Behold, Portal Masters! Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) is pleased to announce that Skylanders Trap Team is officially available at major retailers in the UK today on Xbox 360™ and Xbox One™ video game and entertainment systems from Microsoft, PlayStation® 3 and PlayStation® 4 computer entertainment systems, Nintendo’s Wii™ system, Nintendo’s Wii U™ system, and a completely unique adventure available on the Nintendo 3DS™ hand-held system. The launch of Skylanders Trap Team also ushers in the complete console gaming experience on Tablet[i], introducing a Starter Pack that supports iPad®, Kindle Fire and Android tablets.
“The franchise was built on a foundation of creativity and innovation,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. “And with Skylanders Trap Team, we’re taking that tradition of innovation to new heights. For the last three years we’ve allowed kids to bring their toys to life in a video game, and this year, we’re letting them reach into the game, and pull characters out into the physical world by letting players trap and play as the villains. Skylanders Trap Team is also the first console game to simultaneously bring the entire AAA experience to tablet devices. Overall, we think Skylanders Trap Team represents our most magical innovation yet. But most importantly, it’s just a great game.”
To mark the moment Skylanders Trap Team lands at retailers in Europe, an intrepid team of ‘SkyTrappers’ – were the first people in the world to trap a virtual villain while freefalling from 12,500 feet above earth and travelling at speeds of 122 miles per hour.
The latest instalment of the franchise that pioneered the Toys-to-Life genre is already poised to become one of the top family games this holiday. Smyths Toys Superstores recently named Skylanders Trap Team in their list of Top Toys for Christmas 2014. Rob Guckian, Spokesman for Smyths Toys Superstores, said ‘We are really excited about the launch of Skylanders Trap Team. The franchise continues to deliver on innovation and this year is no different. Fans are going to love being able to bring digital characters in to the real world as well as the unique opportunity to capture villains and use them in the fight against evil. Being able to play anytime anywhere with the introduction of Skylanders Trap Team on tablet is incredible and will be popular with parents and children alike.’
Portal Masters everywhere can get into the Skylanders Trap Team spirit by taking advantage of exclusive Skylanders offers at Smyths Toys Superstores nationwide:
· Portal Upgrade Programme – Within the first two weeks of launch, fans can take their old portal in to any Smyths Toys Superstores and in return receive £10 / €10 off the price of the Skylanders Trap Team Starter Pack
· Gear Shift Exclusive – Smyths Toys Superstores are the only store to stock an exclusive Trap Master named Gearshift at launch. With only a limited amount available, get yours while stocks last
The game continues to lead and evolve the category with Skylanders Trap Team letting fans seek out and defeat the most wanted villains in all of Skylands, pull them out of the game and into living rooms by capturing them in magical Traps. Once they’ve defeated the villains, players will be able to place a Trap into the new Traptanium PortalTM to capture them. Players can then send villains back into the game where they can play as them to fight for good, reversing the magic. They will also be able to hear the villains inside the Traps, an innovation that truly brings life to toys.
To celebrate the launch, Portal Masters also visited some of the most iconic landmarks on Earth to ensure they are safe from the villains of Skylanders; bad guys were trapped in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, in a capsule on the London Eye, up the Kampenwand mountain in Germany, below the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles and overlooking the Sydney Opera House.
Skylanders Trap Team introduces heroes known as Trap Masters that wield powerful Traptanium™ weapons used to defeat Skylands’ most notorious villains including Kaos, as well as brand new Core Skylanders characters and reposed fan-favourite Skylanders characters. The game also features a variety of elementally aligned Traps with unique and interesting designs. In addition, Skylanders Trap Team welcomes Skylanders Minis, 16 small but powerful Skylanders now fully playable, who join the battle against Skylands’ most nefarious villains. Coming to fans worldwide on 1st November, Eon’s Elite collectors’ toys feature never-before-seen decoration with a distinct, metallic finish and a golden base that sets them apart from other Skylanders toys.
Skylanders Trap Team is compatible with more than 175 unique toys from all previous games – Skylanders SWAP Force™, Skylanders Giants™ and Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure® – every character also will be able to defeat and trap villains using Traptanium Traps, providing fans more ways to enjoy their collections.
About the Franchise
The award-winning, $2 billion franchise pioneered the Toys-to-Life™ category in 2011 with the debut of Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure®. The game originated a new play pattern that seamlessly bridged physical and virtual worlds across multiple platforms. In October 2012, Skylanders Giants™ further evolved the genre and added the mega-sized Giant Skylanders and LightCore® characters to the collection of interaction figures. Skylanders SWAP Force™ launched in October 2013 and introduced an all-new play pattern – swapability. It was the top selling kids’ videogame franchise of 2013[ii] worldwide, and is now one of the top 20 videogame franchises of all time[iii]. Skylanders Trap Team™ reverses the magic of bringing Toys-to-Life – incredibly letting kids pull characters out of the digital world into the physical world. For more information, please visit: www.skylanders.com and Activision.com/presscenter.