Santa Monica, CA – Jan. 17, 2014 – Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), announced today that Call of Duty® and Skylanders® continue to top U.S. NPD charts for 2013. Call of Duty: Ghosts was the #1 best-selling title overall in December, and the #1 best-selling next gen title of 2013 on both Xbox One and PlayStation 4; Call of Duty was the #1 franchise for the fifth year in a row in both software units and dollars in the U.S., according to the NPD Group¹. Additionally, Skylanders SWAP Force was the #2 best-selling title overall in December; Skylanders was the #1 best-selling kids video game franchise of 2013 in the U.S. for the second consecutive year, and the #3 video game franchise overall for the year in the U.S., according to the NPD Group and including toys and accessories2.
“Call of Duty: Ghosts is the #1 best-selling next gen launch title on both Xbox One and PS4, and for the second year in a row Skylanders was the #1 top-selling kids video game franchise,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, Inc.
“This consumer response to both Call of Duty: Ghosts and Skylanders speaks to the deep connection both franchises have made with fans, which fuels our commitment to delivering great games time and again.”
The latest two Skylanders games — Skylanders GiantsTM and Skylanders SWAP ForceTM – both ranked in the top 5 of kids video games in 20132. In addition, both Call of Duty and Skylanders have two of the top 10 best-selling titles for the year in the U.S.
Released in November on both current generation and next generation platforms, Call of Duty: Ghosts ushered in the next generation of the blockbuster franchise. The game also is the #1 first person action game of the year in the U.S. and the #1 most played multiplayer title currently for Xbox 360 on Xbox Live online entertainment network from Microsoft. Developed by Infinity Ward, the title is rated “M” for Mature (Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language) by the ESRB. For more information, please visit www.callofduty.com/ghosts, www.facebook.com/CODGhosts, or follow on Twitter @InfinityWard.
The award-winning, billion dollar2 Skylanders franchise continued to innovate the toys-to-life category in October 2013 by introducing a new mix-and-match play pattern with the launch of Skylanders SWAP Force for current generation and handheld platforms and was available day-and-date with next generation platforms. Skylanders SWAP Force was one of the highest rated kids’ games of 2013 and was hailed as “4 stars (out of 4)” by USA Today3 and “The Best Skylanders Game Yet” by Forbes.com4. The latest group of Skylanders SWAP Force toys arrived on store shelves at the beginning of the year, introducing Portal Masters to new favorite heroes such as Stink Bomb, Spy Rise, Smolderdash and more. For more information, visit www.skylanders.com.
Activision’s Call of Duty and Skylanders top NPD charts in 2013
