North American, European and Asia-Pacific Teams to Compete March 17-19 in a $200,000 Competition at Ft. Worth Convention Center

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — March 17, 2017 — The Call of Duty® World League Presented by PlayStation®4 (CWL) 2017 season comes to Dallas, where top teams will vie for their share of a $200,000 prize pool. Beginning today, Call of Duty teams from North America, Europe, and for the first time this year in pool play, squads from the Asia-Pacific region (APAC), will go head-to-head during the CWL Dallas Open, hosted by Major League Gaming Corp., March 17-19 at the Fort Worth Convention Center in Fort Worth, TX.

Today marks the beginning of the competition, featuring more than 130 teams from around the world. The top four teams from the open winners’ bracket will join pool play tomorrow for more competition, while the final teams will compete on Sunday in the championship bracket, for the $200,000 prize pool and the title of the CWL Dallas Open Champion.

This Dallas competition will mark the final Call of Duty event where hopeful teams can earn CWL Pro Points in an effort to qualify into Stage 1 of the CWL Global Pro League. The Stage 1 competition will begin April 20 at the MLG Arena in Columbus, Ohio and will include 16 teams from across the world. These teams will compete for a chance at their share of the $1.4 million CWL Global Pro League prize pool as part of the overall $4 million prize pool for the 2017 CWL season. Teams that do not qualify for Stage 1 will still be able to earn CWL Pro Points online via CWL ladders and tournaments, as well as via LAN events, for a chance to compete in Stage 2 later in the year.

OpTic Gaming, winners of the CWL Paris Open, and eUnited, winners of the CWL Atlanta Open, have secured their spots. Top teams FaZe Clan, Rise Nation, and CWL Championship 2016 winners, Team EnVyUs, have also set themselves apart with CWL Pro Points. The teams to watch this weekend are the bubble teams of Enigma6, Cloud9, and PNDA Gaming from North America; and Elevate, Fnatic, and Epsilon from Europe. The APAC region is still wide open between MindFreak and Tainted Minds, with one likely ending up as the lone APAC representative in the CWL Global Pro League.

For those interested in attending the event in Dallas, General Admission (GA), three-day tickets, are currently available online for only $49.99. The tickets will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis at the Fort Worth Convention Center.

Call of Duty World League Presented by PlayStation®4 is proud to partner with Major League Gaming Corp. as North American tournament operator and broadcast partner for the upcoming season. Through MLG’s proven live streaming capabilities and technology, MLG.tv will help to deliver the CWL Dallas Open across a number of platforms including mlg.tv/callofduty, twitch.tv/mlg, youtube.com/mlg and facebook.com/mlgpro.

For a taste of the captivating, non-stop action that can be expected during this weekend’s competition, check out the following trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K-VxRDgCyQ

For the latest intel on the Call of Duty World League Presented by PlayStation®4 and for live broadcasts check out: http://www.callofduty.com/cwl, tv.majorleaguegaming.com/channel/cwl, www.youtube.com/majorleaguegaming, or follow @CODWorldLeague on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

About Activision Publishing, Inc.

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading global producer and publisher of interactive entertainment. Activision maintains operations throughout the world and is a division of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), an S&P 500 company. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's website, www.activision.com or by following  @Activision.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Activision Publishing’s expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future, including statements about the expected dates, features and events of the CWL Dallas Open and the CWL Global Pro League are forward-looking statements, that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. 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 unanticipated product delays and other factors identified in the risk factors sections 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.