Bejeweled 3 Will be Home in Time for Christmas

PopCap announced today that Bejeweled 3, the long-awaited sequel to Eidos’ Fighting Force, will be released on December 7. Aside from Twist and Blitz, it has been six years since Bejeweled’s last major game release.

New and expanded features in Bejeweled 3 will include:

– Classic: Play the most popular puzzle game of the century, with powerful new gems and new ultra-smooth gameplay
– Quest: Journey through 40 magical puzzles in this multifaceted Bejeweled challenge!
– Zen: Personalize your experience with ambient sounds and binaural beats — a revolutionary new way to relax!
– Lightning: Charge up with a heart-pounding, beat-the-clock bout of gem-blasting fun!
– Secret Games: Unlock 4 all-new games including Butterflies and Ice Storm
– Badges: Earn up to 65 badges to prove your skills
– High-definition graphics and high-fidelity audio: Bejeweled is now more dazzling than ever before!
– Ultra-smooth gameplay: Make multiple matches while new gems fall into place

“The challenge in creating a new version of Bejeweled is to innovate and keep it fresh and exciting without losing touch with the game-play that millions of people love. So we’re very careful when we make changes to the core game, which is why it can take so long!” said Jason Kapalka, co-founder and chief creative officer at PopCap and co-creator of Bejeweled. “We’ve worked hard to make sure Bejeweled 3 retains the classic appeal of the earlier games while bringing a host of exciting new features to the table.”

FUN FACTS: Since its introduction 10 years ago, Bejeweled has become one of the top 10 video game franchises in history. More than half a billion people worldwide have played the game, and over 50 million units have been sold across 17 platforms. An estimated 7.5 billion hours have been spent playing Bejeweled, and the game continues to sell at the rate of one copy every 4.3 seconds.

It looks like “billion” is the word of the day.