Skylanders Originator Toys for Bob Returns with
Ground-Breaking Innovation
Portal Masters Can Now Capture and Play as
Villains; Capture and Play as Kaos for the First Time Ever
Skylanders® is redefining the toys-to-life phenomenon
with yet another ground-breaking innovation, Skylanders Trap
Team™. On October 5 in North America, Activision
Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard,
Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), will introduce the newest installment to the
Skylanders franchise, which will reverse the magic of bringing toys
to life – incredibly letting kids pull characters out of the
digital world into the physical world.
Activision employee James Johnson plays
the Skylanders video game after Activision Publishing, Inc.
revealed Skylanders Trap Team, the latest innovation to the popular
franchise, at a special event, Tuesday, April 23, in New York.
Skylanders Trap Team launches on Oct. 5, 2014 in North America and
reverses the magic of bringing toys-to-life with a ground-breaking
innovation that allow kids to interact with their Skylanders toys
in the digital world. (Photo by John Minchillo/Invision for
Activision/AP Images)
This press release has an accompanying Smart Marketing Page
providing further details about the organization, products and
services introduced below. You can access the Smart Marketing Page
via the following link: http://smp.businesswire.com/pages/skylanders-2014.
With Skylanders Trap Team, Portal Masters seek out and
defeat the most wanted villains in all of Skylands, pulling them
out of the game and into living rooms by capturing them in magical
Traps. Players can then send villains back into the game where they
play as them to fight for good. The game will include the
Traptanium PortalTM, a new ring of magical energy that enables kids
to not only bring their Skylanders to life, but also magically
capture villains using the new Traps. Once they’ve defeated the
villains, kids will be able to place a Trap into the new portal to
capture them. They will also be able to hear the villains inside
the Traps, an innovation that truly brings life to toys.
This exciting new play pattern also gives players the option to
switch between playing as a Skylander hero or a villain at any
time, creating fun and unique “tag team” gameplay. In addition,
fans can even take their Traps and their Skylanders characters to
their friends’ houses for fun, co-operative adventures across all
console game systems.
“When we created Skylanders, we invented a new category of play
and, in the process, disrupted two industries - videogames and
toys. With each new Skylanders game, our commitment to continuous,
disruptive innovation has led to surprising and delightful new ways
for kids to play with toys and games,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of
Activision Publishing, Inc. “With Skylanders Trap Team,
we’re no longer just letting kids bring their toys to life inside
the game anymore. This time, we’re letting them pull their toys out
of the game as well. We are confident this installment of
Skylanders will once again redefine what’s possible at the
intersection of the physical and virtual worlds.”
“When Activision first introduced the Skylanders franchise in
2011, it promised to redefine play by merging the physical and
digital worlds. The company delivered on that pledge with three
blockbuster titles – all of which have been named to the annual
Toys“R”Us Holiday Hot Toy List – and is now poised to do it again
with the introduction of Skylanders Trap Team,” said Richard
Barry, Executive Vice President, Chief Merchandising Officer
Toys“R”Us, Inc. “With Skylanders Trap Team, Activision is
reversing the magic of ‘toys-to-life,’ allowing kids to bring
characters out of the digital world and into the physical world for
the first time. We’re thrilled to continue as a marquee destination
for Skylanders products, providing a comprehensive, global
marketing and merchandising program, including our fully exclusive
Legendary series of figures that will introduce Skylanders Trap
Team to our enthusiastic customers this October.”
In Skylanders Trap Team, Kaos continues his ongoing quest
to rule over Skylands. He has discovered the location of the
legendary Cloudcracker Prison -- a fortress built entirely out of
the magical substance TraptaniumTM and home to Skylands’ most
nefarious baddies. In an attempt to build his own army of foes,
Kaos blows up the prison, releasing the most wanted villains and
blasting shards of Traptanium to Earth in the form of Traps. Now
it’s up to Portal Masters to recapture all of the escaped villains
using powerful Traptanium Traps and defeat Kaos before it’s too
late! The new adventure delivers a diverse and dynamic story-driven
gameplay experience, filled with adventure, combat, puzzles,
mini-games, activities, platforming and drop-in/drop-out co-op play
-- all set within new compelling environments.
Skylanders Trap Team introduces Skylanders heroes known
as Trap Masters, brand new Core Skylanders characters and reposed
fan-favorite Skylanders characters. The game also features a
variety of elementally aligned Traps with unique and interesting
designs. With every addition to their Trap Team collection, Portal
Masters unlock exciting gameplay possibilities within each
level.
Fans can pre-order Skylanders Trap Team starting on April
23, with special offers available at select retail destinations
worldwide. Skylanders Trap Team will be available on Xbox
360™ and Xbox One™ video game and entertainment systems
from Microsoft, PlayStation® 3 and PlayStation® 4 computer
entertainment systems, Nintendo’s Wii™ system, Nintendo’s Wii U™
system, and a completely unique adventure available on the Nintendo
3DS™ hand-held system. The game will be available on October 5 in
North America; October 2 in Australia/New Zealand; and October 10
in Europe.
About the
Skylanders®
Franchise
The award-winning, $2 billion Skylanders franchise pioneered the
toys-to-life category in 2011 with the debut of Skylanders Spyro’s
Adventure®. The game originated a new play pattern that seamlessly
bridged physical and virtual worlds across multiple platforms and
became the top-selling kids’ videogame of 20131 as well as one of
the top 20 videogame franchises of all time2. In October 2012,
Skylanders Giants™ further evolved the genre and added the
mega-sized Giant Skylanders and LightCore® characters to the
collection of interaction figures. Skylanders Giants was awarded
the “e-Connected Toy of the Year” at the 13th Annual Toy of the
Year (TOTY) Awards. Skylanders SWAP Force™, which launched in
October 2013, introduced an all new play pattern – swapability. The
game was developed by Vicarious Visions and is rated E10+ by the
ESRB. On October 5, 2014, Skylanders Trap Team™ will reverse the
magic of bringing toys to life by letting players capture villains
and play as them using Traps that bring life to toys with the new
Traptanium Portal.
About Activision
Publishing
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision
Publishing, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and
distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products.
Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, Brazil,
Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy,
Sweden, Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Singapore,
mainland China, Hong Kong and the region of Taiwan. More
information about Activision and its products can be found on the
company’s website, www.activision.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements:
Information in this press release that involves Activision
Publishing's expectations, plans, intentions or strategies
regarding the future, including statements about the expected
release dates of Skylanders Trap Team, are forward-looking
statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and
uncertainties. Factors that could cause Activision Publishing's
actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in
the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include
unanticipated product delays and other factors identified in the
risk factors sections of Activision Blizzard's most recent annual
report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form
10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon
information available to Activision Publishing and Activision
Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Activision
Publishing nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update
any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements
believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect.
These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of
Activision Publishing or Activision Blizzard and are subject to
risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond
its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from
current expectations.
© 2014 Activision Publishing, Inc., SKYLANDERS, SKYLANDERS TRAP
TEAM, SKYLANDERS SPYRO’S ADVENTURE, SKYLANDERS GIANTS, SKYLANDERS
SWAP FORCE, TRAPTANIUM, TRAPTANIUM PORTAL, LIGHTCORE and ACTIVISION
are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc.
1 Based on revenue, according to The NPD Group, Gfk Media
Control® and Activision internal estimates, including toys and
accessories, life to date
2 According to The NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track and Activision
Blizzard internal estimates, including toys and accessories. All
time since NPD and GfK Chart-track began recording data
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available:
http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20140424005610/en/
PMK•BNCMichele Wyman,
310-854-3264michele.wyman@pmkbnc.comorActivision Publishing,
Inc.Dior Brown, 424-744-5864dior.brown@activision.com
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