Inglewood, CA – September 2, 2016 – Doors open today as thousands of Call of Duty® fans gather in-person, and millions more join online for the biggest celebration of the largest gaming franchise in the world, as Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), presents Call of Duty XP, taking place at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., today through September 4. The epic fan-celebration is jam-packed full of must-see events including the culmination of the Call of Duty World League Championship, Presented by PlayStation®4, where the best competitive Call of Duty: Black Ops III players from around the globe will vie for their share of the $2 million in prizing and the right to be called world champions. Today kicks off with a global briefing featuring the world premiere of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare’s highly-anticipated multiplayer mode, additional game reveals, news and much more. The presentation will be streamed live in HD at www.twitch.tv/callofduty, www.youtube.com/callofduty, www.facebook.com/callofduty, www.callofduty.com and www.MLG.tv/callofdutyxp at 10:00am Pacific.
Fans in attendance will be the first to play Infinite Warfare’s multiplayer mode, and can directly broadcast their gameplay live on Facebook with their custom capture RFID set-up. Additionally, attendees will be able to play Infinite Warfare’s Zombies in Spaceland mode, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered multiplayer, as well as new Call of Duty: Black Ops III multiplayer content from Treyarch’s soon-to-be-released fourth downloadable content offering, Salvation. As if that wasn’t enough, fans will also have access to a theme-park of Call of Duty-inspired activities all weekend and a special performance by entertainment icon Snoop Dogg and multi-award-winning rapper Wiz Khalifa on Sunday.
“Call of Duty XP is like a theme-park that leapt out of a video game into the real world. It’s our way of saying thank you to our fans for inspiring us to keep pushing and innovating each and every year,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision. “Every detail of this weekend’s activities has been meticulously crafted. From the Finals of the first season of the Call of Duty World League being played inside the sold-out Forum, to having more playable content than we’ve ever had at a single event before. And of course there’s the one of a kind experiences that would be on every Call of Duty fan’s bucket list. It’s a celebration of the greatest fans in entertainment and one of the greatest franchises in entertainment.”
Inside the Forum, the arena will fill with fans eager to cheer on their favorite teams in the first Call of Duty World League Championship, presented by PlayStation®4. Fans will follow the action, as 32 teams from around the world play Call of Duty: Black Ops III, including fan favorites Optic Gaming and FaZe Clan from North America, Millenium from Europe, and Mindfreak representing Australia/New Zealand, battle as they attempt to survive four days of intense competition, and vie for their share of the $2 million prize pool. It’s the culmination of a year of intense competition, with winners emerging on Sunday, when the best teams remain, final matches are played and global champions are crowned.
“This is it. The ultimate competitive stage for Call of Duty,” said Rob Kostich, executive vice president and general manager, Call of Duty. “This first year of the Call of Duty World League has featured some of the best competition in Call of Duty history, as well as the most fan support we’ve ever seen. The matches all the way through the finals on Sunday will be intense and really fun to watch. We have the biggest prize pool ever for the franchise up for grabs and the best players on the planet competing for the championship.”
Additional fan experience activities taking place at Call of Duty XP on Friday and Saturday include:
– Call of Duty PlayStation®VR experience “Jackal Assault” immersing fans in the cockpit and putting them in control of a Jackal, the personal fighter jet in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
– Nuketown paintball, set in a life-sized, recreation of the fan-favorite Call of Duty: Black Ops multiplayer map. Fans watching at home can participate through “Twitch Plays Nuketown” at http://www.twitch.tv/TwitchPlaysNuketown, which allows them to vote through Twitch chat to activate various paint weapons during each match, including a sentry, smoke grenade and claymore and watch the action unfold live
– Infinite Warfare’s Zombies in Spaceland laser tag, themed in the ‘80s-inspired setting of the new game mode
– Call of Duty zip line experience, which mirrors the in-game mechanic seen in numerous Call of Duty multiplayer maps
– Juggernaut Wrestling, a face to face intense cage match where fans will engage in combat while wearing inflatable Juggernaut suits
– Call of Duty developer panels going behind-the-scenes with game creators
– Onsite Call of Duty armory and franchise museum
– Call of Duty photo booths
For fans who can’t attend Call of Duty XP in person, select events from the celebration, as well as the Call of Duty World League Championship, Presented by PlayStation®4, will be livestreamed in HD on Twitch at www.twitch.tv/callofduty, on YouTube at www.youtube.com/callofduty, and www.callofduty.com. CWL fans can also watch all the Black Ops III esports action on MLG.TV and in-game (BOIII PS4™) through Live Event Viewer.
Call of Duty XP precedes the year’s most anticipated entertainment launch on November 4th when Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare releases worldwide, along with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered*, both of which releasing on PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One and PC. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is rated M for Mature (Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes).
*Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered contains only 10 MP maps from the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare game. Modern Warfare Remastered is a full game download. Internet connection required. For more information, please visit www.callofduty.com/MWR_FAQ. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered is included with the Legacy Editions and Digital Deluxe Editions of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. Check local retailers for availability of all Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Editions.
For more information, please visit www.callofduty.com/xp. Fans can also follow @CallofDuty and @InfinityWard on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
