Posts Tagged ‘bejeweled’

PopCap and NCsoft to bring “PopCap World” to Korea later this year

Tuesday, September 14th, 2010

PopCap has recently announced a collaboration deal with Korea based MMO provider NCsoft. Titled “PopCap World” this will mark PopCap’s first ever online multiplayer social game service, and will be developed and released by PopCap’s Shanghai game studio.

PopCap/NCsoft’s PopCap World is slated to debut in Korea later this year, and marks a major milestone for PopCap in terms of it’s global online and social developments. PopCap World will be operated by NCsoft and will have 13 PopCap titles including Bejeweled, Plants vs. Zombies, and Zuma at launch. All games will be free to play, with premium paid elements arriving at a later date.

“When Disneyland first opened, it revolutionized the amusement park industry and ushered in the era of the modern theme park. In the same way, we believe PopCap World has the potential to redefine casual games in Korea and beyond by offering players the most immersive PopCap experience yet,” comments PopCap VP Asia/Pacific James Gwertzman.

“Our announcement today is just the beginning. We are very excited about our partnership with NCsoft – their formidable presence in the online market combined with PopCap’s leadership in the casual and social spaces makes for an interesting recipe that we look forward to serving up to players in Korea – and beyond,” he adds.

From NCsoft’s side, things look equally exciting, “We are thrilled to be collaborating with PopCap Games on this new project. PopCap is famous not only for the high quality of their games – they are a very talented developer – but also for appealing to an extremely wide audience. We look forward to a successful launch, and to opening up this new world of fun to both our existing Korean users, as well as a whole new audience for whom this may well be their first online game,” says NCsoft Vice President for Web Business Center, Mr. Whang.

It looks like this is just another plume in PopCap’s cap, and they show no signs of slowing the success. Since July 2008, PopCap’s Bejeweled has remained in the top 20 apps for iPhone, and Bejeweled Blitz on Faceook counts over 4 million active daily users. Zuma Blitz, a new multiplayer game, presumably tied to the original Zuma, is expected to launch on Facebook later this month. With a social platform of their own, AND a Facebook launch, PopCap and NCsoft may just be creating the perfect storm of buzz, marketing, and uptake.

 

PopCap appoints Robert Chamberlain to CFO post

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

One of the biggest names in casual gaming, PopCap, announced yesterday that they’ve appointed Mr. Robert Chamberlain to the position of Chief Financial Officer. Having served similar roles in a myriad of companies including, F5 networks, Onyx Software and Watchguard Technologies, Chamberlain brings over 30 years of financial experience, 20 of which are in the technology sector, to the table at PopCap. Chamberlain’s track record is nothing short of stellar, demonstrating sound financial guidance and has arranged a number of IPO’s as well as company sales. Chamberlain will arrive at his new office on August 31st, and will replace temporary CFO Karla Horwitz, a partner with Tatum Executives. Ms. Horwitz has built and grown the PopCap finance team for the past 17 months.

popcap_logo_rgb“We’re thrilled to have a seasoned financial veteran like Bob joining our management team and overseeing finances,” said Dave Roberts, CEO at PopCap. “He’ll oversee a sizable team of finance and accounting professionals while also providing critical expertise to our overall expansion plans. As we mature into a sizable corporation, it will be invaluable to have him guiding our financial future in every key respect.”

Most recently, Chamberlain has served as CFO at Watchguard Technologies, Inc., where he lead a team of 62 across various company departments including finance and accounting, manufacturing, IT, HR, facilities and legal services. Previously, Chamberlain successfully managed an IPO for F5 networks, guided PhotoDisc through a merger with Getty Images, and negotiated the sale of ElseWare Corporation to Hewlett-Packard.

“PopCap’s something of an anomaly in the software business – and a rarity in the technology sector as a whole,” Chamberlain said. “Profitable from day one while growing to nearly 250 fulltime employees in ten years while never taking outside funding, which is a major accomplishment. Best of all, the company has tremendous potential, in terms of geographic, platform and channel growth – and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

Remember, PopCap is one of the rare games companies today that seems to have their fingers in just about every pot. Their flagship product, Bejeweled is a mesmerizing; some might say addicting title that has sold over 25 million units across all platforms. It’s even been incorporated into World of Warcraft as a mini-game. Based in Seattle, PopCap games are based on the premise that games should be fun and easy to learn. Their timeless series of games have been downloaded over 1 billion times, and show no signs of slowing. And as far as cross platform is concerned, PopCap is the only casual games developer with a leading market share across all major sales channels, including Web portals, retail stores, consoles, mobile phones and MP3 players.

 

Blizzard takes one step closer to casual gaming?

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

One of the most respected and well know names in casual gaming, Greg Canessa is calling it a day as Vice President of Video Game Platforms with PopCap.  Prior to his current position, Canessa was the man in charge who launched a thousand ships with the business model he rolled out for Microsoft’s XBLA service.  He left this position and joined PopCap in February of 2007, and is now moving on again – this time to the 800-pound gorilla in the room, aka Blizzard.

wow_bejeweledAt this point, I think we’re pretty justified in letting the wild speculation run free.  Granted, Blizzard has been showing more and more interest in casual gaming over the past few months, with not only PopCap’s Bejeweled showing up on gamers’ radar’s back in September, but just a few weeks ago, Blizzard also tossed PopCap’s Peggle into the World of Warcraft mini-games selection.  Three guesses, the first two don’t count on who was spearheading this project?

So what’s really the dilly Blizz?  While Kotaku broke the news, Joystiq raises some very interesting points, and questions whether or not Canessa has nabbed one of the open positions Blizzard is currently advertising in the “Unannounced” section, or perhaps the elusive “Next-Gen MMO” category?  According to Joystiq’s inside source, Canessa will be working on an “unannounced project in the online space”.

wow_peggleAnother point to keep in mind here is that Blizzard’s COO Paul Sams has repeatedly made statements about the company’s interest in starting up an entirely new franchise.  Could Canessa’s appointment be the first signal in Blizzard’s interest in starting up a casual gaming platform?  Maybe browser based gaming?  Maybe social networking based play?  iPhone/mobile gaming?  Again, the speculation doors have been flung wide open by Blizzard’s highest profile move in this direction to date.

If Blizzard has in fact brought in Canessa for the purpose of fleshing out a casual games division, does this mean that they’re also interested in having a look at microtransactions?  While the producer of the #1 game worldwide certainly doesn’t need any more money, they might be foolish to not at least visit and review the concept.  With relative newcomer (in relation to Blizzard) casual game publisher Zynga reportedly pulling down nine figure revenues from microtransactions, just have a think for a moment what Blizzard and their mighty army of employees could tackle?

I’m quite certain Canessa’s departure is a blow for PopCap, but that’s not to say they don’t have a thriving business going as it is, and I’ll be interested to see where they take things from here.  On the flipside, PopCap now has a former high-level executive inside the mighty Blizzard citadel.  More PopCap casual titles to be implemented within WoW?  Plants vs. Orcs?  Zombies vs. Night Elves?  Let’s hold fire and wait and see.