Melbourne Australia 13th of March 2013 – Call of Duty Championship update from Activision & Treyarch!

Wednesday, 13^th March, 2013 

The top-eight Call of Duty®: Black Ops II multiplayer teams from ANZ have been selected to battle it out at the ANZ qualifiers for the Call of Duty® Championships 2013 in Sydney on Friday 15^th March. The two winning teams will travel to LA to compete at the Call of Duty Championship, presented by Xbox tournament. 

After a hard fought series of online qualifiers, the top-eight Call of Duty: Black Ops II multiplayer teams from ANZ have been invited to compete at the ANZ finals in Sydney on Friday 15^th March for their chance to travel to LA and compete for a share of $1 million total prize at the Call of Duty Championship, presented by Xbox tournament.  Taking place 5-7^th April at the Hollywood Palladium Theatre in Hollywood, the two best ANZ teams will be joined at the Call of Duty Championship, presented by Xbox tournament by an additional 30 teams from around the globe that qualify at events hosted by Major League Gaming and The Electronic Sports League and its affiliates – all vying for their share of the $1 million dollar prize purse, and the ultimate bragging rights as the world’s best Call of Duty® players.

Below are the eight teams that will compete at the ANZ qualifiers on Friday for the Call of Duty® Championships 2013 (in no particular order):

• Seraphic Nexus
• Immunity
• Insurgency
• Cruelty Incarnate
• AuRa eSports
• Uprising
• Adamant
• Hostile

The ANZ qualifiers for the Call of Duty® Championships 2013 will be live streamed through Twitch TV  www.twitch.tv/aclpro

Additional details, including team rankings, stats, and Call of Duty Championship, presented by Xbox tournament information can be found at www.elite.callofduty.com/esports  / www.aclpro.com.au/activision2013

Also be sure to tune into two major competitive eSports events next week, where 16 more teams will compete to qualify for the Call of Duty Championship, presented by Xbox tournament.  The Major League Gaming 2013 Pro Circuit Winter Championship in Dallas, Texas running from March 15-17, and The Electronic Sports League World Championship tournament, going on March 16-17 in Cologne, Germany, will each deliver eight more hopeful teams to Hollywood.

We’re looking forward to the inaugural Call of Duty Championship, presented by Xbox tournament in early April, live streaming this great eSports event for the world to see, and celebrating our amazing player community as we crown one team as the best Call of Duty: Black Ops II players in the world.

Sincerely,

Activision & Treyarch

Frightening Digital Expansion Pack Delivers New Adventure and New Psychological Terror to Heroes Isaac and Carver

Sydney, Australia. – March 13, 2013 – Visceral Games™, an Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) studio, announced today that the world of Dead Space™ continues to evolve as hero Isaac Clark faces horrific demons that live in deep space – and in his own mind. Available starting today, Dead Space 3 Awakened is a digital expansion pack for Dead Space 3 playable in single player and co-op. In Dead Space 3 Awakened, Isaac and John Carver face a daunting new journey – get off of Tau Volantis, repair the Terra Nova, and get back to Earth. This next chapter brings the intensity of the horror to new psychological heights. Since its launch last month, Dead Space 3 has been heralded by critics worldwide for its incredible craftsmanship in action, suspense, co-op and sound design with Game Informer magazine calling it, “…one of the best games of this generation.”

“Dead Space 3 Awakened is some of the most creative and unsettling content the team has ever created — it’s really going to test gamers’ psyche,” said Steve Papoutsis, Vice President and General Manager of Visceral Games and Executive Producer on Dead Space 3. “We’ve put Isaac and now Carver through a lot in the franchise, but these seasoned vets are experts when it comes to taking down the terror. We can’t wait to see who is brave enough to venture further into the horrors that lie within Awakened.”

In Dead Space 3 Awakened, gamers will experience the franchise’s darkest chapters in a story that serves as an extension of the Dead Space 3 saga. Awakened begins when the game ends and continues the adventure for Isaac and Carver who have been left for dead on the devastated planet of Tau Volantis. The two men must escape from the abandoned planet, repair the Terra Nova, and find their way back to Earth. Only one problem: blood-thirsty Necromorphs continue to attack. The solidarity among the two is further threatened as Isaac’s madness sets in. Haunted by images of the Unitologists, insanity takes hold and the two survivors realize they can no longer trust each other. Unsure of what is real, and what is a hallucination, Isaac and Carver struggle through pulse-pounding fights and frights, trying to makes sense of what’s really happening.

Dead Space 3 Awakened is now available worldwide on Origin.com for $9.99 (AU) or Xbox® LIVE Marketplace for 800 MS Points. The pack will be available March 14 on the PlayStation Network in Australia. Dead Space 3 is now available for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system with Kinect support, and the PC. The game is rated MA 15+ by the Australian Classification Board. Follow us on Twitter® at: www.twitter.com/deadspace. Become a fan on Facebook® at www.facebook.com/deadspace.  For additional information and news, visit www.deadspace.com/au.

World of Tanks raises the bar for MMOs by doubling its 2011 achievement

12^th March, 2013 – Wargaming, the award-winning videogame developer and publisher, is delighted to announce that its MMO action game World of Tanks has set a new Guinness World Record for Most Players Online Simultaneously on One MMO Server. The number of gamers logged on to one of the five servers of the Russian gaming cluster reached the triple-figure mark of 190,541 players on January 21, 2013.

With more than 50 million gamers worldwide and peak concurrent user count of 815,000 players in Russia alone, the company is on the leading edge of the online games market.

“It’s an important and exciting milestone for the company,” said Andrei Yarantsau, VP of Global Operations at Wargaming. “It inspires us to greater efforts in polishing and refining all aspects of our present and future projects. If World of Tanks keeps growing at the rate it is, the game will soon top the current total and secure another world record.”

The tank MMO action game has entered the book for the second time by demolishing its previous record of 91,311 players set in January 2011.

Tokyo (March 12th, 2013). The North American PlayStation®Store is welcoming today March 12^th a fresh new demo of the Tactical-Action-Racing game Fuel Overdose.  This demo that will release next week on the European PlayStation Store, features one track (Prague), 3 characters (Odessa, Noa and Rosa) and 3 vehicles (Cadiz, Kashiwa and El Paso).

The Fuel Overdose team would also like to remind that two free DLCS that offer 10 vehicles will be released in the coming weeks: Mercenary vehicle pack and Wanderer vehicle pack.

Today, Gazillion Entertainment released the all-new Marvel Heroes ‘Invincible Iron Man’ trailer, showcasing the many costumes available for players to armor up the Iron Knight himself in-game. With hundreds of costumes to choose from, including Iron Man’s movie-inspired threads from Marvel’s The Avengers and Iron Man 3, Marvel Heroes offers players endless possibilities to build and play as their favorite super heroes the way the want to.

Marvel Heroes recently announced details of their Founders Program, offering players limited-time bundles on playable heroes, costumes, and currency. Gazillion Entertainment today has also made available two new Founder Packs focusing on Iron Man:

·         Iron Man Movie Star Pack — Features armors from the blockbusting Iron Man movies

·         Iron Man – The Armory Pack – Showcases armors from Iron Man’s fifty-plus year comic career

To learn more about the Founders Program and to check out Iron Man’s new Founders Pack, please visit http://founders.marvelheroes.com/. 

Marvel Heroes is currently in closed beta and slated to launch worldwide this Spring. Please let us know if you have any questions and if we can further assist in your coverage of Marvel Heroes!

New Digimon Exclusive To Digimon Masters Game!

Seoul Korea, March 12, 2013— Joymax, a leading online game developer and publisher of free to play MMORPGs, is pleased to announce a new, exclusive Digimon for their exciting MMORPG, Digimon Masters!  Based on the popular Japanese animation series, Digimon Masters takes place equally in the human and digital worlds, with players taking on the role as Tamers, ensuring the two don’t collide with disastrous results. Join the Digital World today to unlock the ultimate power at http://www.joymax.com/dmo/

While the current cast of available Digimon are pulled from the anime series, which will be entering its seventh season in North America later this year, players now get to unleash a new Digimon previously found only in single player games – introducing the fierce and arrogant Agumon(Black)!  First introduced in Digimon World 3, Agumon(Black) played a strong role in the title pair Digimon: Dusk and Digimon: Dawn.  Now players can tame this rare Digimon, exclusively in Digimon Masters!

Agumon(Black) is a Rookie-level Virus with abilities and stats similar to his brother Agumon.  He Digivolves into Greymon(Black), where differences begin to manifest; from his blue body with grey markings, it is clear this Virus-type is no longer so charming.  Armed with his new Grey Tooth attack, he’ll take a serious bite out of anyone foolish enough to challenge him!

This Digimon’s Ultimate digivolution – Metal Greymon(Black) —        remains a Virus type, though his increasingly cybernetic body begins to foreshadow a major change in the appearance of future digivolutions.  With both the Giga Destroyer and Megaton Punch attacks at his disposal, he presents a terrifying challenge for other tamers to overcome.  Finally, the Mega form of the Black line, War Greymon(Black),   is a fully cybernetic creature, seeking out dark justice by eliminating cowardice and foul play.  Armed with its furious Black Tornado and unleashing its devastating Dark Gaia Force like a fireball, there are dew Digimon who can stand up to its unholy wrath!

Tamers can begin training up their Agumon(Black) starting on March 12^th.  Numerous events, including a 30% sale on all Digi-Eggs, will be revealed next week on the official Digimon Masters Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/digimonmasters; check out all the latest news, GM interviews, and sneak peeks at upcoming content at http://www.joymax.com/dmo/

Today Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment reveal the fifth week of challengers in this week’s Injustice Battle Arena, kicking off the quarterfinal round of matches that will pit previous weeks’ preliminary tournament  victors against each other to determine who will advance to the semifinals.

This week, first round champions Batman and Wonder Woman collide as technological prowess and peak physical condition meet superhuman strength and speed, while in another ring, the fastest man in the world takes on perhaps the most mischievous, as the lightning-quick Flash faces off against the unpredictable villain, The Joker. Additional matches this week include a brutal clash between preliminary round champions Aquaman and Green Lantern, and finally, a bout of raw Krypton power versus deadly precision as Superman takes on Green Arrow.

Visit here to view these all-new Injustice Battle Arena videos, analysing each contender’s strengths, offering celebrity commentary on the matches, and posing the question – who would win?

To cast your vote visit: http://ema.io/MzAz

The victors of these legendary matchups will be announced this Monday, with all- new gameplay videos featuring the winning contenders.

Voice your opinion via Facebook, YouTube or Twitter and join the debate!

Injustice: Gods Among Us is an all-new game in development by award-winning NetherRealm Studios. The title debuts a bold new fighting game franchise that introduces a deep, original story featuring a large cast of favourite DC Comics icons such as Batman, Green Arrow, Cyborg, Harley Quinn, Nightwing, Solomon Grundy, Superman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and many others. Set in a world where the lines between good and evil are blurred, players will experience heroes and villains engaging in epic battles on a massive scale.