Crayola® and General Mills Join Activision’s Robust Licensing Portfolio for Its Award-Winning Skylanders Franchise

#1 Best-Selling Kids Video Game Franchise of 2013 Worldwide1 Increases Licensing Footprint to More Than 175 Licensees

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--()--Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), announced today an impressive roster of global licensees for its award-winning Skylanders franchise. Landmark new relationships with Crayola® and General Mills underscores the popularity of the Skylanders property and drives the expansion of merchandising program into new categories. Activision’s robust licensing portfolio, featuring more than 175 licensees, is set to deliver meaningful brand extensions for the #1 kids’ video game franchise in the world1.

“The relationships we have formed with Crayola and General Mills showcase how strong Skylanders has become in just 27 months,” said Ashley Maidy, vice president of global licensing and partnerships for Activision Publishing. “The brand association that comes along with these category giants expands the property’s reach outside of our traditional channels worldwide and fosters a deeper connection with our fans.”

As a result of these collaborations, a number of exciting new products and promotions will come to market this year, including:

  • Activision and Crayola will introduce unique Skylanders-branded color and activity formats. The specialty line will include Crayola’s signature formats including Color Wonder, Giant Coloring Pages and Xtreme Coloring, among other new platforms and will be available this holiday at top retail channels worldwide.
  • Starting in June, a new promotion with General Mills will release Skylanders-shaped Fruit Flavored Snacks to fans all over North America. This relationship marks Activision’s first entry into the category and will bring six character favorites, including Chompy, Gill Grunt, Jet Vac, Kaos, Stealth Elf and Eruptor to grocery stores, supermarkets, drug stores and mass market retailers.

New and returning licensees will launch product assortments in 2014 including: POWER A (Carrying Cases & Game Accessories), Mad Dog Concepts (Sleepwear), ABG Accessories (Headwear & Cold Weather), Thermos (Lunch Kits & FUNtainers™), FAB (Backpacks & School Supplies), PTI (Easter), American Greetings (Party Goods & Supplies) and Rubie’s Costumes (Halloween).

Activision’s rich licensing and promotional announcement comes on the heels of a successful 2013 for the Skylanders brand. Skylanders figures outsold all action figure lines worldwide in 2013 for the second consecutive year, beating out the top three action figure lines combined2. Having surpassed the $2 billion mark in sales, including 175 million toys sold worldwide in just 27 months1, Skylanders is now in the top 20 video game franchises of all time1 and continues to set benchmarks for the toys-to-life category.

About the Skylanders® Franchise

The award-winning, $2 billion 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 Giant Skylanders 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 franchise’s latest innovation, Skylanders SWAP Force™, launched in October 2013 and introduced an all new play pattern – swapability. The game was developed by Vicarious Visions and is rated E10+ by the ESRB. 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.

© 2014 Activision Publishing, Inc., SKYLANDERS, SKYLANDERS SWAP FORCE, SKYLANDERS GIANTS, SKYLANDERS SPYRO’S ADVENTURE, LIGHTCORE, and ACTIVISION are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc.

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

2Based on Activision internal estimates

Contacts

PMK•BNC
Michele Wyman
310.854.3264
michele.wyman@pmkbnc.com
or
Activision Publishing, Inc.
Dior Brown
424.744.5864
dior.brown@activision.com

Contacts

PMK•BNC
Michele Wyman
310.854.3264
michele.wyman@pmkbnc.com
or
Activision Publishing, Inc.
Dior Brown
424.744.5864
dior.brown@activision.com