Trio of Original Crash Bandicoot Games also to be Remastered in 2017

Starting Today, Fans can Pre-order Skylanders Imaginators Starter Pack Featuring Crash Bandicoot at Select Retailers Worldwide!

SANTA MONICA, Calif. --(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Celebrating his 20-year anniversary, Crash Bandicoot returns in 2016 as Activision Publishing, Inc. , a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. ( NASDAQ : ATVI), features the pop-culture videogame icon as a guest star in Skylanders® Imaginators. Revealed during the Sony Interactive Entertainment America LLC ., (SIEA) E3 Press Conference , Crash Bandicoot maintains his unique and quirky personality both as a fully playable Skylander Sensei character and brand new toy in Skylanders Imaginators.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160613006571/en/

The Skylanders Imaginators Starter Pack Featuring Crash Bandicoot will be available exclusively for PlayStation® 4 and PlayStation® 3 at launch on Oct. 16 in North America , Oct. 14 in Europe and Oct. 13 in APAC. Fans can pre-order the Starter Pack starting today! (Photo: Business Wire)

At the press conference, it was also announced that Activision is bringing back Crash Bandicoot in fully remastered versions of the first three Crash games -- Crash Bandicoot®; Crash Bandicoot® 2: Cortex Strikes Back; and Crash Bandicoot®: Warped for PlayStation®4 -- planned for a 2017 release.

"For years, we've been asked when is Crash returning, and today that question has been answered. Activision is proud to celebrate the iconic character's 20-year anniversary by bringing him back in ways that will appeal to hardcore fans as well as introduce him to a new generation of gamers," said Eric Hirshberg , CEO of Activision Publishing, Inc. "We can't wait for gamers to see Crash bring his unique style and quirky personality to the epic battle against Kaos in Skylanders Imaginators. And next year, we'll expand on the Crash experience for players with remastered versions of three classic games."

Activision is paying homage to the beloved '90s videogame star in fun new ways with Skylanders Imaginators. No Crash game would be complete without the ability to jump on TNT Crates to blow them up or collect the Bazooka Crate to get a rocket launcher. From his edginess to his trademark wackiness, Crash is featured with a full move set and upgrade path based around his signature spin attack, as well as callbacks to his beloved past, including moves that incorporate exploding crates with 3-2-1 countdowns, wumpa fruit, jetpack attack from high in the air and more.

Crash in Skylanders Imaginators will merge elements fans have come to know and love with Skylanders Imaginators' newest class of characters: Senseis. In Skylanders Imaginators, every Sensei has a devastating Sky-Chi attack -- their most powerful move. Crash's Sky-Chi attack is the ability to use a yo-yo to yank his enemies into a spin attack!

Famed voice actor Jess Harnell reprises his role as Crash, further ensuring Skylanders Imaginators stays true to the Crash Bandicoot that fans have come to know and love. And that's just beginning of the attention to detail in Skylanders Imaginators!

Skylanders® Imaginators empowers fans 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.

With the evil Kaos on a quest to take over Skylands using an unstoppable army of Doomlanders, it's up to Portal Masters everywhere to use the power of imagination to create their own Skylanders - known as Imaginators - in order to defeat Kaos . Fighting alongside the Imaginators are the Senseis, powerful mystic warriors who are masters of ancient battle techniques.

In Skylanders Imaginators, a wormhole has opened in Skylands and the great Aku Aku appears! He comes to announce the once in two decades Synchronization Celebration. It is the time when all of the worlds align perfectly. They are having a huge celebration event in the Wumpa Islands and want to invite the Skylanders. But with Kaos on a quest to take over Skylands using his army of Doomlanders, the Skylanders must focus on stopping his evil plans. Never one to shy away from danger, the legendary marsupial Crash Bandicoot travels through the wormhole to join the Skylanders in the ultimate battle against Kaos !

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 Featuring Crash Bandicoot will be available exclusively for PlayStation® 4 and PlayStation® 3 at launch. The Crash toy will be playable across platforms.

Fans can pre-order Skylanders Imaginators Starter Pack Featuring Crash Bandicoot now at select retail destinations for the suggested retail price of $99.99 in North America . The Skylanders Imaginators Crash edition includes Crash Bandicoot as a playable toy, standard Starter Pack characters, a Creation Crystal, Portal of Power®, the full AAA game and more.

About the Skylanders® Franchise

The award-winning, $3 billion Skylanders® 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, 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, PORTAL OF POWER and ACTIVISION are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc.

1 The 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/20160613006571/en/

Media Inquiries for Activision Publishing :

Kerstine Johnson

kerstine.johnson@activision.com

or

Dior Brown

dior.brown@activision.com

Source: Activision Publishing, Inc.

News Provided by Acquire Media