August 20, 2009

PopCap’s Plants vs. Zombies Dances Into Retail for PC and Mac

Crossover Game of the Year Gracefully Shambling onto Store Shelves – Coming Soon to iPhone 

PopCap Games, the leading developer and publisher of casual games, today announced that over the past 36 hours, Plants vs. Zombies^™ has arrived on store shelves throughout North America. The crossover hit of 2009 and a front-runner for game of the year, Plants vs. Zombies is the fastest-selling game in PopCap’s history, based on its first three months of availability via Web download. Further, the company announced that an iPhone adaptation of Plants vs. Zombies will be arriving in the App Store in late 2009. Plants vs. Zombies is available now for PC and Mac at leading retail chains including Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target, Apple Stores and Amazon.com at a list price of US$19.95, and will be available at Sam’s Club, OfficeMax and Office Depot in October. 
 

“Plants vs. Zombies sold more briskly in its first 90 days of online availability than any previous game we’ve published, including Bejeweled 2, Bejeweled Twist, Bookworm Adventures and Peggle Nights,” noted Ben Rotholtz, vice president of Marketing at PopCap. “In fact, our family-friendly zombie game now accounts for nine of the ten biggest-grossing single sales days in PopCap’s ten-year history, which is quite a feat given that the Bejeweled and Zuma franchises have sold more than 40 million units between them.” 
 

 Conceived and designed by George Fan (who also created Insaniquarium^™), Plants vs. Zombies pits you against legions of invading “fundead” bent on overwhelming your lawn and making their way to your front door. Players purchase and plant a wide range of lovable mutant flowers, vines, trees and other zombie-combating vegetation to thwart the zombie onslaught. With five different modes of play including several dozen mini-games and puzzles – plus infinitely replayable Adventure and Survival modes, Plants vs. Zombies has attracted a wide following, from 6-year olds to great-grandmothers. Numerous video tributes and highlight reels from fans – as well as the game’s music video, which has been viewed more than 2 million times across the Web – can be found on YouTube.  
 

PopCap today also announced that Plants vs. Zombies is being adapted for the iPhone and iPod touch, and is expected to become available for those devices via App Store launch around the end of this year. No other details of the iPhone/iPod touch adaptation of the game were disclosed. The company has previously acknowledged that Plants vs. Zombies is also being adapted for the Xbox LIVE^® Arcade (XBLA) online service of Microsoft’s Xbox 360^® video game console but has not yet provided a target launch date.