PlayStation® All-Stars Battle Royale Enters the Arena This Holiday Season

FOSTER CITY, Calif., Nov. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC (SCEA) announced today the North American launch of PlayStation® All-Stars Battle Royale exclusively for the PlayStation®3 (PS3) and PlayStation®Vita (PS Vita) systems. Developed by SuperBot Entertainment, in conjunction with Sony Santa Monica Studio and PS Vita developer BluePoint Games, the title celebrates PlayStation's rich history by bringing together an array of legendary characters from PlayStation's most popular games for the platform's first-ever exclusive multiplayer brawler.

Launching with a roster of 20 unforgettable first and third-party PlayStation characters, the result is an original take on the classic fighting game that continues to expand on the popular gaming genre. Up to four players can enter into battle, choosing characters that range from action heroes like God of War's Kratos and UNCHARTED's Nathan Drake, to family-friendly faces like LittleBigPlanet's Sackboy and Ratchet from Ratchet and Clank. Each character is true to their original play style, including their signature attacks and special moves, offering a wide variety of combat mechanics to satisfy different players' preferences and gameplay strategies.

The game also introduces 14 mash-up arenas combining multiple elements from various PlayStation IP to create original battlegrounds for players to compete. These arenas feature dynamic play spaces, item pickups, and environmental hazards consistent with the original franchises on which they're based. The title's soundtrack is an eclectic mash-up of music tracks from each of the games, further merging multiple PlayStation worlds into one epic battle that spans space and time. The game offers a diverse variety of play modes, including a single-player story campaign, multiplayer free-for-all, multiplayer team battles, and tournament mode. Players can track their success with online leaderboards.

"PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale celebrates PlayStation's rich legacy by bringing together iconic characters from our most popular franchises throughout the platform's history," said Guy Longworth, Senior Vice President, PlayStation Brand Marketing, SCEA. "With the implementation of Cross-Play, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale showcases our unique hardware offerings with an unparalleled connected gaming experience where players on PS3 can battle against their friends on PS Vita."

Only PlayStation can deliver the ultimate connected gaming experience, enabling great content to be played easily on two platforms through PlayStation's new Cross-Play feature. Whether a player is at home using their PS3 system, or on-the-go with the PS Vita system, they can seamlessly play with their friends through the PlayStation® Network (PSN), delivering easy invites and frame-perfect action between both platforms. SCEA is also making it easier than ever before to experience PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale on both platforms with Cross-Buy -- a special promotional offer that allows consumers who purchase the PS3 version of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale to download the digital PS Vita version from PSN at no additional cost. PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale also features Cross-Save functionality, which allows players to save games to the PlayStation Network from their PS3 or PS Vita system, and pick up where they left off on either platform.

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale will continue to offer post-launch downloadable content through PSN allowing consumers to further expand upon their gameplay experience with new characters, new environments, new costumes and more in coming months. PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale for the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita systems has an ESRB rating of "T" for Teen.  For more information about the ESRB, visit www.esrb.org.  For more information about PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, visit the PlayStation blog or the official game site www.playstationallstars.com. PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is available exclusively on PlayStation 3 for $59.99 and PS Vita for $39.99.

About Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC

Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC continues to redefine the entertainment lifestyle with its PlayStation® and PS one® systems, the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) handheld entertainment system, the ground-breaking PlayStation®3 (PS3™) computer entertainment system, the PlayStation®Vita (PS Vita) portable entertainment system and its online and network services the PlayStation®Network and PlayStation®Store. Recognized as the undisputed industry leader, Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC markets the PlayStation family of products and develops, publishes, markets and distributes software for the PS one, PlayStation 2, PSP, PSPgo, PS3 and PS Vita systems for the North American market. Based in Foster City, Calif., Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC serves as headquarters for all North American operations.

Visit us on the Web at http://www.us.playstation.com.

PlayStation, PS3, PS Vita and PSP are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.  All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC