Skylanders Imaginators

THE SEARCH FOR THE UK’S CHIEF IMAGINATION OFFICER IS ON

Activision launches exclusive competition with SuperAwesome’s PopJam to mark the launch of Skylanders Imaginators

London, UK.  24th October, 2016 – Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) and Skylanders™ Imaginators has today announced the hunt for the UK’s most imaginative child to become the official Skylanders Chief Imagination Officer.

To celebrate the much anticipated launch of Skylanders™ Imaginators, where Portal Masters can create their very own playable Skylanders characters, Activision has partnered with SuperAwesome’s leading kids’ safe social content platform PopJam, to launch the search for the UK’s most imaginative child. Over the next three weeks, PopJam will host the exclusive competition offering one lucky winner and their family the trip of a lifetime to San Francisco, California, where they will visit the Toys For Bob studio, the developer of Skylanders™ Imaginators and the creator of the Toys-to-Life category

Launching on Friday 21st October following the worldwide release of Skylanders™ Imaginators earlier this month, the competition will give thousands of kids the opportunity to unleash their imaginations and draw their very own Skylander. Fans will be encouraged to get inspired and create the most inventive and innovative Skylander they can imagine via PopJam’s creative tools.*

The most creative competition entries will be considered by Activision’s Imaginators Panel in its search for the UK’s Chief Imagination Officer, with one winning child set to claim the title and unbelievable prize. The panel of creatives, featuring YouTube gaming star Stampy Cat, TV and Radio presenter Sara Cox, and Toys for Bob Co-Founder and Studio Head, Paul Reiche, will together choose the winning creation.

The winning child and their family will be whisked away to San Francisco, where they will spend a day at the Toys For Bob studio in Novato to get an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the latest Skylanders game and have the opportunity to gain insight into character design, level inspiration and gameplay mechanics with the creative team. This is a unique opportunity for the ultimate Skylanders fan to gain an understanding of how those much-loved characters are designed, imagined and created.

YouTube gaming star Stampy Cat added, “I am really looking forward to judging the entries for the UK's Chief Imagination Officer competition and seeing what sorts of designs everyone comes up with. I will be looking for the most unique and creative Skylanders. The prize of visiting the studio in San Francisco will be such an incredible experience for whoever becomes the Imagination Officer."

TV and Radio presenter Sara Cox commented, “My son has always been a huge fan of Skylanders so I am very much looking forward to judging the UK’s Chief Imagination Officer competition. It’s great to be a part of an initiative that fuels creativity and I can’t wait to see the amazing Skylanders that will be dreamed up by the nation.  From character names, to character design and even super powers – I’m looking for the wildest and wackiest entries to find a deserving winner for the fantastic prize that’s on offer.”

-ENDS-

Notes to Editor:
*PopJam will handle parental consent and moderation of entries through SuperAwesome’s kid-safe, COPPA/GDPR-compliant technology platform, making this a safe and exciting experience for kids.

About Skylanders Imaginators
Portal Masters can unleash their imaginations like never before following the launch of Skylanders Imaginators.  Developed by Toys For Bob and Activision Publishing,   Skylanders Imaginators empowers players to unleash their imaginations by giving them the freedom to create their own Skylander. Kids will enjoy the immense possibilities available in the game - including appearance, powers, abilities, names, catchphrases, musical themes and much more - to create the wildest Skylanders imaginable.  Skylanders Imaginators also introduces Skylanders Senseis, all-new heroes who represent 10 powerful Battle Classes such as Knight, Sorcerer, Bowslinger, Brawler, and more.  Skylanders Senseis help train created Imaginators by offering a range of benefits including unlocking super-cool Imaginator weapons, providing access to special areas in the game, as well as bestowing Secret Techniques across the Battle Classes.
The new game introduces two new guest star characters, Crash Bandicoot® and his arch-nemesis Dr. Neo Cortex, to the line-up of Skylanders Sensei characters as fully-playable toys in Skylanders Imaginators. A fully-playable Kaos toy will available for free to fans who purchase a Skylanders Imaginators starter pack. Offer valid until Oct. 22, 2016, while supplies last.

Skylanders Imaginators supports all 300+ Skylanders from previous games.

3D-printed Imaginator figures, Imaginator T-shirts, and Imaginator Cards will be available using the Skylanders Creator app, which is a free mobile download, subject to availability by territory. 3D-printed Imaginator figures will be available in limited quantities.

About the Skylanders® Franchise
The award-winning, $3 billion Skylanders® franchise has sold through more than 250 million toys1 since pioneering the toys-to-life category in 2011 with the debut of Skylanders® Spyro’s Adventure. The game originated a play pattern that seamlessly bridged physical and virtual worlds across multiple platforms. In 2012, Skylanders® Giants further evolved the genre and added LightCore® characters to the collection of interaction figures. Skylanders® SWAP Force™, which launched in 2013, introduced an all new play pattern – swapability. In 2014, Skylanders® Trap Team reversed the magic of bringing toys to life by allowing players to pull characters out of the digital world into the physical world and became the number 1 kids’ console game globally1. Skylanders® SuperChargers launched in 2015 and expanded upon the franchise’s signature gameplay to introduce vehicles-to-life for the first time.

About Activision Publishing
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading global producer and publisher of interactive entertainment. Activision maintains operations throughout the world and is a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), an S&P 500 company.  More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's website, www.activision.com  or by following  @Activision.

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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 with respect to  Skylanders Academy or about the expected features, functionality and release dates of Skylanders Imaginators and Skylanders Creator 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.

©2016 Activision Publishing, Inc., SKYLANDERS, SKYLANDERS IMAGINATORS, SKYLANDERS CREATOR, CRASH, CRASH BANDICOOT, SKYLANDERS SUPERCHARGERS, SKYLANDERS TRAP TEAM, SKYLANDERS SPYRO’S ADVENTURE, SKYLANDERS GIANTS, SKYLANDERS SWAP FORCE, SWAP FORCE, LIGHTCORE, PORTAL OF POWER and ACTIVISION are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc.

¹The NPD Group, GfK Chart-track, Activision Blizzard internal estimates, including toys and accessories
© 2016 Activision Blizzard Studios, LLC. SKYLANDERS and SKYLANDERS ACADEMY are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc.

About SuperAwesome

SuperAwesome (@GoSuperAwesome) is the largest kids digital media platform in the world, reaching over 300M kids each month across mobile, web and online video. SuperAwesome’s technology and products power kid-safe advertising, content creation, safe-social and COPPA compliance for hundreds of brands and agencies around the world. Clients includes Lego, Warner Bros, Hasbro, Spin Master, Nintendo and many others.

 -PopJam is the leading kid-safe social content platform used by brands including Nintendo, Puffin, Roald Dahl and many others to safely reach the 7-13 kids market.
-AwesomeAds is the industry’s leading kid-safe, COPPA-compliant ad platform used by hundreds of brands and agencies in the US, UK, Australia and APAC.
-Kids Web Services (KWS) provides compliance-as-a-service tools for kids’ content creators and recently announced Hasbro and Walker Books as the latest clients.

Headquartered in London, the company has offices in New York, LA, Singapore and Sydney. For more information, please visit www.superawesome.tv or @GoSuperAwesome

About Maker Studios
Maker Studios is a global digital media brand and the original creator network. Founded in 2009 as a collaborative content engine, Maker Studios continues to innovate on original short form with award-winning series such as “Wonder Quest” and “Epic Rap Battles of History.” Maker Studios is home to gaming channel POLARIS by MAKER, comedy channel The STATION by MAKER, and kids channel DISNEY by MAKER, along with PewDiePie’s Revelmode, a media brand rooted in gaming and pop culture. In addition to social platforms such as YouTube and Facebook, content can be viewed across more than 20 distribution platforms worldwide.

Maker Studios is rooted in creator relationships, offering original programming, distribution, enterprise opportunities such as publishing, merchandise, and game development, and brand partnership to its global network – pairing brands looking to reach millennial audiences with the world’s biggest digital names across genres. Maker Studios, a division of Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media, is headquartered in Culver City, California, with operations in 12 markets across the globe under The Walt Disney Company umbrella. For more information, visit www.makerstudios.com .