Battle.net® and Facebook Integration
Announced
Blizzard Entertainment?s Next-Generation Online Gaming Platform
Will
Integrate with Facebook to Enhance Social Gaming Experience
IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS
WIRE)--Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced today that its
Battle.net®
gaming service will integrate with Facebook®, linking
the
world's premier online gaming platform with the world's most
popular
social platform. The first step in the integration will enable
StarCraft®
II: Wings of Liberty? players to quickly add Blizzard
gamers
who are friends on Facebook to their Battle.net friend lists,
facilitating their social gaming experience on the service.
?We're pleased to be working with Facebook to integrate
their platform
with Battle.net to enhance the social-entertainment experience for
our
players?
"We're pleased to be working with Facebook to integrate their
platform
with Battle.net to enhance the social-entertainment experience for
our
players," said Paul Sams, chief operating officer of Blizzard
Entertainment. "This new functionality will make it easier than
ever to
connect with friends on Battle.net and play StarCraft II and
future
Blizzard Entertainment games together."
The new Facebook functionality in Battle.net will be tested in the
near
future via the ongoing StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty beta test
and will
be available to all StarCraft II players when the game ships later
this
year. Information about other Facebook-related features on
Battle.net
will be announced at a later date.
About Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft®
and the Warcraft®, StarCraft®,
and Diablo®
series, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com),
a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI), is a premier
developer
and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating some
of
the industry?s most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard
Entertainment?s
track record includes eleven #1-selling games and multiple Game of
the
Year awards. The company?s online-gaming service, Battle.net®,
is one of the largest in the world, with millions of active
players.
Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc.
Cautionary Note Regarding
Forward-looking
Statements: Information in this press release that involves
Blizzard Entertainment?s expectations, plans, intentions or
strategies
regarding the future are forward-looking statements that are not
facts
and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Blizzard
Entertainment
generally uses words such as ?outlook,? ?will,? ?could,? ?would,?
?might,? ?remains,? ?to be,? ?plans,? ?believes,? ?may,?
?expects,?
?intends,? ?anticipates,? ?estimate,? "future,? ?plan,?
?positioned,?
?potential,? ?project,? ?remain,? ?scheduled,? ?set to,? ?subject
to,?
?upcoming? and similar expressions to identify forward-looking
statements. Factors that could cause Blizzard Entertainment?s
actual
future results to differ materially from those expressed in the
forward-looking statements set forth in this release include, but
are
not limited to, sales levels of Blizzard Entertainment?s titles,
shifts
in consumer spending trends, the impact of the current
macroeconomic
environment, the seasonal and cyclical nature of the interactive
game
market, declines in software pricing, product returns and price
protection, product delays, retail acceptance of Blizzard
Entertainment?s products, competition from the used game market,
industry competition and competition from other forms of
entertainment,
rapid changes in technology, industry standards and consumer
preferences, including interest in specific genres such as
real-time
strategy, action?role-playing and massively multiplayer online
games,
protection of proprietary rights, litigation against Blizzard
Entertainment, maintenance of relationships with key personnel,
customers, licensees, licensors, vendors and third-party
developers,
including the ability to attract, retain and develop key personnel
and
developers who can create high quality ?hit? titles, counterparty
risks
relating to customers, licensees, licensors and manufacturers,
domestic
and international economic, financial and political conditions and
policies, foreign exchange rates and tax rates, and the
identification
of suitable future acquisition opportunities, and the other
factors
identified in the risk factors section 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 Blizzard Entertainment and
Activision
Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Blizzard
Entertainment 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
Blizzard
Entertainment 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.