Press Release Details

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Aug 04, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- Taylor Swift, global music sensation and best selling artist of 2008, will ascend an all-new virtual stage this November in Band Hero(TM), the ultimate party game featuring a wide assortment of today's popular hits and most recognizable pop anthems, created by Guitar Hero(R) and Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI). Budding music stars, their families and friends, will all live their musical fantasy on the Band Hero stage, playing as Taylor Swift or alongside the singer/songwriter and guitarist, as she performs her smash-hits "Love Story" and "You Belong With Me" from her latest album Fearless as well as "Picture to Burn" from her self-titled debut record.

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(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090804/NY56288 )

"Anything that encourages people to pick up an instrument and play, I'm fully behind. And, I'm really excited about Band Hero, because not only are fans getting to play my songs, but I'm actually in the game," said Swift. "There are so many awesome things that go into being in Band Hero, like getting to customize my band to look like my touring band, and it's so cool for people to feel like they are experiencing one of my concerts. This is one of the closest things out there to going to see me perform!"

Taylor Swift and Band Hero will award 20 lucky fans the opportunity to see a Taylor Swift Concert and four of those fans will win the opportunity to meet Taylor Swift in person. Watch for more details on this sweepstakes this summer at www.bandhero.com.

"Taylor Swift's impressive rise to the top of multiple music genres, along with the broad appeal of her songs, makes her a great example of the type of experience we are bringing to music fans with Band Hero," said Tim Riley, Vice President of Music Affairs for Guitar Hero. "We're thrilled to announce her as the very first of several playable in-game artists and showcase her many talents in our game."

This November, family and friends will come together to ascend the virtual stage and rock their way to superstardom with Band Hero. Brought to you by the makers of Guitar Hero(R), one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time, Band Hero features the hottest chart-topping hits from everyone's favorite acts including Taylor Swift, No Doubt, Lily Allen, The All-American Rejects and Jackson 5. Headlined by some of the biggest names in music as in-game artists and playable characters, Band Hero is the ultimate party game where players of all ages will be able to experience the signature, easy-to-learn but difficult-to-master Guitar Hero gameplay. Band Hero allows fans to create the band they always dreamed of using any combination of guitar or drum controllers and vocals, providing rockers and performers of all ages the chance to experience and interact with their favorite music.

Published by Activision Publishing, Inc., Band Hero is being developed by Neversoft Entertainment for the Xbox 360(R) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION(R)3 computer entertainment system, by Vicarious Visions for the Wii(TM) system from Nintendo and by Budcat for the PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system. The game is rated E10+ (mild lyrics, mild suggestive themes). For more information about Band Hero, please BandHero.com.

ABOUT TAYLOR SWIFT

19-year-old Taylor Swift has had singles top both the Country and Pop radio charts, and sold more albums in 2008 than any other recording artist, in any genre of music. Her sophomore release, Fearless, was voted 2009's Album of the Year by the Academy of Country Music, and reached double-platinum in just four weeks. Fearless was the year's biggest debut for any female artist, and the fourth highest debut of 2008, over all. Now rapidly approaching quadruple-platinum, Fearless has spent more weeks in the #1 position atop Billboard's Top 200 all-genre CD sales chart than any other album this year. Taylor, whose career record sales now top 7.75 million, currently holds the Billboard all-genre record for most Top 20 debuts in a calendar year. Taylor launched her first-ever headlining tour this spring, the TAYLOR SWIFT Fearless 2009 TOUR, selling out a show at Madison Square Garden in one minute, and one at Los Angeles' STAPLES center in just two minutes.

At 17, Taylor became the youngest person to single-handedly write and sing a number-one country single entirely on her own ("Our Song" spent 6 consecutive weeks at #1 atop Billboard's Country Singles Chart), and she is the first female solo artist in country music history to write or co-write every song on a platinum-selling debut CD. At 14, she signed a publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music, and in 2006 released her self-titled debut CD on Big Machine Records. Taylor Swift has surpassed quadruple-platinum (4 million sales) status and spent more than 20 weeks in the #1 position atop Billboard's Country CD Sales Chart. Taylor is consistently ranked Country's #1 artist on MySpace, and was named Country Music's Hottest Female Artist by AOL Music and Best New Artist by the editors of iTunes.

In 2009 Taylor was awarded the Academy of Country Music's Crystal Milestone Award, given for Outstanding Achievement in Country Music. Taylor was the 2nd artist in history to receive this prestigious award -- Garth Brooks received the award in 2007. Also this year, Taylor won CMT Music Awards for Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year, awards she was also honored with in 2008. Taylor was named 2008's Favorite Female Country Artist at the American Music Awards, Top New Female Vocalist by the Academy of Country Music, and won 2008 CMT Music Awards for Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year. She was named Choice Breakout Artist at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards, and was as the 2008 Superstar of Tomorrow at the 10th Annual Young Hollywood Awards, making her the first musician to ever receive this prestigious award. In 2007 she won the CMA Horizon Award, as well as the Nashville Songwriters Association International's Songwriter / Artist of the Year, and she received a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.

Earlier this year, NBC dedicated an entire hour to the primetime special "Dateline: On Tour With Taylor Swift." Taylor's numerous other television appearances include a guest-starring role on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and a performance on Saturday Night Live.

Taylor has been featured on the covers of Rolling Stone (twice), Billboard (twice), Glamour, Allure, People StyleWatch, Blender, USA Weekend, Seventeen (twice), Redbook, Self, Us Weekly, CosmoGirl, Girl's Life, Teen Vogue, Women's Health, First, Your Prom, and Southwest Airlines Spirit magazine. She was featured in a Vanity Fair spotlight, was named one of People magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People of 2008 and 2009, was Cosmopolitan magazine's Fun Fearless Female of December, 2008, was Allure's Face of December, was named a Style Star of 2008 by the editors of Seventeen, and was featured on Maxim's 2008 & 2009 Hot 100 list.

About Activision Publishing, Inc.

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, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Russia, Japan, South Korea, China 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 are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Activision Publishing generally uses words such as "outlook," "will," "could," "would," "might," "remains," "to be," "plans," "believes," "may," "expects," "intends," "anticipates," "estimate," future," "plan," "positioned," "potential," "project," "remain," "scheduled," "set to," "subject to," "upcoming" and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. 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, but are not limited to, sales levels of Activision Publishing's titles, shifts in consumer spending trends, the impact of the current macroeconomic environment, the seasonal and cyclical nature of the interactive game market, Activision Publishing's ability to predict consumer preferences among competing hardware platforms (including next-generation hardware), declines in software pricing, product returns and price protection, product delays, retail acceptance of Activision Publishing's products, adoption rate and availability of new hardware and related software, industry competition, rapid changes in technology and industry standards, protection of proprietary rights, litigation against Activision Publishing, maintenance of relationships with key personnel, customers, vendors, licensees, licensors and third-party developers, counterparty risks relating to customers, licensees, licensors and manufacturers, domestic and international economic, financial and political conditions and policies, foreign exchange rates, integration of recent acquisitions and the identification of suitable future acquisition opportunities, Activision Blizzard's success in completing the integration of the operations of Activision Publishing and Vivendi Games in a timely manner, or at all, and the combined company's ability to realize the anticipated benefits and synergies of the transaction to the extent, or in the timeframe, anticipated, and the other factors identified in the risk factors section 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.

(C) 2009 Activision Publishing, Inc. Guitar Hero and Activision are registered trademarks and Band Hero is a trademark of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

"PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. Wii and Nintendo DS are trademarks of Nintendo. (C) 2006 Nintendo. All rights reserved.

SOURCE Activision Publishing, Inc.

http://www.activision.com

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