All Profits from Limited Edition Merchandise Will Support the Call of Duty Endowment’s Work to Connect Veterans with Quality Employment
SANTA MONICA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced merchandising partnerships with Costco Wholesale Corporation and GameStopCorp. 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.”
Developed for Next-Gen platforms by Treyarch, Call of Duty: Black Ops III launches worldwide November 6. Activision will put its full support behind the game through an expansive TV, digital and outdoor advertising campaign that will run around the globe. Throughout the campaign, Activision has worked with LA / Amsterdam based agency 72andSunny on overall creative direction.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions do not include a co-op or single-player campaign game mode, and do not contain all game features present in the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions. Game performance varies by platform.
Related: Call of Duty: Black Ops III Live-Action “Seize Glory” Trailer Champions Gamers
Source: Press Release
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