ZhuZhu Pets: Featuring The Wild Bunch
Further furry adventures coming this autumn.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – AUGUST 12, 2010 – Activision Publishing (Nasdaq: ATVI) and GameMill Publishing, Inc., in association with Cepia, LLC, today announced ZhuZhu Pets TM : Featuring The Wild Bunch, a brand new videogame based on the smash hit ZhuZhu Pets TM toy line. ZhuZhu Pets TM : Featuring The Wild Bunch will be released this Fall and offers all new hamster friends and wild adventures on both Nintendo DS TM and Wii TM . The ZhuZhu TM Pets toy line is hotter than ever, recently winning three toy industry awards including “Toy of the Year”, “Girl Toy of the Year” and “Innovative Toy of the Year”.
ZhuZhu Pets TM : Featuring The Wild Bunch features all new super cute action with fun and furry pals. Fans will get to care for and play with all of their new Wild Bunch friends plus the original ZhuZhu hamsters. ZhuZhu Pets TM : Featuring The Wild Bunch features an expanded Zhu-niverse and new, action packed sidescrolling gameplay. On Wii TM , multiplayer will allow families and friends to pick up and play together.
The initial release of ZhuZhu Pets TM : Featuring The Wild Bunch will come packaged as a Collector’s Edition with an exclusive cute and cuddly chipmunk, Nutters. This limited edition version of the game will be available on Nintendo DS TM for $34.99 MSRP and Wii TM for $39.99 MSRP.
“ZhuZhu Pets TM ’ success continues to snowball and it’s been a thrill adapting this property into videogames,” said David Oxford at Activision Publishing. Gary Miller, President, GameMill Publishing, stated, “The toy’s passionate fans will love the fresh direction we’ve taken in ZhuZhu Pets TM : Featuring The Wild Bunch, and it’s fantastic that Wii TM owners can now join in the fun!”
“ZhuZhu Pets TM : Featuring The Wild Bunch captures the imagination of those who adore our brand,” said Natalie Hornsby, Vice President of Marketing, Cepia, LLC. “This game is an important next step for us as we continue to evolve the ZhuZhu Pets TM experience.”
ZhuZhu Pets TM : Featuring The Wild Bunch can currently be seen on the Zhu-niverse Tour stopping in cities all over the country. Tour attendees will be among the first to get their hands on ZhuZhu Pets TM : Featuring The Wild Bunch for Nintendo DS TM and Wii TM . Please visit www.thezhuniversetour.com for more information.
ZhuZhu Pets TM : Featuring The Wild Bunch is not yet rated by the ESRB. For more information visit www.activision.com or www.gamemillpublishing.com.
About GameMill Entertainment
GameMill Entertainment is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. GameMill is a third party publisher of various Children's and Casual games for the PC, Nintendo DS, and Wii from Nintendo. With development across the globe, GameMill is a source of entertaining and fun games for all ages. www.game-mill.com.
About ZhuZhu Pets TM
ZhuZhu Pets TM are innovative, realistic, interactive, plush, and artificially intelligent hamsters that talk and move around in their own playsets. ZhuZhu Pets include two play modes: nurturing mode where the hamsters coo and purr and adventure mode where the hamsters explore their habitat with intelligent audio and mechanical responses to various habitat stimuli. Over a dozen add-ons can be purchased to build an ever-evolving hamsterworld for your hamster to play in and explore. Powered by 2 AAA batteries (included), ZhuZhu Pets TM are suitable for ages 4 and up. For more information, please visit www.zhuzhupets.com.
About Cepia, LLC
Cepia was founded in 2002 in St. Louis, Missouri by a senior management team boasting over 100 years of combined history in the toy industry. Ingenuity, creativity, playfulness, and passion are the heart of Cepia and everything it creates. Cepia is especially known for its use of advanced technology, which is employed in such an unobtrusive way that the toys are not only fun to play with, but often viewed as “wonderful” or “magical.” Cepia’s toy brand building enterprises include Glo-e a light-up plush bear, Hydro Max a motorized water blaster, Sky Raptors, Sk8, and their newest venture ZhuZhu Pets TM . For more information, please visit www.cepiallc.com.
About Black Lantern
Black Lantern Studios, Inc. is an independent interactive entertainment software developer for consoles and the PC. Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Springfield, Missouri, Black Lantern Studios is committed to providing the highest quality, richest, and most satisfying gaming experience to its customers, and delivering value to its publishers and partners. For more information about Black Lantern Studios, please visit www.blacklanternstudios.com or e-mail info@blacklanternstudios.com.
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, 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, 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 (including peripherals) and related software, 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 music, first-person action 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 that 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, and the identification of suitable future acquisition opportunities and potential challenges associated with geographic expansion, and the 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.
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