Blur to spam Facebook this week

by: Chuck - posted: 5/23/2010 3:58:00 PM

One of the key features that Blur was going to have over it's competitors was the ability to integrate with your every day life and the folks at Bizarre Creations have delivered on that promise by allowing you to share in game moments, stats, and unlockable items via Facebook.  You'll also be able to challenge your friends through the service which may actually be kind of interesting. 

The nice thing about Facebook is that it should be pretty easy to hide the spam that this kind of feature generates (if you're so inclined.  We'll have our reviews of the game up on Tuesday so check back then to find out what Jeremy and Cyril think of the game.

BLURÔ FEATURES INNOVATIVE IN-GAME FACEBOOK® INTEGRATION



Bizarre Creations’ Powered-up Racer Allows Players to Connect with Friends Through Facebook Straight from the Game’s Unique “Share” Functionality



Santa Monica, CA – May 21, 2010 –Activision Publishing, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ATVI) highly-anticipated racing title Blur™ will deliver a new level of social interaction to gamers later this month by allowing fans to challenge their friends and share achievements directly from inside the game through Facebook.



By seamlessly integrating an innovative “Share” button, Blur lets players choose to light up the competition in both single and multi-player modes by sending game challenges to friends and posting in-game photos, racing stats, unlockable items and much more on their Facebook pages.



“Blur’s innovative integration with Facebook makes it easy for players to interact with their real friends to share game play, emotions, and the racing experience,” said Dan Rose, Vice President of Partnerships and Platform Marketing, Facebook. “Blur is leading the next generation of console games integrating with Facebook to make gaming more social for our more than 400 million users.”



“Blur is the first multi-platform videogame that connects the television to Facebook, and for the first time, videogame audiences on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC will be able to link their console gameplay to their network of friends,” said Robert Kotick, CEO, Activision Blizzard. “Facebook has become a fantastic platform for videogames and Blur elevates it even further.”



Blur is the ultimate powered-up racing experience, where players collect addictive and intense Power-ups throughout each course, including the ability to blast other cars out of the way with huge bursts of energy, boost speed with Nitros, drop Mines and even generate defensive shields to fend off other racers. Blur offers online multiplayer supporting competitive and cooperative gameplay for up to 20 racers, including team racing and objective based events, and also supports 4-player split-screen. For more information on Blur, please visit the official game web site located at www.blurthegame.com, and check-out Blur on Facebook at www.facebook.com/blurthegame.



Blur is scheduled for release nationwide May 25th for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, and the PC, and is rated “E10+” by the ESRB.



About Bizarre Creations

Bizarre Creations is a video game developer based in Liverpool, England. Established in 1994, the company is famed for such high profile franchises as Formula 1, Fur Fighters, Geometry Wars, The Club, and the Project Gotham Racing series. With 200+ staff working out of a custom-built development studio, the company now simultaneously develops several next-gen projects across various platforms. They can be found online at www.bizarrecreations.com.



About Activision Publishing, Inc.

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products.



Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Russia, Japan, South Korea, China and the region of Taiwan. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company’s website, www.activision.com.



Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Activision Publishing’s expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Activision Publishing generally uses words such as “outlook,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “might,” “remains,” “to be,” “plans,” “believes,” “may,” “expects,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “estimate,” future,” “plan,” “positioned,” “potential,” “project,” “remain,” “scheduled,” “set to,” “subject to,” “upcoming” and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause Activision Publishing’s actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include, but are not limited to, sales levels of Activision Publishing’s titles, shifts in consumer spending trends, the impact of the current macroeconomic environment, the seasonal and cyclical nature of the interactive game market, Activision Publishing’s ability to predict consumer preferences among competing hardware platforms, declines in software pricing, product returns and price protection, product delays, retail acceptance of Activision Publishing’s products, adoption rate and availability of new hardware (including peripherals) and related software, industry competition, rapid changes in technology, industry standards and consumer preferences, protection of proprietary rights, litigation against Activision Publishing, maintenance of relationships with key personnel, customers, licensees, licensors, vendors and third-party developers, counterparty risks relating to customers, licensees, licensors and manufacturers, domestic and international economic, financial and political conditions and policies, foreign exchange rates and tax rates, integration of recent acquisitions and the identification of suitable future acquisition opportunities, and the other factors identified in the risk factors section of Activision Blizzard’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Activision Publishing and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Activision Publishing nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Activision Publishing or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.



###



Activision is a registered trademark and Blur is a trademark of Activision Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. "PlayStation", "PLAYSTATION", and "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners.