Activision Blizzard, (MM) (NASDAQ:ATVID)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2019 to Jun 2024
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced that the Russian-language
version of World of Warcraft®,
its award-winning, subscription-based massively multiplayer online
role-playing game, will be available on the 6th
of August, 2008. On that date, European players will be able to purchase
a version of the game and its expansion, The Burning Crusade®,
fully localised for Russia, and begin playing on dedicated realms with
the benefit of a Russian-language customer-support team. This will be
the fifth European-language version of World of Warcraft,
complementing the existing English, French, German, and Spanish versions.
“The launch of the Russian-language version
reflects our continuing commitment to make World of Warcraft even
more accessible for gamers throughout the world,”
said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment®. “We
also hope that providing a fully localised version of the game will
further enhance the gameplay experience for our enthusiastic Russian
community.”
The Russian version of World of Warcraft will be available for
Windows® XP/Vista
and Mac® OS X 10.3.9
or higher. The retail DVD boxed version will include a one-month
subscription to the game, while the retail CD boxed version will be
available at a lower price and will include a 14-day subscription.
Russian players will have the option to subscribe to a dedicated Russian
account, which has a reduced subscription-rate structure for the Russian
market priced in rubles, and which allows players to access and create
characters on Russian realms only. The available subscription options
are a month-to-month plan for 359 rubles per month, a three-month plan
for 329 rubles per month, and a six-month plan for 299 rubles per month.
Current European World of Warcraft players will be able to
download a Russian-language pack from the official Russian website at www.warcraft.ru,
which will let them access and create characters on the new Russian
realms. Beginning on the launch date, free character transfers to
specific Russian realms will also be available for a limited period of
time. Additionally, existing European accounts have the option of being
converted to Russian accounts.
For more information on World of Warcraft, visit the game’s
official website at www.wow-europe.com.
To keep pace with the multilingual European growth of World of
Warcraft and development of other games, Blizzard Entertainment is
currently hiring for numerous open positions. More information on
available career opportunities at Blizzard Europe, including positions
on the Russian-language World of Warcraft team, can be found at http://eu.blizzard.com/en/jobs.
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)
(NASDAQ: ATVID) 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 ten #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 users.
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 help 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 of Blizzard Entertainment’s
titles, shifts in consumer spending trends, the seasonal and cyclical
nature of the interactive game market, Blizzard Entertainment’s
ability to predict consumer preferences among competing hardware
platforms (including next-generation hardware), declines in software
pricing, product returns and price protection, product delays, retail
acceptance of Blizzard Entertainment’s
products, adoption rate and availability of new hardware and related
software, industry competition, rapid changes in technology and industry
standards, protection of proprietary rights, litigation against Blizzard
Entertainment, maintenance of relationships with key personnel,
customers, vendors and third-party developers, domestic and
international economic, financial and political conditions and policies,
foreign exchange rates, integration of recent acquisitions and the
identification of suitable future acquisition opportunities, Activision
Blizzard’s success in integrating the
operations of Activision Publishing and Vivendi Games in a timely
manner, or at all, and the combined company’s
ability to realize the anticipated benefits and synergies of the
transaction to the extent, or in the timeframe, anticipated. Other such
factors include additional risk factors identified in 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.