BlizzCon 2010

IRVINE, Calif., Oct 18, 2010 -- BlizzCon ^®  2010, Blizzard Entertainment's two-day gaming festival celebrating the  Warcraft ^® ,  StarCraft ^® , and  Diablo ^®  game universes and their global player communities, begins on Friday, October 22, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Attendees of the sold-out show will be able to play the latest versions of Blizzard Entertainment ^®  games as well as speak with developers in discussion panels, witness live top-tier tournament competition, participate in a wide range of activities, and meet with fellow gamers and friends.

Jay Mohr has returned to act as master of ceremonies for the community contests taking place on Friday, including the popular dance and costume competitions, and the show will close on Saturday evening with an epic concert featuring the duo that has been hailed by its own members as the greatest band in the world, Tenacious D -- otherwise known as Jack Black and Kyle Gass. The band will be performing an earth-shattering set at BlizzCon that includes the debut of new, soon-to-be-legendary songs.

Anyone unable to attend BlizzCon can still purchase a BlizzCon Virtual Ticket, featuring more than 50 hours of live HD coverage as well as the exclusive BlizzCon 2010  World of Warcraft ^®  in-game pet and StarCraft II in-game items. This package is available globally via Internet stream and also through DIRECTV ^®  satellite television service in the United States (free Internet stream included with DIRECTV Pay Per View event purchases). Limited streaming coverage of the BlizzCon opening ceremony and certain BlizzCon tournaments will be available via the Internet for free. Visit the official BlizzCon website, www.blizzcon.com, for more information.

"We look forward to providing a truly entertaining and informative convention experience to all attendees, as well as those joining us remotely from around the world," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "BlizzCon offers a great opportunity for us to meet our players and share the latest news about Blizzard games with them, and with the help of Tenacious D, we're sure this year's show will be one the audience will never forget."

BlizzCon would not be possible without the enthusiasm of Blizzard Entertainment gamers around the world and the generous support of the event's sponsors, who provide demo-station hardware, peripherals, and more. This year's platinum-level sponsors are ASUS, DIRECTV, Intel, and NVIDIA; the gold-level sponsors are Antec, Razer, Western Digital, SteelSeries, and Vasco.

Anyone attending BlizzCon who is interested in pursuing career opportunities at Blizzard Entertainment should bring their resumes, demo reels, art portfolios, or business cards, as the global staffing team will be on hand to accept materials and discuss any job-related questions.

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 twelve #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.

For press inquiries, please contact Rob Hilburger in Blizzard Entertainment public relations at  rhilburger@blizzard.com or (949) 955-1380 x13228.

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.