Crash Bandicoot® is Back in Skylanders® Imaginators and in Remastered Classics!
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.
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.
1The NPD Group, GfK Chart-track, Activision Blizzard internal
estimates, including toys and accessories
Contacts
Media Inquiries for Activision Publishing:
Kerstine
Johnson
kerstine.johnson@activision.com
or
Dior
Brown
dior.brown@activision.com
