SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced merchandising partnerships with Costco Wholesale Corporation and GameStop Corp. to support the Call of Duty Endowment’s nationwide work to help veterans find high-quality careers after military service. Costco will sell exclusive, limited edition dog tags packaged with the highly-anticipated Call of Duty®: Black Ops III in its U.S. stores, and GameStop will offer an exclusive limited edition Call of Duty®: Black Ops III challenge coin—sold separately from the game—in its stores. These unique items will be available on November 6, 2015, in conjunction with the Call of Duty®: Black Ops III launch. All profits from sales of the dog tags and challenge coins will go towards the Call of Duty Endowment’s support for organizations that prepare veterans to reenter the job market.
Since its creation in 2009, the Call of Duty Endowment has made significant progress towards its mission to identify and fund the best and most effective veterans serving organizations. With an ambitious goal of placing 25,000 veterans in jobs by the end of 2018, the Endowment is well on its way to beating this target, having funded more than 17,000 placements to date. Participation by GameStop and Costco in previous years has directly funded the placement of over 2,600 veterans into jobs. The Call of Duty Endowment is a non-profit, public benefit corporation.
“More than 500,000 veterans are unemployed in the United States today, and young veterans are out of work at a rate three times greater than the national average,” said Brian Hodous, Chief Customer Officer of Activision Blizzard. “As we approach Veterans Day and the holiday season, we believe we can best honor those who have served by helping them find high-quality careers. GameStop and Costco are incredible partners and I thank them for joining us again to fight veteran unemployment. Together, we’ve already funded the placement of over 17,000 veterans and are committed to doing more.”
“GameStop is proud to support the men and women who serve in our military by participating in the Call of Duty Endowment program,” said Bob Puzon, Senior Vice President of Merchandising for GameStop. “With so many of our customers and GameStop associates serving our country, partnering with Activision Blizzard in this great program is our way of saying ‘thank you’ to the brave men and women who protect and defend our great country every day and the freedoms we hold dear.”
In a statement, Costco Wholesale Corporation said, “Costco is pleased to participate in this program, which helps open doors for our veterans.”
About Activision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard, Inc., a
member of the S&P 500, is the world’s most successful standalone
interactive entertainment company. It develops and publishes games based
on some of the most beloved entertainment franchises, including Call
of Duty®, Destiny®, Skylanders®, Guitar Hero®, World
of Warcraft®, StarCraft®, Diablo®, and Hearthstone®:
Heroes of Warcraft™. The company is one of the FORTUNE “100 Best
Companies To Work For®” 2015. Headquartered in Santa Monica, California,
it has operations throughout the world, and its games are played in 196
countries. Activision Blizzard makes games for leading interactive
platforms. 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 organization founded by Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision
Blizzard. The organization seeks to help 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.
About Costco Wholesale Corporation
Costco Wholesale
Corporation operates an international chain of Costco membership
warehouses that carry quality, name-brand and related private-label
merchandise at substantially lower prices than are typically found at
conventional wholesale or retail sources. The warehouses are designed to
help small-to-medium-sized businesses reduce costs in purchasing for
resale and for everyday business use. Qualified individuals also are
allowed to purchase for their personal needs. The company has
been recognized throughout the country for providing its employees with
real living wages–the highest in the industry–and for its ethical
business practices.
About GameStop Corp.
GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME), a Fortune
500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Grapevine, Texas, is a global,
multichannel video game, consumer electronics and wireless services
retailer. GameStop operates more than 6,800 stores across 14 countries.
The company’s consumer product network also includes www.gamestop.com;
www.Kongregate.com, a leading browser-based game site; Game
Informer® magazine, the world’s leading print and digital video game
publication and the recently acquired Geeknet, Inc., parent company of
ThinkGeek, www.thinkgeek.com, the premier retailer for the global geek
community featuring exclusive and unique video game and pop culture
products. In addition, our Technology Brands segment includes Simply Mac
and Spring Mobile stores. Simply Mac, www.simplymac.com, operates 72
stores, selling the full line of Apple products, including laptops,
tablets, and smartphones and offering Apple certified warranty and
repair services. Spring Mobile, http://springmobile.com, sells post-paid
AT&T services and wireless products through its 590 AT&T branded stores
and offers pre-paid wireless services, devices and related accessories
through its 69 Cricket branded stores in select markets in the U.S.
General information about GameStop Corp. can be obtained at the company’s corporate website. Follow @GameStop on Twitter and find GameStop on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GameStop.
