PopCap Launches Free Blitz Update for Bejeweled® 2 for iPhoneTM and iPod® touch

[Tami]

PopCap Launches Free "Blitz" Update for Bejeweled® 2 for iPhoneTM and iPod® touch

Top-5 Best-Selling App Store Game Now Includes Facebook® Connect for On-The-Go Social Gaming

SEATTLE, Washington – November 11, 2009 — PopCap Games, the leading developer and publisher of the world’s most widely played video games, today announced a free update for Bejeweled® 2 for iPhone™ and iPod® touch (collectively referred to below as iPhone). Bejeweled 2 is one of the five best-selling iPhone games of all time, and the new update, available at no cost to current owners of Bejeweled 2 for iPhone, adds an exciting new mode featuring Facebook Connect integration of the “Bejeweled Blitz” game previously found only on Facebook.com. The new iPhone Blitz game mode replicates the wildly popular connected version of the game that allows consumers to play anywhere, anytime, with scores and achievements reflected on their own and their friends’ Facebook profiles. Bejeweled 2 for iPhone carries a list price of US$2.99 and is available worldwide via the App Store. Anyone who has previously purchased Bejeweled 2 for the iPhone can receive the new Blitz mode as a free update via the App Store or iTunes.

“Ultimately, social gaming is about being able to play games with and against your friends, and the new Blitz update for Bejeweled 2 on iPhone lets you play against your friends anywhere,” explained John Vechey, co-founder and director of PopCap’s social gaming initiative. “This is a natural next stage in our multi-platform and social strategies. Blending the Facebook and iPhone Bejeweled communities should prove very compelling for players.”

The new Blitz update for Bejeweled 2 on iPhone offers the full feature set of Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook, including bonus multipliers, laser gems, star medals, real-time gem swapping (even while the gems are falling into place) and posting of scores to your (and your friends’) shared leaderboards. Scores and medals achieved while offline will be recorded the next time you connect your iPhone.

After connecting to Facebook and launching the Blitz mode of Bejeweled 2, iPhone players will be able to see their full list of Facebook friends who are playing Blitz (either on the Web or on an iPhone), including pictures and their friends’ scores – just like the leaderboard from the Web game. During play, scores are automatically uploaded to Facebook, including any earned achievement star medals. Leaderboards will seamlessly reflect scores achieved on both the iPhone and Web in a single integrated list so players can try to improve their scores and track their friends’ performances from either place. This marks the first time that PopCap has released multi-platform interoperable adaptations of a game and the very first time that PopCap has extended social gaming beyond a Web application.