ACTIVISION PUBLISHING’S CALL OF DUTY AND SKYLANDERS
CONTINUE TO TOP NPD CHARTS FOR 2013
Call of Duty: Ghosts #1 Top-Selling Next Gen Title;
Call of Duty #1 Franchise for the Last Five Years
Skylanders #1 Kids Video Game Franchise for Second Consecutive Year;
Takes #3 Spot for Overall Video Game Franchise in 2013
Santa Monica, CA – Jan. 17, 2014 – Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned
subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI<https://www.activision.com>),
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<https://www.callofduty.com/ghosts>,
www.facebook.com/CODGhosts<https://www.facebook.com/CODGhosts>, or follow on Twitter
@InfinityWard<https://twitter.com/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<https://www.skylanders.com/>.
