Activision To Sponsor 2003 Gravity Games
Santa Monica, CA – October 10, 2003 – Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), the #1 worldwide publisher of action sports video games, announced today that the company will be an exclusive sponsor of the 2003 Gravity Games and that NBC will use Activision’s proprietary Tony Hawk’s Underground game engine technology to illustrate the street and vert athlete performances during the October 12, October 19 and October 26 Gravity Games broadcasts.
The sponsorship supports Activision’s upcoming launch of Tony Hawk’s Underground. Additional Gravity Games promotional activities which feature Tony Hawk’s Underground
include a national sweepstakes and online contest whereby consumers can visit www.gravitygames.com for a chance to win copies of the game, a Supra launch ski boat, a SoBe Suzuki Motorcycle, Mongoose bikes, a SoBe wakeboard and a year’s supply of SoBe beverages. Also, during the Gravity Games’ street and vert competitions, NBC will broadcast eight, 30-second television spots for the highly anticipated video game.
“The Gravity Games is a perfect fit for our brand and the
event’s timing is ideal to support the launch of Tony
Hawk’s Underground,” said Will Kassoy, vice president
of global brand management, Activision. “With the NBC
broadcasts, the Gravity Games generates record network ratings for
action sports programming and reaches millions of fans of both action
sports and our popular Tony Hawk series. As a result of
this unique alliance, Activision will be able to match its industry
leading gaming technology with one of the most popular action sports
events in the world.”
“Activision is such a great fit with the Gravity Games and we are thrilled to be partnered with them again this year,” said Wade Martin, General Manager of the Gravity Games. “The Tony Hawk’s Underground game technology is amazing and is a complement to our Gravity Games broadcasts.”
The Gravity Games is already television’s highest rated action sports program (16 of the top 20 broadcasts) and the popularity continues to grow worldwide. A crowd of more 163,000 spectators attended the five-day event, which was held at North Coast Harbor in Cleveland, Ohio, September 10-14, 2003, to watch more than 200 of the world's best professional action sports athletes compete in skateboarding, freestyle motocross, BMX freestyle, aggressive in-line skating and wakeboarding events.
Tony Hawk’s Underground is being developed by Neversoft Entertainment for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the Xbox® video game system from Microsoft and Nintendo GameCube™, and has been rated “T” (“Teen – with blood, mild violence, strong language and suggestive themes”) by the ESRB. The Game Boy Advance version, developed by Vicarious Visions, Inc., has been rated “E” (“Everyone – Animated Blood”) by the ESRB.
About Gravity Games
The Gravity Games is the world's premier series of action sports
competitions. The Gravity Games is a joint venture between Primedia
(NYSE: PRM), the leading targeted media company; Octagon, the global
sports marketing arm of The Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG; and NBC
Sports, the most respected name in sports television. Broadcast quality
video and color art are available upon request. For more information on
the Gravity Games, log on to www.gravitygames.com.
About Activision, Inc.
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision, Inc. is a
leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive
entertainment and leisure products. Founded in 1979, Activision
posted net revenues of $864 million for the fiscal year ended March 31,
2003.
Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Australia, Scandinavia and the Netherlands. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's World Wide Web site, which is located at www.activision.com.
The statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements.” The Company cautions readers of this press release that a number of important factors could cause Activision’s actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in any such forward-looking statements. These important factors, and other factors that could affect Activision, are described in Activision’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2003, which was filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers of this press release are referred to such filings.
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