Activision Publishing Brings 'Toy of the Year' Winner Zhu Zhu Pets(TM) to Life Today on Nintendo DS(TM)

SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Activision Publishing (Nasdaq: ATVI), GameMill Publishing, Inc., and Cepia LLC today announced the release of Zhu Zhu Pets™ for Nintendo DS, based off of the cuddly "Toy of the Year"-winning hamsters. The initial shipment of the game includes a Collectors' Edition baby hamster named Baxter and is available while supplies last.

"Zhu Zhu Pets for Nintendo DS is arriving at a great time for the property," said David Oxford at Activision Publishing. "After winning 'Toy of the Year', everyone is eager to see the next phase of their favorite toy."

Gary Miller, President, GameMill Publishing, added, "This game delivers loveable hamsters, fun adventures and everything that Zhu Zhu Pets fans will love to play."  

"The Zhu Zhu Pets 'Zhu-niverse' is growing exponentially and fans are having a lot of fun with each evolutionary step," said Natalie Hornsby, Vice President of Marketing, Cepia LLC.  "We are extremely pleased to take this first step in our partnership with GameMill and Activision."

Zhu Zhu Pets for Nintendo DS allows players to care for and play with their favorite hamsters, including Mr. Squiggles, Num Nums and Chunk. Players can lead their hamsters through more than 30 twisty, loopy levels on a skateboard, in a car or spinning in a hamster ball. After so much adventure, hamsters are sure to get tired and hungry and will need lots of care and love. Players can to make sure their hamsters get snacks, exercise, sleep and lots and lots of love!

Zhu Zhu Pets was the best-selling toy last holiday season and recently won three industry awards at the 10th annual Toy Industry Association Toy of the Year (TOTY) Awards, including the 2010 "Toy of the Year," "Girl Toy of the Year" and "Innovative Toy of the Year."

Zhu Zhu Pets for Nintendo DS is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB and is now available for Nintendo DS at the retail price of $29.99. For more information visit www.activision.com or www.gamemillpublishing.com.

About GameMill Entertainment

GameMill Entertainment is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. GameMill is a third party publisher of various Children's and Casual games for the PC, Nintendo DS, and Wii from Nintendo. With development across the globe, GameMill is a source of entertaining and fun games for all ages. www.game-mill.com 

About Zhu Zhu Pets

Zhu Zhu Pets are innovative, realistic, interactive, plush, and artificially intelligent hamsters that talk and move around in their own playsets. Zhu Zhu Pets include two play modes: nurturing mode where the hamsters coo and purr and adventure mode where the hamsters explore their habitat with intelligent audio and mechanical responses to various habitat stimuli. Add-on accessories can be purchased to build an ever-evolving habitat for your pet to play in and explore. Zhu Zhu Pets expands in product line with the addition of Zhu Zhu Rock Stars, Zhu Zhu Wild Bunch and Kung Zhu, the first Zhu Zhu Pets specifically designed to appeal to boys.  Powered by 2 AAA batteries (included), both Zhu Zhu Pets and Kung Zhu are suitable for ages 4 and up. For more information, please visit www.zhuzhupets.com.

About Cepia LLC

Headquartered in St Louis, Mo., Cepia LLC is a privately held company that manufactures toys and games for children of all ages. The company was founded on the premise that sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Ingenuity, creativity, playfulness, and passion are the heart of Cepia and everything it creates. Cepia's toy building enterprises include: Glo-e, a light-up plush bear, Hydro Max, a motorized water blaster, Sky Raptors, and their newest venture Zhu Zhu Pets. Zhu Zhu Pets has become an international sensation by combining realistic interaction with a fun, imaginative, interactive play design. Zhu Zhu Pets, their Zhu-niverse of accessories, and other toys from Cepia LLC are sold globally through national chain retail outlets and independent toy stores. For more information, please visit www.cepiallc.com.  

About Black Lantern

Black Lantern Studios, Inc. is an independent interactive entertainment software developer for consoles and the PC. Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Springfield, Missouri, Black Lantern Studios is committed to providing the highest quality, richest, and most satisfying gaming experience to its customers, and delivering value to its publishers and partners. For more information about Black Lantern Studios, please visit www.blacklanternstudios.com or e-mail [email protected].

About Activision Publishing, Inc.

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products. Activision Publishing maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Russia, Japan, South Korea, China and the region of Taiwan. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's website, www.activision.com. 

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Activision Publishing'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. Activision Publishing 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 Activision Publishing'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 Activision Publishing's titles, shifts in consumer spending trends, the impact of the current macroeconomic environment, the seasonal and cyclical nature of the interactive game market, Activision Publishing's ability to predict consumer preferences among competing hardware platforms, declines in software pricing, product returns and price protection, product delays, retail acceptance of Activision Publishing's products, adoption rate and availability of new hardware (including peripherals) and related software, industry competition, rapid changes in technology, industry standards and consumer preferences, protection of proprietary rights, litigation against Activision Publishing, maintenance of relationships with key personnel, customers, licensees, licensors, vendors and third-party developers, 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, integration of recent acquisitions 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 Activision Publishing and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Activision Publishing 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 Activision Publishing 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.

©2009 Activision Publishing, Inc. Activision is a registered trademark of Activision Publishing, Inc. Nintendo DS is a trademark of Nintendo. © 2006 Nintendo. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

SOURCE Activision Publishing