popcap posts

PopCap is branching out beyond the family themed casual games that have made the game developer and publisher one of the biggest companies of its type. This week PopCap announced it will release several titles this year under the new 4th & Battery brand.

The brand's official web site has already gone live with a statement from PopCap's head of studios Ed Allard. He states, "We're constantly prototyping wacky ideas in search of the next great thing, but very few of those ideas make it through our intense internal filters to become full-blown PopCap titles." 4th and Battery is designed to be a way for those game to see the light of day which will include games for the PC. Allard states, "They're a bit of a window into the unfiltered chaos of our creative process. A sandbox to let us play around and get messy."

There's a lot of money in casual game publishing and PopCap remains the leader in this genre with games series like Bejeweled, Zuma, Peggle and of course Plants Vs Zombies. In a new article on the Forbes web site it states that the privately held company has been profitable every year since it started 10 years ago and currently generates $100 million in revenue. At first most of its money came from selling games for the PC and Mac but 2010 saw only 40 percent of PopCap's revenue coming from those platforms with mobile and console ports gaining ground.

Now PopCap is aiming for yet another big move; taking the company public. According to the article PopCap could file for an IPO in the second half of 2011. However that's not certain with company head Dave Roberts stating, "There are no investors pushing for it, so we will really only look at it if the markets align."

As promised, PopCap Games has released Bejeweled 3, the latest game in the developer's hugely popular puzzle game series. In addition to the game's four classic game modes, Bejeweled 3 has four new gameplay modes such as the very peaceful Zen mode where you just keep playing the game forever. The new version also has higher resolution graphics a new achievement system and more features.

Our sister site Games.com has more info on today's Bejeweled 3 launch including a download link to get the full version for $19.95. In addition that site is giving away 10 copies of the game to some lucky readers.

Bejeweled 3, the latest game in publisher PopCap's multi-million selling puzzle game series, has just been announced. The company is calling this game the first true sequel to the series in the last six years (it did release a game called Bejeweled Twist for the PC in 2008).

Bejeweled 3 will contain the four gameplay modes found in Bejeweled 2 (updated and expanded, naturally) along with new "secret' modes like Ice Storm, Butterflies and Poker (well if you mention them in the press release, PopCap, then they are not a secret anymore, are they?). In addition there will be a Quest mode with 11 mini-games which PopCap claims will be "clever hybrids of Bejeweled game-play with other classic game mechanics." You can expect to be addicted to Bejeweled 3 when its released via download and in retail stores on December 7. In the meantime our sister site Games.com has a chat with PopCap Games' co founder James Kapalka about Bejeweled 3.

Want to get a game that normally cost $20 for free? Of course you do. In celebration of the fact that today is October 10, 2010 (or 10-10-10) casual game developer PopCap Games is offering folks a chance to get its classic puzzle game Bejeweled 2 for free for the PC and Mac.

Yep, all you have to do is head to the game's official web site by 10 pm Pacific time tonight (that's 1 am Eastern time). hit the "Get it Free" button and then hit checkout. The site will fill in the coupon code you need to get the free game automatically and then you fill in a little personal info before you get access to the download. And then get ready to become addicted to matching jewels and blowing them up. However be prepared for some slow server action; it looks like a bunch of folks are trying to get in on this 'free game" thing. Who would have thought that?

While Popcap Games' big announcement today was the upcoming launch of Plants Vs Zombies for the Xbox 360 buried in the press release was word that the popular casual tower defense game would also be getting a "Game of the Year" edition for the PC and Mac platforms.

The new edition will be released in retail stores later this fall and according to the press release, a limited number of the copies "will include a zombie figurine." And will the Game of the Year edition include new gameplay content as well? Big Download emailed Popcap's PR rep who indeed confirmed that the new version, " . . . will have a bit of new content, but we're not stating exactly what at this time..."

The release of Plants Vs Zombies by publisher PopCap Games proved that downloadable titles with a casual theme could also have some hardcore game elements. It's also addictively fun. So naturally some people have been wondering if a sequel to this tower defense variation is in the works.

We may not have much longer to wait on that score as PC Gamer has just posted up a note it got from PopCap Games.to save the date on August 2 for some kind of announcement. The artwork features a familiar looking limb coming out of the ground. From the looks of it we may be getting word soon on Plants Vs Zombies 2. Or it could just be about some hand coming out of the soil. Either way, it should be fun.

It's been a huge week for Mac gamers with the launch of the Mac steam client. However, Mac gamers also have a pretty nice sale going on at casual game publisher PopCap Games. While it's not mentioned on their main web site nor on their Twitter and Facebook pages, the publisher has a big sale bundle promotion for Mac versions of several of their games.

You can purchase and download 13 Mac ports of PopCap Games, including Plants Vs Zombies, Bejeweled 2, Peggle, Zuma and more for a mere $49.95. There's no word on when this promotion will actually end so if you are a Mac user you should jump on this quickly

[Via Joystiq]

It began as a Facebook game release and now publisher PopCap Games has decided to offer up Bejeweled Blitz as a stand alone PC game title. The latest entry in the wildly popular and addictive puzzle series is now available to purchase and download from the PopCap site for $19.99.

This installment of the franchise is basically just like the Facebook version which 25 million players have already checked out, but with full high definition graphics. The game uses 60 second rounds to give players a chance to blow up as many of those pesky gems as they can. The PC version can also still link up with Facebook in the game itself to allow players to hook up and play with friends. It also adds new achievements and badges that are not in the PC version. The full version of the game also includes 1 million in-game coins that players can use for power ups and other features.

Released back in September 2008, PopCap Games's casual puzzle game Peggle Nights is still a highly popular (not to mention addictive) title to play. Now PopCap Games is conspiring to give all of us the full version of the game for free. However this is a catch involved in this deal.

It isn't much of a catch, though. All you have to do is sign up to receive the company's Passport email newsletter. The sign up itself is free and then you can send a free copy of Peggle Nights "to a friend or relative." Of course there's nothing to stop you from sending that free copy to yourself if you have more than one email address and we don't think the gang at PopCap will mind too much.

Download Peggle Nights Demo (24 MB)