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Video Game-maker Activision Launches Film Studio


FILE - People watch the "Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare" video game trailer at the Activision booth at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, June 12, 2014.
FILE - People watch the "Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare" video game trailer at the Activision booth at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, June 12, 2014.

Activision Blizzard Inc. has launched a film and TV studio to create original content based on its popular video game franchises such as "Call of Duty" and "Hearthstone" in its latest push to expand beyond console-based games.

Activision Blizzard Studios' first production will be "Skylanders Academy," an animated TV series based on the company's toys-to-life video game "Skylanders," the company said in a statement.

A "near-term" project for the video game-maker's film and TV studio will be to develop a movie franchise based on the hugely successful military first-person shooter "Call of Duty."

The company said it would also consider adapting the franchise for TV.

"Warcraft," Activision's other well-known game franchise, is already being made into a film through a partnership between its Blizzard Entertainment unit and Legendary Pictures, and is slated for a 2016 release.

Activision said last month it would start an e-sports division to tap into the fast-growing competitive gaming market, where gamers play against each other for prize money.

Earlier this week, Activision agreed to buy "Candy Crush" creator King Digital Entertainment Plc for $5.9 billion to sharpen its focus on mobile games.

Activision's highly anticipated "Call of Duty: Black Ops III" game went on sale earlier on Friday.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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