Battle.net® presales for the hottest game of
2012 NOW LIVE
World of Warcraft®Annual Pass Promotion Ends May 1
IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
The end is nigh! Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced that Diablo®
III, the next chapter in its critically acclaimed action
role-playing game series, will be unleashed from the Burning Hells on
May 15.
Starting that day, gamers with a thirst for fast-paced action and
adventure will be able to purchase Diablo III at retailers
throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, South Korea, Southeast
Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and
Macau. In addition, gamers in the regions above as well as in Mexico,
Argentina, Chile, and Brazil will be able to buy Diablo III
digitally via Blizzard's Battle.net® website.
Players in the listed Latin American countries and in Russia will be
able to purchase Diablo III at local retail locations starting
June 7. Digital availability for the Russian version of the game will
also begin June 7. In addition to the English version, Diablo III will
be fully localized into Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese,
French, German, European Spanish, Italian, Polish, Russian, Korean, and
Traditional Chinese.
Blizzard also kicked off global digital presales for Diablo III today.
Would-be wizards, witch doctors, demon hunters, barbarians, and monks
throughout the world should head to http://www.blizzard.com/games/d3/
now to reserve their digital copies.
"After many years of hard work by our development team and months of
beta testing by hundreds of thousands of dedicated players around the
world, we're now in the homestretch," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and
cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We look forward to putting the
final polish on Diablo III over the next two months and
delivering the ultimate action-RPG experience to gamers worldwide
starting on May 15."
Diablo III will be available for Windows® XP/Windows
Vista®/Windows® 7 and Macintosh® at a
suggested price of $59.99 USD for both the retail DVD-ROM version and
the digital version sold directly from Blizzard. A special
alabaster-white Collector's Edition, sold exclusively in retail stores
at a suggested retail price of $99.99 USD, will include the full game on
DVD-ROM, a behind-the-scenes Blu-ray/DVD two-disc set, the Diablo III
soundtrack CD, a 208-page Art of Diablo III book, and a 4 GB USB
soulstone (including full versions of Diablo II and Diablo II:
Lord of Destruction®) and corresponding Diablo
skull base, as well as exclusive in-game content for Diablo III, World
of Warcraft®, and StarCraft® II:
Wings of Liberty®. Diablo III has received a
Mature rating from the ESRB.
World of Warcraft players interested in getting Diablo III
free are encouraged to join the more than 1 million players who have
already signed up for the World of Warcraft Annual Pass.*
Through this promotion, with a 1-year commitment to World of Warcraft,
players will receive a free digital copy of Diablo III -- which
they'll be able to start playing immediately on May 15 -- as well as an
exclusive World of Warcraft in-game mount and access to the World
of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria™ beta test.
This offer will no longer be available as of 12:01 a.m. PDT on May 1.
Learn more at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/annualpass.
In Diablo III, players take on the role of one of five heroic
characters -- barbarian, witch doctor, wizard, monk, or demon hunter --
and engage in pulse-pounding combat with endless legions of evil. As
they undertake an epic quest to rid Sanctuary from the corrupting forces
of the Burning Hells, players will explore diverse and perilous
settings, grow in experience and ability, acquire artifacts of
incredible power, and meet key characters who'll join them in battle or
aid them in other ways.
Diablo III was built from the ground up to leverage the full
functionality of the Battle.net platform, which delivers powerful
matchmaking and communication tools, allowing adventurers to seamlessly
join forces for exciting cooperative play. Battle.net also provides a
secure infrastructure for the Diablo III auction house, a
feature-rich marketplace that Sanctuary's heroes can use to trade their
hard-earned treasures. Players will be able to buy and sell weapons,
armor, and other valuable items in the auction house in exchange for
in-game gold. Players will also have the option to receive real-world
currency for auction house sales, which they can apply to their
Battle.net Balance for the purchase of a variety of digital products
through Battle.net, including Diablo III auction house items, or
cash out through a third-party payment service such as PayPal™
in most regions. Further details related to the auction house will be
announced in the coming weeks.
For more information on Diablo III, please visit the official
website at http://www.diablo3.com.
To set up a Battle.net account and to opt-in to Blizzard Entertainment
beta tests, please visit the official Battle.net website at http://www.battle.net.
With multiple games in development, Blizzard Entertainment has numerous
positions currently available -- visit http://jobs.blizzard.com
for more information and to learn how to apply.
*Based on internal company records.
About Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft®
and the Warcraft®, StarCraft®,
and Diablo® franchises, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com),
a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), is a premier developer
and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating some of
the industry's most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard Entertainment's
track record includes thirteen #1-selling games and multiple Game of the
Year awards. The company's online-gaming service, Battle.net®,
is one of the largest in the world, with millions of active players.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in
this press release that involves Blizzard Entertainment'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. Blizzard Entertainment 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 Blizzard Entertainment'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
Blizzard Entertainment's titles, increasing concentration of titles,
shifts in consumer spending trends, the impact of the current
macroeconomic environment and market conditions within the video game
industry, the seasonal and cyclical nature of the interactive game
market, declines in software pricing, product returns and price
protection, product delays, retail acceptance of Blizzard
Entertainment's products, industry competition including from used games
and other forms of entertainment, litigation risks and associated costs,
rapid changes in technology, industry standards, business models
including online and used games, and consumer preferences, including
interest in specific genres such as real time strategy, role playing and
massively multiplayer online games, protection of proprietary rights,
maintenance of relationships with key personnel, customers, licensees,
licensors, vendors and third-party developers, including the ability to
attract, retain and develop key personnel and developers who can create
high quality "hit" titles, counterparty risks relating to customers,
licensees, licensors and manufacturers, domestic and international
economic, financial and political conditions and policies, foreign
exchange rates and tax rates, potential challenges associated with
geographic expansion, and the other factors identified in the risk
factors sections of the most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any
subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed by Activision Blizzard,
Inc., Blizzard Entertainment's parent company. The forward-looking
statements in this release are based upon information available to
Blizzard Entertainment and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this
release, and neither Blizzard Entertainment 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 Blizzard Entertainment 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.
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Lisa Jensen
Vice President,
Global Public Relations
949-854-6200 dir
949-854-7900 fax
ljensen@blizzard.com
or
Rob
Hilburger
PR Director
949-955-1380, x13228 dir
949-854-7900
fax
rhilburger@blizzard.com
or
Che'von
Slaughter
Associate PR Manager
949-955-1380, x14338 dir
949-854-7900
fax
cslaughter@blizzard.com
Source: Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
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