[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58Pspqx0XGs]
November 5th, Activision Publishing Inc., in association with Twitch and Best Buy, will present a live stream of the 2015 Race to Prestige, a week-long video game marathon of the highly anticipated Call of Duty: Black Ops III. The stream will begin at 12pm PST on November 5, ahead of the November 6 retail launch of the video game, and stream continuously for 24 hours until 5pm PST on November 10th, all at Treyarch Studios in Santa Monica, CA. The players will consist of five YouTube personalities (see list below), all racing to uncover as much of the game as possible in the allotted time frame, while providing tips for new players as well as highlighting The Race’s sponsors and their products.
Over 2.5 million unique viewers tuned in for last year’s event, which garnered over 8.4 million views over five days. This year’s event is projected to reach over 4 million unique viewers for a reach of 11-14 million views, worldwide. #TheRace also trended worldwide on Twitter and received significant social media exposure.
This year’s race participants:
· TmarTn is known for his great tips and tricks in CoD. He has worked with Activision to create CoD strategy guides and is arguably the #1 source for any CoD tips. This makes TmarTn a notable gaming resource to his 2,560,000 YouTube subscribers, 660,000 Twitter followers and 334,000 Instagram followers.
· GoldGloveTV offers content revolving around lets-plays and group multiplayer videos. He is well known for his down-to-earth, genuine personality and collaboration videos with other notable YouTubers. He boasts 1,195,000 YouTube subscribers, 282,000 Twitter followers, 918,000 Twitch followers and 129,000 Instagram followers.
· Jeriicho’s content revolves around gaming comedy and skits. He is well known for his high-energy and fun-playing attitude. He has garnered more than 865,000 YouTube subscribers and 476,000 Twitter followers.
· Hutch was one of the first gamers in the YouTube world. He quickly grew in popularity until he was hired as one of the faces of the Machinima Respawn channel. He paved the way for many current YouTubers, and is now a regular streamer on Twitch. He has 890,000 YouTube subscribers, 227,000 Twitter followers and 185,000 loyal Twitch followers.
· VernNotice has been active in the gaming community since 2009. Vern hails from a competitive Gears of War background where he teamed up with GoldGloveTV. Now a full-time variety streamer, he’s made a name for himself as one of the funniest on Twitch with over 168,000 followers and 52,000 Twitter followers.
Benefiting from this race is a non-profit called The Call of Duty Endowment that funds best-in-class organizations that help veterans find high quality employment, which Activision wholly supports. Through charity website Tiltify, which prompts audience members to donate as they watch, donated funds throughout the Race to Prestige will go directly to The Call of Duty Endowment. Since 2009, the Endowment has granted over $13 million to help combat veteran displacement. To date, they and their grantees have proudly helped over 17,000 veterans find meaningful employment.
Additionally, this week The Call of Duty Endowment awarded its prestigious Seal of Distinction Award to three standout veteran serving organizations that provide employment transition programs and services (see list of winners below). In addition to being recognized for the great work they’re doing, each of these organizations will receive a $30,000 unrestricted grant and the opportunity to apply for additional funding.
2015 Seal of Distinction Recipients:
· Operation: Job Ready Veterans provides employment transition programs and services in the Indianapolis, IN area to ensure that veterans have the opportunity to realize their educational, employment and career goals. The team coaches clients through creating a transition plan, preparing for interviews, working with recruiters, networking and onboarding strategies. It also provides up to six months of follow-on employment and supportive services for clients.
· Mt. Carmel Center of Excellence provides “one-stop” transitional services in and around Colorado Springs, CO with a special emphasis on veterans, military personnel, and their families. Through its Peer Navigators Veteran Integration Program, the Mt. Carmel Center of Excellence provides individualized support to transitioning service members in their quest to find civilian employment. This assistance includes helping to define goals and objectives, providing resume and search assistance, honing interview skills and coordinating networking events. It also delivers space, expertise and other resources to veterans and the military community in collaboration with community partners.
· Paralyzed Veterans of America is a Washington, DC based organization that aims to create an America where all veterans and people with disabilities, and their families, have everything they need to live full and rewarding lives, including employment. Through Operation PAVE, a vocational rehabilitation program, Paralyzed Veterans of America provides one-on-one career counseling and assistance to veterans and their families. All services, from resume assistance, interview preparation, vocational counseling to employer networking are provided at no charge—and are available to dependents as well.
