Plants vs. Zombies

Last updated

Plants vs. Zombies
Plants vs Zombies logo.png
Genre(s)
Developer(s) PopCap Games
Publisher(s)
Creator(s) George Fan
Artist(s) Rich Werner
Writer(s) Stephen Notley
Composer(s) Laura Shigihara
Platform(s)
First release Plants vs. Zombies
May 5, 2009
Latest releasePlants vs. Zombies 3: Welcome to Zomburbia
January 17, 2024 (soft launch) [1]

Plants vs. Zombies is a video game franchise developed by PopCap Games, a subsidiary of Electronic Arts (EA). The series follows the affiliates of David "Crazy Dave" Blazing as they use his plants to defend against a zombie invasion, led by Dr. Edgar George Zomboss. The first game, Plants vs. Zombies (2009), was developed and released by PopCap before its acquisition by EA. After PopCap Games's acquisition, EA expanded the game into a franchise with games on many different platforms.

Contents

History

Release timeline
2009 Plants vs. Zombies
2010–2012
2013Adventures
Plants vs. Zombies 2
2014 Garden Warfare
2015
2016 Garden Warfare 2
Heroes
2017–2018
2019 Battle for Neighborville
2020–2023
2024Plants vs. Zombies 3:
Welcome to Zomburbia

Main series

On April 1, 2009, PopCap released a music video for the song "Zombies on Your Lawn" by Laura Shigihara to promote Plants vs. Zombies . [2] A PopCap spokesperson, Garth Chouteau, revealed in an IGN interview that Plants vs. Zombies would be released soon on PC and Mac. [3] On April 22, 2009, PopCap released an official game trailer of Plants vs. Zombies on YouTube. [4] [5] During the promotion of Plants vs. Zombies, PopCap released a demo version of the game that could be played for thirty minutes. [6] Plants vs. Zombies was officially released on May 5, 2009, for PC and Mac, [7] by 2013 switching from a $2.99 gameplay cost to free-to-play on iOS and Android devices. Critics on mobile devices give the game an average of 4.3-4.8 star ratings. [8]

PopCap Games and its assets were bought by EA on July 12, 2011, for 750 million US dollars. [9] Fifty employees were laid off in the Seattle studio of PopCap Games on August 21, 2012, to mark a switch of focus to mobile and social gaming. [10]

On August 20, 2012, PopCap announced that they were working on a sequel to Plants vs. Zombies. [11] Its release date would be set at late spring of 2013. [12] However, the game's status was in doubt shortly after the announcement when the company went through a period of layoffs. [10]

In May 2013, PopCap Games released a trailer revealing a sequel to the first game, titled Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time . [13] [14] The game was soft-launched for the iOS in Australia and New Zealand on July 10, 2013, [15] and was officially released on August 14, 2013, as a freemium title. [16] The game featured new locations and plants along with the addition of plant food, a power-up that can be used to enhance a plant for a short period and can either be bought using in-game currency or acquired by defeating zombies that are glowing green. [17] There are four other power-ups in the game, all of which are bought with coins, the in-game currency. Along with these new add ons, the game continues to make updates from time to time. According to EA News, the Arena and Penny's Pursuit updates, which are different game modes within the game, have been some of their latest major updates, aside from all the mini add ons. [18]

In July 2019, EA announced Plants vs. Zombies 3, another free-to-play mobile title in the series. It was launched in a pre-alpha state for Android in July 2019. [19] [20] The game soft-launched in February 2020 in the Philippines, Romania, and Ireland. [21] It was then made unavailable in October 2020, becoming unplayable in November 2020. EA has plans to release an improved version of the game in the future. [22] On September 7, 2021, Plants vs. Zombies 3 was soft-launched again with substantial changes, such as two-dimensional graphics and the return of the Sunflower as a plantable plant, having the same purpose in the previous iterations. [23] On January 17, 2024, Plants vs. Zombies 3 was soft launched again, this time as Plants vs. Zombies 3: Welcome to Zomburbia in select regions, [1] adapting storylines and characters from the Plants vs. Zombies comic book series (written by Paul Tobin, illustrated by Ron Chan, and published by Dark Horse Comics), including Tugboat the Zombie and Patrice Blazing. [24]

Spin-offs

A spin-off called Plants vs. Zombies Adventures was announced in March 2013 [25] and was released on May 20, 2013 on Facebook. The game added new locations and new plants. It also had a gameplay feature in which the player had a limited amount of plants and had to grow more plants at an in-game farm. [26] In July 2014, it was announced that Plants vs. Zombies Adventures would close on October 12, 2014. [27]

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare was announced at E3 2013 as a multiplayer third-person shooter game made for PC and consoles. [28] [29] Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare was released on February 25, 2014, in North America and on February 27, 2014, in Europe. [30] A sequel, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 , was teased in June 2015 and was officially announced at E3 2015. [31] [32] The game was released on February 23, 2016. [33] On March 10, 2016, PopCap announced Plants vs. Zombies Heroes , a digital collectible card game in the style of tower defense. It was soft released to certain countries on the same day, [34] and was fully released internationally on October 18, 2016. [35]

In August 2019, a closed beta of a sequel to Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 codenamed "Picnic" was made available to select players through invites. [36] On September 4, 2019, EA announced the sequel's title; Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville . It was released in an early access state that same date. The game was fully released on October 18, 2019. [37] [38]

A cancelled single player Plants vs. Zombies game had been in the works within EA from about 2015 to 2017. Known as "Project Hot Tub" in reference to Hot Tub Time Machine , the game was to have been an action game along the lines of the Uncharted series but maintaining its family-friendly nature, featuring two teenage siblings that travelled through time to fight zombies. The game was being developed by PopCap Vancouver. While a vertical slice of the game had been shown off to EA executives in 2017, EA opted to cancel the project to pull in more resources to Visceral Games to support their work on the Star Wars game under the name Project Ragtag , which had been languishing for several years. Despite this, EA cancelled Project Ragtag in October 2017, shutting down Visceral Games, and the former PopCap Vancouver team was relocated across other EA studios. [39]

Other media

Plants vs. Zombies Zomnibus Vol. 1 by Paul Tobin; art by Ron Chan. Plants vs. Zombies, Zomnibus, cover A, Ron Chan, Dark Horse Comics.jpg
Plants vs. Zombies Zomnibus Vol. 1 by Paul Tobin; art by Ron Chan.

Comics

Since July 2013, Dark Horse Comics has published a Plants vs. Zombies ongoing comic book series, following teenagers Nate Timely and Patrice Blazing as they protect Neighborville from the zombie armies of Dr. Edgar Zomboss, with the help of Patrice's uncle, David "Crazy Dave" Blazing, and his own legion of genetically-modified sentient plants, accessible via the Plants vs. Zombies Comics app. [40] Elements from the comic book series were later adapted to the franchise's video game instalments, and vice-versa. [41]

Related Research Articles

Battlefield is a series of first-person shooter video games developed by Swedish company EA DICE and is published by American company Electronic Arts. It started out on Microsoft Windows and OS X with Battlefield 1942, which was released in 2002. The Battlefield series has been played by more than 50 million players worldwide as of August 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PopCap Games</span> American video game developer

PopCap Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Seattle, and a subsidiary of Electronic Arts. The company was founded in 2000 by John Vechey, Brian Fiete and Jason Kapalka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glu Mobile</span> American video game developer

Glu Mobile LLC is an American developer and publisher of mobile games. It was founded as Sorrent in 2001 and acquired Macrospace in 2004. Both companies collectively rebranded as Glu Mobile in 2005. In April 2021, the company was acquired by Electronic Arts.

Call of Duty, also referred to as (COD), is a video game series and media franchise published by Activision, starting in 2003. The games were first developed by Infinity Ward, then by Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games. Several spin-off and handheld games were made by other developers. The most recent title, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, was released on November 10, 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frostbite (game engine)</span> Game engine developed by DICE

Frostbite is a game engine developed by DICE, designed for cross-platform use on Microsoft Windows, seventh generation game consoles PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, eighth generation game consoles PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch and ninth generation game consoles PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, in addition to usage in the cloud streaming service Google Stadia.

Tower defense (TD) is a subgenre of strategy games where the goal is to defend a player's territories or possessions by obstructing the enemy attackers or by stopping enemies from reaching the exits, usually achieved by placing defensive structures on or along their path of attack. This typically means building a variety of different structures that serve to automatically block, impede, attack or destroy enemies. Tower defense is seen as a subgenre of real-time strategy video games, due to its real-time origins, even though many modern tower defense games include aspects of turn-based strategy. Strategic choice and positioning of defensive elements is an essential strategy of the genre.

<i>Blacklight: Tango Down</i> 2010 video game

Blacklight: Tango Down is a dystopian cyberpunk-themed online multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed by Zombie Studios and published by Ignition Entertainment. The game was released on July 7, 2010 on Xbox 360 as a downloadable title, and was released on Microsoft Windows on July 14, 2010. The game was also released in late 2010 for the PlayStation 3. The PC version is the one to receive all three patches, where as the Xbox 360 received only the first two patches, and the PlayStation 3 version received no patches, being at retail, launch day version.

Respawn Entertainment, LLC is an American video game development studio founded in 2010 by Jason West and Vince Zampella and owned by Electronic Arts since 2017. West and Zampella previously co-founded Infinity Ward and created the Call of Duty franchise, where they were responsible for its development until 2010.

<i>Plants vs. Zombies</i> (video game) 2009 tower defense video game

Plants vs. Zombies is a 2009 tower defense video game developed and published by PopCap Games. First released for Windows and Mac OS X, the game has since been ported to consoles, handhelds, and mobile devices. The player takes the role of a homeowner amid a zombie apocalypse. As a horde of zombies approaches along several parallel lanes, the player must defend their home by placing plants, which fire projectiles at the zombies or otherwise detrimentally affect them. The player collects a currency called sun to buy plants. If a zombie happens to make it to the house on any lane, the player loses the level.

<i>Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare</i> 2014 third-person shooter video game

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare is a 2014 multiplayer third-person shooter and tower defense video game developed by PopCap Games and published by Electronic Arts. The third game in the Plants vs. Zombies franchise, the basic premise revolves around plants defending humankind from a zombie invasion. In the game, players assume control of either the Plants or the Zombies, as they fight in various cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes. Upon completing matches and finishing objectives, players earn coins to acquire stickers that unlock customization items and character variants.

<i>Plants vs. Zombies 2</i> 2013 video game

Plants vs. Zombies 2 is a 2013 free tower defense video game developed by PopCap Games and published by Electronic Arts. It is the sequel to Plants vs. Zombies, and was released worldwide on Apple App Store on August 15, 2013, and Google Play on October 23, 2013. The player defends the lawn from zombies by placing a variety of plants. The player must battle the zombies in different time periods, including Ancient Egypt, the Golden Age of Piracy, the Wild West, the Last Ice Age, Mesoamerica, the future, the Early Middle Ages, the 1980s, the Jurassic Period, the 1960s and the present.

<i>Peggle 2</i> 2013 video game

Peggle 2 is a casual puzzle video game developed by PopCap Games and published by Electronic Arts. It is the official sequel to Peggle (2007), although a previous follow-up to the PC game was released in 2008. In production since 2012, Peggle 2 was announced during the E3 2013 press conference and also as a timed exclusive for the Xbox One. Although the gameplay mechanics remain mostly the same, Peggle 2 features a different set of masters, with Bjorn Unicorn and Jimmy Lightning (DLC) the only returning members among a set of five other new ones. There are also new gameplay options, in-game features, and more. An Xbox 360 version of the game was released on May 7, 2014, as well as a PlayStation 4 version on October 14, 2014. Critically, Peggle 2 was praised for its new masters and the implementation of them; its vibrant visuals; soundtrack; and the addition of trial levels and challenges. However, it was also criticized for not having enough facets that made it truly different from its predecessors.

<i>Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2</i> 2016 video game

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 is a 2016 third-person shooter video game developed by PopCap Games and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. It is the sequel to Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare and the fourth game in the Plants vs. Zombies franchise. The game was released in February 2016. A successor, Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville, was released in October 2019.

<i>Plants vs. Zombies Heroes</i> 2016 video game

Plants vs. Zombies Heroes is a digital collectible card game and the sixth installment in the Plants vs. Zombies series, developed by PopCap Games and published by Electronic Arts. On March 10, 2016, it underwent a soft launch in some countries on iOS, before being internationally released on October 18, 2016. Heroes is the first mobile release in the Plants vs Zombies series in which players can play on either the Plant team or the Zombie team, with the former pursuing the latter under Crazy Dave's leadership following the Hero-Tron 3000's malfunction.

<i>Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville</i> 2019 third-person shooter video game

Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville is a third-person shooter developed by PopCap Games and published by Electronic Arts for PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. It is a continuation of the Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare spin-off series of Plants vs. Zombies, being the third overall installment. The game was released as an early access title in September 2019 before its full release in October the same year. It received generally positive reviews upon release.

<i>Octogeddon</i> 2018 video game

Octogeddon is an action-strategy video game with elements of roguelike games developed by All Yes Good. It was released for Microsoft Windows in February 2018 and Nintendo Switch in 2019. The player controls an octopus who is seeking vengeance against humanity. It fights using tentacles that can be upgraded between each stage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Fan</span> American video game designer

George Fan is an American video game designer who currently works as the creative director of All Yes Good. He designed Insaniquarium (2001), Plants vs. Zombies, Octogeddon (2018), and Hardhat Wombat (2023). Before going into game design, Fan graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2000 with a degree in computer science. After graduating, he worked under Arcade Planet to develop games for their website, Prizegames.com. He eventually formed Flying Bear Entertainment and created Insaniquarium, which became a finalist for the 2002 Independent Games Festival. He then joined Blizzard Entertainment and worked there while simultaneously developing Insaniquarium further for PopCap Games, releasing the "Deluxe" edition in 2004.

References

  1. 1 2 "Plants vs. Zombies™ 3 Soft Launch!". Electronic Arts. January 17, 2024. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  2. ↑ NG, Keane (April 1, 2009). "PopCap Reveals Plants vs. Zombies". The Escapist. Archived from the original on February 1, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  3. ↑ Ocampo, Jason (April 4, 2009). "No Joke — PopCap Reveals Plants vs. Zombies". IGN (Interview). Archived from the original on April 5, 2009. Retrieved August 11, 2010. PC and Mac initially, with other platforms under consideration.
  4. ↑ NG, Keane (April 24, 2009). "Battle Plants With Your Own Zombies". The Escapist. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  5. ↑ Walker, John (April 24, 2009). "SPUDOW! Plants Vs Zombies Trailer, Zombie Maker". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  6. ↑ Chester, Nick (May 4, 2009). "Plants vs. Zombies demo eating brains right now". Destructoid . Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  7. ↑ "PopCap Launches Plants vs. Zombies Game for PC and Mac". IGN. May 5, 2009. Archived from the original on September 13, 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Plants vs Zombies drops in-app fee". BBC News. February 13, 2014. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  9. ↑ Takahashi, Dean; Lynley, Matthew (July 12, 2011). "Electronic Arts buys PopCap for $750M". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on November 4, 2020. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  10. 1 2 Goldfarb, Andrew (August 21, 2012). "Report: Layoffs Hit PopCap, International Studios Shuttered". IGN . Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  11. ↑ Tom, Senior (August 20, 2012). "Plants vs. Zombies 2 announced: 'hordes of new plant and zombie types'". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  12. ↑ Krupa, Daniel (August 20, 2012). "Plants VS. Zombies Sequel out Late Spring 2013". IGN. Archived from the original on May 26, 2016. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  13. ↑ Yannick, LeJacq (May 6, 2013). "'Plants vs. Zombies' sequel shambling toward release in July". NBC News. Archived from the original on May 12, 2013. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  14. ↑ Goldfarp, Andrew (May 6, 2013). "Plants Vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time Coming in July". IGN. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  15. ↑ Fahey, Mike (July 10, 2013). "Plants Vs Zombies 2 Is Weeks Away, But Aussies Get To Play Today". Kotaku. Archived from the original on December 25, 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  16. ↑ Davis, Justin (August 14, 2013). "Plants vs. Zombies 2 Launching Worldwide Tonight". IGN. Archived from the original on January 11, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  17. ↑ Shea, Cam (July 17, 2013). "Plants vs. Zombies 2 Review". IGN. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  18. ↑ Arts, Electronic (November 15, 2016). "Plants vs. Zombies 2 - Free Mobile Game - EA Official Site". Electronic Arts Inc. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  19. ↑ Holt, Kris (July 18, 2019). "'Plants vs. Zombies 3' is on the way and you can test it now". Engadget. Archived from the original on July 18, 2019. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
  20. ↑ Webster, Andrew (July 18, 2019). "EA announces Plants vs. Zombies 3". The Verge. Archived from the original on July 18, 2019. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
  21. ↑ Madnani, Mikhail (February 28, 2020). "'Plants Vs. Zombies 3' from PopCap and EA Has Soft Launched in Philippines, Romania, and Ireland". Touch Arcade. Archived from the original on January 11, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  22. ↑ Forde, Matthew (October 19, 2020). "EA pulls Plants vs. Zombies 3 from soft launch". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  23. ↑ "A New Vision for PVZ 3 Has Taken Root!". September 7, 2021.
  24. ↑ Chan, Ron [@RonDanChan] (January 19, 2024). "OMG! Looks like Patrice Blazing, the character @PaulTobin and I created for the Plants vs. Zombies comics published by @DarkHorseComics, has made her way into the actual games!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  25. ↑ Grubb, Jeff (March 26, 2013). "Plants vs. Zombies shuffles to Facebook; sequel due in summer". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on September 16, 2016. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  26. ↑ Webster, Andrew (May 20, 2013). "'Plants vs. Zombies Adventures' is a Facebook game you'll actually want to play". The Verge. Archived from the original on December 6, 2016. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  27. ↑ Shaul, Brandon (July 24, 2014). "EA Announces Closure of Plants vs Zombies Adventures on Facebook". AdWeek . Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  28. ↑ Yoan, Andrew (June 9, 2013). "Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare coming to E3". Shacknews. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  29. ↑ Goldfarb, Andrew (June 10, 2013). "E3 2013: Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare Announced". IGN. Archived from the original on January 11, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  30. ↑ Karmali, Luke (January 16, 2014). "Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare Delayed". IGN. Archived from the original on January 17, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  31. ↑ Phillips, Tom (June 8, 2015). "Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 teased ahead of E3 reveal". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  32. ↑ Savage, Phil. "Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 announced". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on June 17, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  33. ↑ "Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2". IGN. Archived from the original on January 11, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  34. ↑ Dornbush, Jonathon (March 10, 2016). "Collectible card game 'Plants vs. Zombies Heroes' in the works". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on November 8, 2016. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  35. ↑ Minotti, Mike (October 18, 2016). "Plants vs. Zombies Heroes enters the mobile digital card game arena". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  36. ↑ McWhertor, Mike (July 22, 2019). "EA sending out alpha invites for new Plants vs. Zombies shooter". Polygon . Archived from the original on January 11, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  37. ↑ Fahey, Mike (April 9, 2019). "New Plants Vs. Zombies Shooter Announced, Goes Live Today". Kotaku. Archived from the original on September 15, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  38. ↑ Nelson, Xavier (September 11, 2019). "How EA and Plants vs. Zombies are battling binge culture". Polygon. Archived from the original on September 14, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  39. ↑ Valentine, Rebekah (October 8, 2022). "How a Plants vs. Zombies Game Died so a Star Wars Game Could Live (and Then Also Die)". IGN . Retrieved October 23, 2022.
  40. ↑ Mosseri, Adam (July 19, 2013). "Plants vs. Zombies Comics Now Available on the App Store". iClarified. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
  41. ↑ The Art of Plants vs. Zombies. Dark Horse Comics, 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.