SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Portal Masters can now wield the power of choice as they defend the Cloudbreak Islands and battle the evil Kaos (and his mom) when the magic of Skylanders SWAP Force™ hits store shelves nationwide today. Available now for Nintendo Wii^™, Nintendo Wii U^™, Nintendo 3DS^™, the Xbox 360 games and entertainment system and PlayStation^®3 computer entertainment system as well as day-and-date for PlayStation^®4 and Xbox One, Skylanders SWAP Force introduces an all new innovative play pattern – swapability - that lets players freely interchange the top and bottom halves of 16 special characters by mixing and matching their powers and moves into more than 250 unique character combinations*, that are brought to life in the game.

The third installment in the popular franchise from Activision Publishing Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI), Skylanders SWAP Force is already positioned to be one of the must-have games this holiday having been named to the 2013 Toys“R”Us^® “Fabulous 15” on the company’s Holiday Toy List as well as TimeToPlayMag.com’s Most Wanted List and Toy Insider’s Hot 20 Holiday Toys of 2013 List.

“Skylanders is a brand built on one thing: magic. With each and every Skylanders title, we want to deliver new, delightful innovations to our young fans that continue to blur the lines between physical and digital play,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. “With Skylanders SWAP Force, we've taken this genre to a whole new level by giving players the greatest power of all: choice. In a franchise known for breakthrough innovation, I have no doubt that SWAP Force is our most innovative Skylanders game yet. And we're thrilled to share it with fans of all ages all over the world today.”

Building on the franchise’s signature gameplay and collectible toy experience, Skylanders SWAP Force pushes the boundaries of innovation and imagination with an all new play pattern – swapability – that gives kids more choice than ever before over how their SWAP Force^TMcharacters fight and move. Set in a richly detailed next-generation world, the game takes kids on an all-new adventure with 40 new collectible characters each with unique powers and personalities -- 16 new SWAP Force^TM characters, 16 core Skylanders characters and eight newLightCore™ characters. Additionally, fans can play Skylanders SWAP Force with their entire collection of 100+ characters from Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure® and Skylanders Giants^TM.

Skylanders SWAP Force features a new next generation graphics engine** that brings the game’s detailed characters and rich environments to life like never before. The game also features new abilities – such as flying, climbing, and teleporting – which can be used throughout Skylands. Friends and family can join the fun with drop-in/drop-out cooperative play as well as experience action-packed gameplay in various Battle and Survival Modes that feature all new arenas.

Additionally, players can embark on an all new unique Skylanders SWAP Force adventure on the Nintendo 3DS that features game levels and story that are unique to this platform. The 3DS version also includes three new characters – Rattle Shake, Volcanic Eruptor, and Free Ranger – which are not found in any other Skylanders Starter Pack. All characters introduced in Skylanders SWAP Force will also be playable on Skylanders Lost Islands^TM and Skylanders Battlegrounds^TMmobile games, both of which are available on iOS on October 13 and on Android on November 1.

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About the Skylanders Franchise

The award-winning, billion dollar Skylanders franchise pioneered the toys-to-life category in 2011 with the debut of Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure. The game originated a new play pattern that seamlessly bridged physical and virtual worlds across multiple platforms and became the top-selling kids’ videogame of the year. In October 2012, Skylanders Giants™ further evolved the genre and added the mega-sized Giants and LightCore™ characters to the collection of interaction figures. Skylanders Giants was awarded the “e-Connected Toy of the Year” at the 13th Annual Toy of the Year (TOTY) Awards. The next innovation in the franchise Skylanders SWAP Force is being developed by Vicarious Visions, an Activision studio. The game is rated E10 by the ESRB. For more information, visit www.skylanders.com.

About Activision Publishing

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, Brazil, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Singapore, mainland China, Hong Kong 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, including statements about the expected release dates of SKYLANDERS SWAP FORCE, SKYLANDERS BATTLEGROUNDS, and SKYLANDERS LOST ISLANDS 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.

SKYLANDERS, SKYLANDERS SWAP FORCE, SWAP FORCE SKYLANDERS SPYRO’S ADVENTURE, SKYLANDERS GIANTS, SKYLANDERS LOST ISLANDS, SKYLANDERS BATTLEGROUNDS, LIGHTCORE and ACTIVISION are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc.

¹ Based on revenue, according to The NPD Group, Gfk Media Control® and Activision internal estimates, including toys and accessory packs

*Requires purchase of all 16 SWAP Force Skylanders.

**High resolution graphics not available on Nintendo Wii and Nintendo 3DS.