SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced merchandising partnerships with GameStop, Costco Wholesale and Best Buy to support the Call of Duty Endowment’s nationwide work to help veterans find high-quality careers after military service.
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GameStop and BestBuy’s limited edition bottle opener/key chains include exclusive digital content (Photo: Business Wire)
Participating GameStop and Best Buy stores will offer an exclusive limited edition Call of Duty®: Infinite Warfare “Jackal” bottle opener – sold separately from the game for $6.99 – that comes with a redemption code for an exclusive “Retro Jackal” in-game calling card, which is redeemable in Infinite Warfare’s multiplayer mode. Costco will sell exclusive, limited edition dog tags packaged with the Call of Duty®: Infinite Warfare Legacy Edition in its U.S. stores. All Activision profits from sales of the bottle openers and dog tags will go directly to preparing veterans to reenter the job market.
“Unemployment and underemployment are very serious issues for our veterans,” said Steve Young, Activision’s Chief Revenue Officer. “Employment provides much-needed stability for our veterans, particularly as they transition from military to civilian life. We are grateful that GameStop, Costco and Best Buy know the value veterans bring to the workplace and are partnering with us once again. Together, we will honor our nation’s veterans by helping them secure meaningful careers. Activision profits from these sales will go directly to getting vets back to work.”
Costco, GameStop, and Best Buy have each worked with the Endowment for more than four years, and these partnerships have to-date directly funded the placement of more than 5,000 veterans into high-quality jobs.
Since its creation in 2009, the Call of Duty Endowment, a non-profit, public benefit corporation co-founded by Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, 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 a total of 50,000 veterans in jobs by the end of 2019, the Endowment is well on its way to beating this target, having funded more than 29,000 placements to-date.
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 the Fortune 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 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.
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