PopCap
From Casual Games Wiki
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 PopCap Founded: 2000 # Employees: 95 full-time, ? part-time/contract |
PopCap is an online gaming developer and publisher based in Seattle, Washington, United States. PopCap Games was founded in 2000 by John Vechey, Brian Fiete, and Jason Kapalka, and currently employs 95 people. Most of Popcap's games can be played in a limited form for free, either online or as a trial download, with the full version available for a fee.
PopCap’s games have been downloaded more than 150 million times, and its flagship title Bejeweled has sold more than 5 million units across all major platforms. PopCap games are available for Web, PC and Mac, Xbox, Xbox 360, cell-phones, PDAs, and other mobile devices. PopCap also runs a program for independent game developers to create and spread their games.
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[edit] History
PopCap was founded in 2000 by John Vechey, Brian Fiete, and Jason Kapalka to create simple games that could be played on the Web. PopCap's flagship title Bejeweled was a hit with players and critics. Bejeweled was awarded Computer Gaming World’s Puzzle Game of the Year award in 2001 and inducted into the Computer Gaming World Hall of Fame in 2002 as the only puzzle game inductee since Tetris. As PopCap’s web games became very popular, the company decided to create deluxe downloadable versions.
Many of PopCap's titles have been extended to mobile, handheld and video game platforms.
[edit] Company Timeline
- 2000: Company co-founded by John Vechey, Brian Fiete, and Jason Kapalka.
- 2002: Founders quit working out of their homes and open the company's first office.
- Mar 07, 2005: Company releases the PopCap Games Framework, an in-house development toolset used to create their games. It is offered under an open source license and can be used free of charge by any developer for commercial or non-commercial use.
- Aug 16, 2005: Company acquires Sprout Games.
- Feb 01, 2006: Company expands into overseas markets with the opening of PopCap Games International, based in Dublin, Ireland. The new operations center serves as a local hub for PopCap’s European and Asian business activities, as well as studio facilities for international games and new title development.
- Mar 14, 2006: Company opens a new game development studio in San Francisco, California.
- Feb 2007: PopCap hires former Xbox Live Arcade manager to be vice president of video game platforms.[1]
[edit] Games
PopCap games are best described as simple, but addictive; game tutorials often take up a single screen with usually just two to three rules displayed. Many games display additional rules and hints as the player progresses in the game, such as information about bonus items.
Most PopCap games run both with or without hardware acceleration, are usually controllable with the mouse, and often feature various game modes such as timed or endless play.
[edit] Titles Published and/or Developed by PopCap
- Alchemy
- AstroPop
- Atomica
- Bejeweled
- Bejeweled 2
- Big Money
- Bonnie's Bookstore
- Bookworm
- Bookworm Adventures
- Chuzzle
- Dynomite
- Feeding Frenzy
- Feeding Frenzy 2
- Hammer Heads
- Heavy Weapon
- Iggle Pop
- Insaniquarium
- Mummy Maze
- NingPo MahJong
- Noah's Ark
- Peggle
- Pixelus
- Pizza Frenzy
- Rocket Mania
- Seven Seas
- Talismania
- TipTop
- Typer Shark
- Word Harmony
- Zuma
