SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced an expansion of its in-game program that supports the Call of Duty™ Endowment’s nationwide effort to help veterans find high-quality careers. Launching December 6 for PlayStation®4 and coming soon to Xbox One, the Call of Duty™ Endowment (C.O.D.E.) Courage Personalization Pack for Call of Duty®: Infinite Warfare, developed by Infinity Ward, includes a full suite of exclusive content: Weapon Camo and Weapon Accessory, a Reticle and Emblem, plus an animated Calling Card. All items show the official colors of the Endowment.
The pack retails for $4.99 in the in-game store and the Sony and Microsoft online stores. One hundred percent of Activision proceeds will go directly to the Endowment’s mission to help veterans secure quality careers when they leave military service. More than 3,100 veterans have been placed in good jobs through the in-game program to-date.
To celebrate the Courage Personalization Pack, Infinity Ward also will host a Call of Duty®: Infinite Warfare stream from Infinity Ward’s studio. The stream, which will include developers, members of the game’s cast, community members and special guests, will be broadcast on the Twitch Infinity Ward channel on December 9 beginning at 11:00 a.m. PST.
“Infinity Ward is thrilled to partner with the Endowment to support getting vets back to work,” said Infinity Ward Studio Head Dave Stohl. “We’ve poured our hearts into making the incredibly cool, specially themed C.O.D.E. Courage personalization pack. The pack features more ways than ever before to help players demonstrate their charity and show a willingness to help the most veterans possible as they come home from war and readjust to civilian life.”
The Endowment is a non-profit, public benefit corporation co-founded in 2009 by Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick. With a mission to identify and fund the best and most effective employment-focused veteran-serving organizations, the Endowment has funded over 29,000 job placements to date at an average 2015 cost-per-placement of less than $600, and with a six-month retention rate of 89 percent. The Endowment’s goal is to place a total of 50,000 veterans into high-quality jobs by 2019.
“Through our previous mDLC personalization pack and calling card programs, the Call of Duty community contributed over $1.7 million to helping the veteran community and placed over 3,100 veterans into good jobs,” said Dan Goldenberg, Executive Director of the Call of Duty Endowment. “Employment is vital to providing stability when transitioning from military to civilian life. Infinity Ward, Treyarch, Sony and Microsoft continue to be indispensable partners in this effort, as the in-game program would not be possible without their generosity and commitment. We are grateful for their continued support.”
About Activision Blizzard:
Activision Blizzard, Inc., a member of the S&P 500, is the world's most successful standalone interactive entertainment company. We delight nearly 500 million monthly active users around the world through franchises including Activision's Call of Duty®, Destiny and Skylanders®, Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft®, StarCraft®, Diablo®, Hearthstone®: Heroes of Warcraft™ and Overwatch®, and King's Candy Crush™, Bubble Witch™, Pet Rescue™ and Farm Heroes™. The company is one of Fortune’s ʺ100 Best Companies To Work For®.ʺ Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Blizzard has operations throughout the world, and its games are played in 196 countries. More information about Activision Blizzard and its products can be found on the company's website, www.activisionblizzard.com.
About the Call of Duty Endowment:
The Call of Duty Endowment is a non-profit, public benefit corporation co-founded by Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. The Endowment helps veterans find high quality careers by supporting groups that prepare them for the job market and by raising awareness of the value vets bring to the workplace. For more information about the Call of Duty Endowment, please visit www.callofdutyendowment.org.
ACTIVISION and CALL OF DUTY are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners.
