Candy Crush Saga Celebrates Five Year Anniversary

Candy Crush Franchise has had almost three billion downloads and continues to break records

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Nov 13, 2017, 23:01 ET

LONDON, Nov. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Candy Crush Saga, the deliciously colourful game first burst onto our phones five years ago today and has since become a global phenomenon. Played all around the world by millions of people, games within the Candy Crush franchise have been downloaded almost three billion times worldwide*, and have a social media fan base of 80 million.

Despite being five years old, Candy Crush Saga has retained its popularity and returned to the #1 position on the iOS and Android app stores in the US following a record-breaking third quarter. In addition, King has had two of the top 10 grossing games in the US for four consecutive years.

The brainchild of Sebastian Knutsson and a small team in Stockholm, the franchise's inaugural game, Candy Crush Saga, was released on mobile in November 2012. There have been 1.1 trillion rounds of Candy Crush Saga played globally, which is the equivalent of every American playing two rounds a day, and there are over 2,800 levels and counting. Five years on, two other games have launched as part of the franchise, Candy Crush Soda Saga and Candy Crush Jelly Saga.

To mark the fifth anniversary, King is launching some exciting in-game updates and giving players the most powerful booster to date in the form of the birthdaylicious Party Booster. Designed to give that sweet winning feeling, players will receive two free party boosters giving a series of special, never-before-seen effects, removing all the candies from the board and damaging each blocker once. Secondly, when the board settles, the booster then goes on to release a further round of tasty treats – a striped candy, wrapped candy, Colourbomb and a fish. Each of these then explode immediately, further helping players to progress through the Candy Kingdom and giving that sweet feeling of success!

The party booster is available to players on level 29 and above from 14^th November to 23^rd November 2017 via iOS, Android, Amazon and Windows.

"We're excited to be sharing this very special milestone with our players across the globe," said Sebastian Knutsson, Chief Creative Officer at King. "The past five years have been incredible and we're fortunate to have so many loyal fans.

The King team work hard to constantly innovate and create original gameplay to attract a wide audience and keep the game interesting. From seasoned Candy Crush fans to those new to the game, players will find fresh and new challenges whatever the level. We hope fans old and new enjoy the Party Booster and we look forward to celebrating many more birthdays to come."

Candy Crush Saga fans can join in the celebrations on Facebook and Twitter using #ThatSweetFeeling

To learn more about Candy Crush Saga visit: http://www.candycrushsaga.com

About King
King is a leading interactive entertainment company for the mobile world. It had 293 million monthly active users as of third quarter 2017 across web, social and mobile platforms, and has developed more than 200 exclusive games that are enjoyed all around the world through its king.com and royalgames.com websites, Facebook, and mobile distribution platforms such as the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, Microsoft Windows App Store and Amazon Appstore. King was acquired by Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) in February 2016. King has game studios in Stockholm, Malmö, London, Barcelona, Berlin and Seattle, along with offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Malta, Tokyo, and Bucharest.

*Total downloads: 2.73 billion. This statistic relates to the Candy Crush Franchise which includes Candy Crush Saga, Candy Crush Soda Saga and Candy Crush Jelly Saga.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves King's expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future, including statements with respect to the dates, features and functionality of the Candy Crush Saga in-game updates, including the Party Booster, are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause King'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 King and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither King 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 King 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.

SOURCE King