortunately they don't have to worry
about seeing any Chompies[2] on Earth."
Councillor Thomas Prag, Chair,
The Highland Council's Planning Environment and Development
Committee, commented 'We're thrilled to welcome the Skylanders
characters to the Highlands. This is an unusual project, as
we can't sign an actual deed of twinning due to the limitations
getting paper work to the Skylands. However, we were
delighted to see Wash Buckler visiting the Isle of Skye, and hope
his visit encourages many more people to look for adventure in the
Highlands'.
SKYLANDERS, SKYLANDERS SWAP FORCE, SWAP FORCE, SKYLANDERS
GIANTS, SKYLANDERS SPYRO'S ADVENTURE, and ACTIVISION are trademarks
of Activision Publishing, Inc.
*Requires purchase of all 16 SWAP Force Skylanders.
VisitScotland, Scotland's
national tourism organisation, is providing in-kind promotional
support to the virtual twinning project.
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2. Chompies are one of the most common monsters in the Skylands,
they do not exist on Earth.
SOURCE VisitScotland, The Highland Council and Activision
Publishing, Inc.