COLOGNE, Germany – August 5, 2015 – Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), will showcase a blockbuster line-up of some of the world’s most anticipated next-generation gaming releases at Gamescom 2015. With the show opening to trade and press on Wednesday, August 5 and to consumers on Thursday, August 6 at the Koelnmesse GmbH Exhibition Centre in Cologne, Germany, Activision will offer consumers and industry influencers the opportunity to get hands-on with some of the biggest titles of the year.
Call of Duty®: Black Ops III, Destiny: The Taken King and Guitar Hero® Live will all be playable at the SONY Computer Entertainment Deutschland booth located in Hall 7.1. Skylanders SuperChargers will be playable in the Nintendo booth located in Hall 9.1 A10/B10.
Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing Inc., comments: “Activision has methodically expanded its slate by creating one breakthrough innovation after another. At Gamescom, we are showcasing what may be our best slate ever withCall of Duty: Black Ops III, Skylanders SuperChargers, Destiny: The Taken King, and Guitar Hero Live, each introducing significant innovations that will change the way people play. Four great brands; four amazing games. It’s a great time to be a gamer.”
Activision’s Gamescom 2015 line-up includes:
Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Developed by award-winning studio Treyarch, Call of Duty: Black Ops III redefines how Call of Duty is played.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III is set in the year 2065, where bio augmentation and cybernetic enhancements have given rise to a new breed of Black Ops soldier. Through Direct Neural Interface (DNI) technology, players are now connected to the intelligence grid and their fellow operatives during battle. This elite squad consists of men and women who have enhanced their combat capabilities to fight faster, stronger, and smarter. Black Ops III also offers the deepest, most rewarding multiplayer ever offered in Call of Duty®, featuring a brand new chain-based fluid movement system, Specialist characters with unique weapons and abilities, Gunsmith weapon customization tools and a range of new eSports capabilities.
In addition, Treyarch’s signature Zombies mode makes its return with “Shadows of Evil,” an on-disc experience set in a 1940s film noir-inspired era that follows four unwitting characters that must work together to stay alive while a mysterious, shadowy figure offers them a path to redemption. Call of Duty: Black Ops III, slated for release on November 6, 2015, is in development for the PlayStation® 4 system, Xbox One™ and PC and is not yet rated. For more information, visit:www.callofduty.com, www.youtube.com/callofduty.
At Gamescom 2015 in Cologne, Germany, eSports will be the focus of a special Call of Duty: Black Ops III Global eSports Reveal live stream. Treyarch developers will be on hand to share some exciting news and features coming with Call of Duty: Black Ops III. A global group of competitive players will also be participating in a series of show matches.
The live stream can be seen at callofduty.com on Wednesday, August 5th at 7pm CEST (10am PDT, 1pm EDT).
Destiny: The Taken King
From Bungie and Activision comes Destiny: The Taken King, the first major expansion and by far the largest addition to the Destiny universe yet. At Gamescom, Bungie and Activision are pleased to announce that every edition ofThe Taken King will include one character boost. The character boost will allow a player to instantly level up any existing or newly created guardian to the minimum level required to play The Taken King. Also being revealed today is the latest trailer for the game called “We Are Guardians,” which can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnTYt_lu4CE.
Destiny: The Taken King will be available on September 15 for the PlayStation®4 system, PlayStation®3 system, Xbox One™ and Xbox 360™. At launch PlayStation® gamers will also get access to a host of additional content for The Taken King, including a Strike, a Crucible map, three sets of gear and an exotic weapon, exclusive until at least fall 2016. For more information, visit www.DestinyTheGame.com. For exclusive updates, follow the official Destinysocial channels at www.facebook.com/DestinyTheGame and @DestinyTheGame on Twitter, and interact directly with the developers at www.Bungie.net.
Guitar Hero Live
The pop culture phenomenon that introduced a new way to interact with music is back with the all-new Guitar Hero Live.
Guitar Hero fans will need to warm-up their vocal chords. At Gamescom, Guitar Hero Live is confirming singing mode for local co-operative play, bringing the party back to the living room like never before. Singing alongside the core guitar-based gameplay has always been something that defined the Guitar Hero party experience, and the inclusion of vocals in the game delivers another way for players to have fun together in Guitar Hero Live. By plugging in any USB mic, aspiring rock stars will be able to sing to tracks in GHTV and in Quickplay in GH Live, complete with a lyrics highway and note track along the top of the screen.
Revealed earlier this week was the latest behind the scenes video for the game, viewable here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib5BHwm5F3c.
Across both game modes, Guitar Hero Live will give players access to more tracks than ever before in a previous Guitar Hero title. Joining the line-up of songs announced thus far, bringing the total to 100, are the following:
- Megadeth – Hangar 18
- In Flames – Deliver Us
- Boston – More Than a Feeling
- You Me At Six – Lived a Lie
- Blink-182 – The Rock Show
- Rush – Limelight
- Kasabian – Club Foot
- Dream Theater – The Looking Glass
- Royal Blood – Come on Over
- Charlie XCX – Famous
- Passion Pit – Take a Walk
- Panic! At the Disco – Girls Girls Boys
- James Bay – Hold Back The River
- Echosmith – Cool Kids
- MGMT – Time to Pretend
- Kings of Leon – Sex on Fire
Also at Gamescom, Guitar Hero Live is unveiling Rock the Block, the second music festival in GH Live. GH Live is the first person, live-action mode that puts you on stage as the lead guitarist. Rock the Block is set in the US and takes place in the heart of an imagined city landscape in the game. With its origins in a number of smaller festivals that used to take place in and around Boulder City, Rock the Block is a spontaneously evolving event that encourages attendees and passers-by to be drawn into the festival experience. Rock the Block joins SoundDial, the previously announced UK-based festival, as the two fictional settings a player will visit inGuitar Hero Live. Within the two festivals fans will play a variety of stages, ranging from small club stages, to headlining massive, open air mainstages.
Guitar Hero Live will be available October 20, 2015 in North America and onOctober 23 in Europe for the PlayStation®4 system, PlayStation®3 system, Xbox One™, Xbox 360™, Nintendo’s Wii U™ system and select mobile devices to be announced soon. For more information about Guitar Hero Live, please visit
http://www.guitarhero.com, www.youtube.com/guitarhero or follow @guitarhero on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Skylanders SuperChargers
Rev your engines! Skylanders®, the #1 kids’ console franchise worldwide¹, is taking to Land, Sea and Air with the high-octane, action-adventure videogame Skylanders SuperChargers this fall.
Skylanders SuperChargers will debut at Gamescom two Skylanders franchise firsts — racing and online multiplayer gameplay on console. Whether fans prefer co-operative play in Adventure Mode or competitive multiplayer with up to four friends in Racing Mode, Skylanders SuperChargers‘ online gaming is fueled with adrenaline-pumping action right out of the box. Skylanders‘ all-new Racing Mode, playable in Land, Sea and Sky environments, features supercharged racing combat, layering in even more depth and excitement to the game’s online multiplayer component. Skylanders SuperChargers delivers more ways to play than ever before:
- Single-player Adventure Mode
- Online and local co-op Adventure Mode
- Local 2-player head-to-head racing in split screen
- Online competitive racing with up to 4 players
Fans can augment their Skylanders SuperChargers experience with a complementary, dedicated racing combat game — Skylanders SuperChargers Racing — for the Wii™ system and Nintendo 3DS™ hand-held system. All-new tracks, augmented with power-ups, boosts, hazards and more, offer up to 50 different and exciting gameplay experiences. On Nintendo 3DS, gamers can enjoy competitive multiplayer via local play or online with up to four players.
Skylanders is packing some major star power with two of Nintendo’s most iconic characters — Donkey Kong and Bowser — as guest stars in Skylanders SuperChargers. Donkey Kong and his Land vehicle, Barrel Blaster are available with the Skylanders SuperChargers Starter Packs for Wii U, while Bowser™ and his Sky vehicle, Clown Cruiser come with the Skylanders SuperChargers RacingStarter Packs for Wii and Nintendo 3DS. The Supercharged characters are not only playable in Skylanders SuperChargers Racing, but also work in Skylanders SuperChargers on the Wii U™ system and as amiibo in compatible Nintendo games. Gamescom attendees will be able to get their hands on Donkey Kong and Bowser in Skylanders SuperChargers for Wii U in the Nintendo booth, Hall 9.1 A10/B1.
Skylanders SuperChargers will be available on September 25 in Europe andSeptember 20 in North America on the Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation® 4 system, PlayStation® 3 system and Nintendo’s Wii U™ system. Additionally, the completeSkylanders SuperChargers experience will be available on iPad®². Skylanders SuperChargers Racing will be available on September 25 in Europe and September 20 in North America for Wii™ and Nintendo 3DS. For more information, visit: www.skylanders.com, www.youtube.com/skylandersgame or follow @SkylandersGame on Twitter and Facebook or @SkylandersTheGame on Instagram.
