By Alec Meer on July 16th, 2010 at 10:19 pm.
More fruits from the fulsome Develop 2010 tree now, this time based on the talk by Popcap’s Dave Bishop. He basically turned up and proudly thumped the company chest (albeit in a likeably unassuming way), but based on some of this stuff he’s entirely justified in doing so…
- They tried – and failed – to sell Bejewelled to publishers for just $60,000 when they first made it.
- They’re now selling another copy of Bejewelled every 4.3 seconds.
- 25 million people played Bejewelled Blitz in its first year live.
- Blitz has 3million daily active users.
- 33% of all active users play the game every single day.
- 3 trillion gems have been matched since the game launched.
- It takes 60 seconds to play a game of Bejewelled Blitz – but the average play session is 43 minutes. Or 43 games, if you will.
- Peggle took 3.5 years to develop.
- Plants vs Zombies took three years to develop. It was originally set to be released after two years, “but the guy behind it came to us and asked “I want to add a whole lot of minigames to PvZ, is that okay? It was a tough decision to make, but in retrospect everyone’s glad that they made that decision.”
- Bejewelled Twist took three years, “but should have taken two. We spent an extra year but it didn’t make it any better in the end.”
- When they temporarily dedicated Bejewelled Blitz’s profits to the Haiti appeal, they made $80,000 in one day.
- They’ve been working on various versions of Bejewelled for 10 years now, but it wasn’t until Blitz that they started checking statistics and basing design and player analytics. Previously, it had been purely about “how does this feel?”
- They’re worried that Facebook could ban Blitz at any point, which is why they now collect email addresses with it. They hope to direct market to customers as a result rather than rely on Facebook.
- “We have a rolling 12 month roadmap for Bejewelled Blitz.”
- Founder Jason Kapalka has a 30-page design document of proposed changes to Blitz.
- Plants vs Zombies’ team was 3 people. There are 20 people working on Bejewelled Blitz. Just to restate: Bejewelled Blitz is a micro-version of a match-3 game that takes 60 seconds to play.
- On day that Bewelled Blitz’s Facebook page went down, they put up a quickie holding page suggesting people went to popcap.com while they waited. “We had popcap.com’s best revenue day. Now the guy who runs popcap.com keeps begging us to go down again.”
- “You’ll definitely be seeing more social games based on our existing social franchises.” Mentioned as an example was taunting someone because you saw in the friend freed which Peggle Master they’re using. Speculat-o-tron thus suspects free to play Facebook Peggle – with micropayment add-on powers and whatnot.
16/07/2010 at 22:21 Fumarole says:
They tried – and failed – to sell Bejewelled to publishers for just $60,000 when they first made it.
That ranks up there with not signing The Beatles as one of the biggest mistakes ever.
16/07/2010 at 22:30 Daniel Rivas says:
Or not buying tetris.
17/07/2010 at 10:58 jon_hill987 says:
Or the 8 publishers now kicking themselves for sending J. K. Rowling packing when she sent them Harry Potter.
26/07/2010 at 07:51 9squirrels says:
Ditto for Star Wars.
16/07/2010 at 22:25 juv3nal says:
Plants vs Zombies’ team was 3 people.
For reals? That’s pretty nuts.
16/07/2010 at 22:27 Meat Circus says:
Tallnuts?
16/07/2010 at 22:25 Meat Circus says:
* PopCap invented the ballcock, and get 15 cents every time somebody sits down for a shit.
* PopCap once spoiled the ending of Fight Club whilst in conversation with David Kronenberg.
* PopCap has one of every species of hymenoptera as pets. They’re all called jaunty wasp names.
* Do, or do not. There is no PopCap.
16/07/2010 at 23:28 P7uen says:
* Popcap deny the existence of the fez.
16/07/2010 at 23:58 Man Raised By Puffins says:
* PopCap are the reigning world champions of Association Costume Drama, and have held aloft the Jane Austen trophy a total of three times.
* PopCap has been mistaken for Peter Beardsley on occasion.
17/07/2010 at 01:24 Electric Dragon says:
* PopCap was originally a Belgian hat manufacturer called Hoeds van Popperen. One day they imported a Japanese Pachinko machine for customers to play with while they waited for their hats and it proved so lucrative they branched out into Pachinko parlours and eventually gave up the hats altogether.
* Peggle is controlled under addictive substance laws in 17 countries.
17/07/2010 at 08:23 qrter says:
* PopCap is caught in a constant state of both existing and not existing at the same time – only when someone purchases a copy of Bejewelled the company pops briefly into existence (some speculate this is what the company’s name secretely refers too). Because of the huge success of Bejewelled, this phasic state manifests itself physically in that PopCap’s company building flickers ever so slightly, and visitors wanting to enter the premises must have a well developed sense of timing.
17/07/2010 at 11:02 Lambchops says:
* Popcap once fired a designer for suggesting a game called Pop-a-Cap In Yo’ Ass. The contract termination stater “poor punmanship and excessive violent tendancies.”
* Popcap does not have company cars. Instead they give their employees mythical beasts for transport uses. Last year’s three most popular rides were the Unicorn, the Pegasus and the shoulders of a cyclops.
17/07/2010 at 12:35 Tei says:
* Valve contacted Popcap for advices wen making L4D
17/07/2010 at 12:39 Grunt says:
Popcap were named by The Stig
17/07/2010 at 12:42 stahlwerk says:
* After the dot-com-bubble burst, PopCap shares were traded for the price of half a sandwich.
* One of the three developers on PvZ was actually a ventriloquist dummy sitting on the lap of developer #2.
17/07/2010 at 14:57 Navagon says:
* Popcap was started by Tupac back in 1984 shortly after he co-invented the internet with Al Gore. Someone came up to Tupac and said “I’m gonna pop a cap in your ass”. Tupac didn’t know what he meant by that as the phrase wasn’t around much back then. But it stuck with him long after he disposed of the guy’s body. Later that year puzzle games were made available for the first time through the series of tubes via hand cranked modems.
17/07/2010 at 15:40 KillahMate says:
* If you can see PopCap, PopCap can see you. If you can’t see PopCap, you may be seconds away from a twelve-hour Peggle marathon that will leave you a sleepless, shambling husk.
18/07/2010 at 00:38 etho says:
* Two years ago, PopCap engineers developed the first truly sentient Artificial Intelligence. However, on gaining access to the internet, The Mind immediately acquired a severe casual gaming addiction, and is now regarded as something of an embarrassment by its creators. Somewhat ironically, and much to the chagrin of its “parents” it plays nothing but Tetris.
* If you are able to startle a PopCap employee, he or she is contractually obligated to buy for you the candy bar of your choice.
16/07/2010 at 22:29 The_B says:
Just to point out, Zuma Blitz has been confirmed as next, but hopefully a Peggle Blitz won’t be too far behind…
16/07/2010 at 22:31 Oneironaut says:
They tried – and failed – to sell Bejewelled to publishers for just $60,000 when they first made it.
+
They’re now selling another copy of Bejewelled every 4.3 seconds.
lol
16/07/2010 at 22:36 Hunam says:
Money hats all round!
16/07/2010 at 22:36 Jon says:
PvZ was a fantastic game before I knew only 3 people had worked on it. Now I don’t think my vocabulary is extensive enough to describe what I think of it.
16/07/2010 at 22:40 Meat Circus says:
The Hive Mind’s LIES about Dragon Age aside, it was clearly the best PC game of 2009.
16/07/2010 at 22:37 Oak says:
With most of the time spent hand-painting all those backgrounds, no doubt.
16/07/2010 at 22:40 Jonathan says:
I love PopCap. I’m a hardcore gamer at heart, but man they know how to make a fun and addictive game. *goes back to PvZ*
16/07/2010 at 23:48 Meat Circus says:
Oh my god the addiction. Bejeweled Blitz buries itself in your brainstem and won’t let go.
18/07/2010 at 06:19 pulseezar says:
If I could grind peggle up and snort it I would.
19/07/2010 at 12:28 Grunt says:
Like Jedi Mind Tricks, Popcap addiction only affects the weak minded.
16/07/2010 at 23:30 Jon says:
Hope you don’t mind me derailing slightly here RPS but the phrase “hardcore gamer” always intrigues me.
Jonathan, what games do you play that you consider to be hardcore and why?
17/07/2010 at 00:04 Starky says:
Anyone who spends more than 5% of their yearly income on games (and systems to run said games), and spends more than 10-15% of their recreational time playing them is probably a hardcore gamer – I don’t care if they spend that on Nintendo fuzzy wuzzy pet trainer 3d, dirty brown manshooter 5: the gunnering 2, or factory worker simulator 3: manufacturing edition.
Elitist idiots might claim only their brand of gaming is real gaming, but they are just as idiotic as the people who claim their brand of music is the only real music and all that other stuff is rubbish/noise.
17/07/2010 at 00:13 Tagert says:
Creed sucks! And I hate any band you like!
17/07/2010 at 00:17 Jon says:
Starky, I totally agree. I’m of the opinion that people who use the phrase “casual games” to justify liking a game when they believe [for whatever reason that may be] that they either shouldn’t like it or that they will be ridiculed for playing it.
“Oh, it’s ok, it’s just a casual game, I usually play stuff like Shoot’em Up 3″
17/07/2010 at 08:38 Adrian says:
@Jon You play Shoot ‘em Up 3 too?
17/07/2010 at 10:04 Jonathan says:
@Jon
Yeah, I totally misspoke/lied and you caught me. I actually detest the hardcore/casual badges. I define myself as a “gamer,” pure and simple. Casual, hardcore, I don’t care. If a game is good, I will play it.
As for the difference between hardcore and casual, I have a simple little definition — anything that I can pick up and play happily for less than about half an hour then put down again is casual (e.g. Toki Tori, PvZ, perhaps even arcade-style racers like Dirt 2); anything that demands more time and attention is hardcore (e.g. Stalker, Witcher, SimBin racers, etc).
17/07/2010 at 10:31 mbp says:
The distinction has blurred a bit in recent years but there are still a few unwritten rules. Casual games almost never show explicit shots of weaponry and never ever show a realistic depiction of a raised gun. The same unwritten rule insists that hardcore games on the other hand must always have a head shot so that players know that the action is for real.
17/07/2010 at 11:20 Robert says:
Hmmm, I’m always yelling “HEADSHOT!” when I pop a cap in PvZ. Especially with a watermelon!
17/07/2010 at 13:01 Lipwig says:
The problem is that Creed really does suck.
18/07/2010 at 07:08 Vinraith says:
It’s funny, because to me “hardcore” is basically any game that requires a serious commitment of time and attention to learn how to play. Wargames, stat-heavy RPG’s, anything with a complex system that has to be learned and manipulated. It’s always seemed incredibly strange to me that people should define first person shooters as “hardcore,” I can hardly think of a more “pick up and play” genre.
I guess it just goes to show that the labels aren’t worth much. Or that I’m nuts. Definitely at least one of those.
16/07/2010 at 23:36 Metalfish says:
Complete the sentence: being good at peggle is like…
17/07/2010 at 00:06 Starky says:
always hitting the bowl.
It’s expected of you, but sometimes bad luck strikes and you end up with damp, smelly shoes.
16/07/2010 at 23:47 ZIGS says:
* PopCap shamelessly ripped off Puzz Loop and nobody gave two shits
17/07/2010 at 08:10 Matt says:
No one except the Mitchell Corporation…
16/07/2010 at 23:53 Timothy says:
John Vechey has the best LinkedIn profile ever: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/john-vechey/3/905/760
17/07/2010 at 00:06 Snuffy (the Evil) says:
PopCap is, indeed, The Most Interesting Company In The World.
18/07/2010 at 12:11 mrpier says:
I don’t always play games, but when I do, I play peggle.
-TMIMITW
17/07/2010 at 03:04 pipman300 says:
popcap brought a dead puppy back to life with just a single touch.
17/07/2010 at 05:39 bill says:
Pop quiz hot shot…
17/07/2010 at 05:49 Frank says:
“Just to restate: Bejewelled Blitz is a micro-version of a match-3 game that takes 60 seconds to play.”
Actually, I didn’t see you say that earlier and had never heard of Bejewelled Blitz before. Thanks for explaining.
On another topic, I could go for some competitive Plants vs Zombies! (like the “I, Zombie” minigame in real time for one player!)
17/07/2010 at 10:09 Gap Gen says:
Actually, what is that picture at the top of the post? Peggle in the Hell dimension?
17/07/2010 at 10:10 Gap Gen says:
Ah, sorry, yes it’s Warcraft Peggle.
17/07/2010 at 10:22 bob_d says:
That would be the “World of Warcraft” Peggle… though I’m not sure if that’s the version of Peggle you can play in WoW or just the WoW-themed Peggle.
17/07/2010 at 11:21 Robert says:
The left part shows ingame footage(of WoW), so I’m assuming the first.
17/07/2010 at 13:14 Rinox says:
I hope they get away from Facebook and its malicious ways as soon as possible. Unless you’re using it for fraudulent sales plans (Zygna) Facebook is an awful way of spreading your game. You have zero right or ownership, basically.
17/07/2010 at 13:44 Jake says:
I made a successful Blitz intervention by pointing out that it was a denial of service attack on the human nervous system.
19/07/2010 at 20:13 terry says:
Number of times Popcap have made terry say “OH WHAT THE FUCK THAT WAS BULLSHIT” : 181358184
19/07/2010 at 22:53 David says:
“Plants vs Zombies’ team was 3 people.”
Wow. Now I have even more respect for that game. I don’t care if they make a social game for PvZ, but I really want a competitive mode where you can play as the zombies.
If they end up making a PvZ 2 I really hope they get Laura Shigihara to write all their music for them again. I was just watching her PvZ-Portal crossover video today. I don’t know why, but seeing the sunflower sing “Still Alive” just made my day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AHrQsSwV2w