All-New Crash Bandicoot Level Reveals Dr. Neo Cortex, Crash
Bandicoot's Archnemesis, as Skylander Guest Star
Videogame Supervillains Kaos and Dr. Neo Cortex Arrive as
Fully-Playable Skylanders Senseis Toys This Fall! Free Kaos Toy with
Pre-Order and Purchase of Starter Pack!
SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Portal Masters be on the lookout this October! Activision Publishing,
Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:
ATVI) is bringing more content and characters to Skylanders®
Imaginators- the game lets fans unleash their imaginations
like never before in a Skylanders game. Starting today, the villains of
Skylands are taking over Gamescom and revealing an all-new dedicated
Crash Bandicoot® level, Thumpin' Wumpa Islands, to fans. Leading the
charge is Skylands' most notorious villain Kaos, who along with the help
of new guest star Skylander, Dr. Neo Cortex are sure to add more fun to
players' imagination-to-life gameplay experience. Both supervillains are
joining the lineup of Skylanders Sensei characters as fully-playable
toys in Skylanders Imaginators, and Kaos will be available for
free to fans who pre-order and purchase a Skylanders Imaginators starter
pack.
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Kaos, Skylands' most notorious villain, is joining the lineup of Skylanders Sensei characters as a fully-playable toy in Skylanders™ Imaginators. The Kaos toy is free to fans who pre-order and purchase a Skylanders Imaginators starter pack between October 16-22, 2016, while supplies last. (Photo: Business Wire)
"From the moment we received the first fan art, we knew Skylanders
was unique in its ability to fuel kids' imaginations. With Skylanders
Imaginators' powerful character creation tools, we can't wait to
see what amazing Skylanders our fans will bring to life," said Paul
Reiche, president and co-founder, Toys For Bob. "Now fans can create
more characters than there are stars in the known universe. These
Imaginators join a strong lineup of Sensei characters which include
fan-favorite villains, now reformed and fighting for good!"
In North America, fans who pre-order and purchase the Skylanders
Imaginators Starter Pack will receive a playable Kaos Sensei toy for
free while supplies last between October 16 - 22, 2016.
With Kaos having discovered the power of Mind Magic to create
Doomlanders, one of his first creations was none other than a clone of
himself! Figuring that no one in the universe, including the Skylanders,
could ever stand up to more than one Kaos, he unleashed his clone in his
quest to take over Skylands. But to Kaos' surprise, the clone - also
being Kaos - wanted victory for himself! As a result, he fights against
his creator, in turn helping the Skylanders in their endeavor to defeat
the real Kaos!
At Gamescom, Skylanders Imaginators will introduce fans to the
return of Dr. Neo Cortex as a Sensei Skylander and reveal an all-new
level, Thumpin' Wumpa Islands, that's steeped in nostalgic Crash
Bandicoot® gameplay. The level includes special Crash Zones
that bring back the classic massive boulder chases from the original
games. And, as with any Skylanders level, there are secrets and hidden
areas all along the way. In paying homage to this iconic character on
his 20th anniversary, the level is packed with TNT boxes, crabs,
hazards, temple ruins, Wumpa Fruit, exploding crates and many more
elements from the original Crash. But it all takes place in the
Skylands - which means a new twist of Skylanders combat and action
brought into the world of the Wumpa Islands.
"You can't have Crash Bandicoot as a guest star Skylander without his
arch-nemesis, Dr. Neo Cortex," said Jen Oneal, studio head, Vicarious
Visions. "We approached the level as a way for us to bring the best
parts of Skylanders and the best parts of Crash together
into one epic adventure. Players are going to enjoy how we've honored
the heritage of traditional Crash games in the musically-themed,
TNT crate-filled level. For fans of Crash this is going to feel like
going back to the old world of Crash Bandicoot -- but in gorgeous
1080p."
In the game, a "Synchronization Celebration" has aligned the world of
Skylands with the Wumpa Islands. Upon arriving, Spyro and Mags discover
that Dr. Neo Cortex (voiced by Lex Lang) has created a terrible machine
to harness the rhythmic power of the island's celebration for his newest
evil scheme! When the machine goes awry, something occurs that throws
the whole party out of sync. Crash (voiced by Jess Harnell) must team up
with the Skylanders and his old enemy Neo Cortex to restore the
celebration before the Wumpa Islands are syncopated right out of
existence!
The Thumpin' Wumpa Islands level will be available to players who
purchase the Skylanders Imaginators Starter Pack featuring Crash
Bandicoot for PlayStation consoles at launch. The level will also be
available to all platforms via purchase of the Skylanders Imaginators
Thumpin' Wumpa Islands Adventure Pack this holiday for the suggested
retail price of $29.99. The Skylanders Imaginators Thumpin' Wumpa
Islands Adventure pack also will include Crash Bandicoot and Dr. Neo
Cortex as fully playable toys.
Last but not least, Portal Masters will soon be able to collect
Imaginite Mystery Chests. These chests will unlock new creation pieces,
such as gear, weapons, and parts for players' Imaginator characters.
Skylanders
Imaginators empowers players to unleash their imaginations
by giving them the freedom to create their own Skylander. Portal Masters
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. Developed by Toys For Bob, Skylanders
Imaginators supports all 300+ Skylanders from previous games and
will launch on October 16, 2016 in North America. The Skylanders
Imaginators Starter Pack will be available for the suggested retail
price of $74.99.
About the Skylanders®
Franchise
The award-winning, $3 billionSkylanders®
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 on September 20, 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. More information about
Activision and its products can be found on the company's website, www.activision.com
or by following @Activision.
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 about the expected features, functionality and release dates
of Skylanders Imaginators and Skylanders Imaginators Thumpin' Wumpa
Islands Adventure pack, 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,
CRASH, CRASH BANDICOOT, SKYLANDERS SUPERCHARGERS, SKYLANDERS TRAP TEAM,
SKYLANDERS SPYRO'S ADVENTURE, SKYLANDERS GIANTS, SKYLANDERS SWAP FORCE,
SWAP FORCE, LIGHTCORE and ACTIVISION are trademarks of Activision
Publishing, Inc.
¹The NPD Group, GfK Chart-track, Activision Blizzard internal
estimates, including toys and accessories
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160816005592/en/
Activision Publishing, Inc.
Kerstine Johnson
kerstine.johnson@activision.com
or
Dior
Brown
dior.brown@activision.com
Source: Activision Publishing, Inc.
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