'PopCap World' social game service brings Bejeweled, et al to Korea

popcap world
Casual game maker PopCap and major online game publisher NCSoft today announced a partnership that would bring multiplayer versions of many PopCap games to Korea later this year.

PopCap World, as the service is called, will include free-to-play Korean versions of 13 PopCap titles, including Bejeweled, Plants vs. Zombies, Zuma and an all-new Korean exclusive multiplayer game dubbed Super Zuma. Premium paid elements for these games will be added later.

It's unclear whether these multiplayer versions will be tailored to simultaneous play, as portions of PopCap's recent XBLA release of Plants vs. Zombies, or asynchronous score competitions, as PopCap's Facebook releases like Bejeweled Blitz.

Calling today's announcement "just the beginning," PopCap VP for Asia/Pacific James Gwertzman was expansive in describing the impact of the new service. "When Disneyland first opened, it revolutionized the amusement park industry and ushered in the era of the modern theme park," he said. "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."

This is the first product from Popcap's Shanghai Games Studio, which was opened in 2008 to cater to the "significant differences in the playing habits and expectations of Asian consumers." A company rep says that PopCap World was designed with overseas audiences in mind and will not necessarily be arriving Stateside anytime soon. Then again, if this proves to be a runaway hit overseas, that plan might change.

Rumor: Bejeweled-maker PopCap to sell for over $1 billion

You know, the more rumors about PopCap there are, the more chances we have to bug the company about bringing Peggle to Facebook. The freshest from the mill is that PopCap is preparing for another acquisition ... this time of itself to another company. TechCrunch reports that, according to anonymous sources, the company will soon sell for over $1 billion, though no buyers have been officially mentioned yet.

Of course, this leaves the table wide open for wild speculation. TechCrunch says, according to anonymous sources, that Zynga approached PopCap with the intention to purchase, but backed down after PopCap named its price. The website has also heard that EA could be the lucky shopper, but $1 billion is a far cry from the $400 million it paid for Playfish in 2009. That all being said, a source close to the matter tells us there's currently no internal information on the sale.

But let's play devil's advocated for a moment. Why would PopCap suddenly sell when it has openly stated its intent on filing for initial public offering (IPO) by the end of this year? I'd imagine that since this is, in fact, the case, PopCap would ask for far more than $1 billion, and any more than that would just be ridiculous. An IPO that low these days just sounds silly, especially for a company that has been around for over 10 years. (For reference, the Pandora Internet radio service just filed for a $2.4 billion IPO, and it's only been around since about 2005.)

Furthermore, the company just purchased ZipZapPlay with the goal of increasing its presence on Facebook--that doesn't sound like a move a company that's ready to sell would make. Simply put, PopCap just doesn't seem like the type to sell, but we could easily be proven otherwise. Rumors or not, this summer will prove mighty interesting for PopCap--even if there's no Peggle for Facebook.

Rumor: EA to buy PopCap for over $1 billion

Bejeweled
Now, this is a last ditch effort if we've ever seen one. TechCrunch reports that, following up with yesterday's news that PopCap may sell for over $1 billion, EA may very well be the company at the checkout counter. The website cites two anonymous sources that point to the nearly 30-year-old games company as the buyer. And no, the asking price has not changed--it's still insane.

But EA, which has enjoyed a distant second to Zynga in the social space, just might be crazy enough to bid what TechCrunch reports is 13 percent of their $7 billion plus market cap. This could truly be the company's Hail Mary Pass to win the social and mobile race once and for all, especially considering how long it could take EA to make all that money back.

We thought it was crazy when EA bought Playfish in 2009 for a whopping $400 million, but this clearly blows that out of the water. Unfortunately, neither company has enjoyed the runaway success both likely had hoped for. (You don't spend $400 million, much less $1 billion for second place.) So we can only hope that, if this buyout goes down, EA doesn't repeat history with PopCap.

If this purchase happens, the Bejeweled creator will obviously put its imminent IPO (initial public offering) on hold. As of this writing, a source close to the matter tells us there's currently no internal information on the sale.

PopCap cashes in on Facebook games - are more on the way?

PopCap Games, the popular developer behind Bejeweled Blitz and Zuma Blitz on Facebook, has announced its revenue for 2010, stating that the company earned $100 million, with 14% of that coming from the online sphere, while PC downloads and mobile games accounted for 38% and 34% of their revenue, respectively.

Chief Executive David Roberts gave a presentation that claimed that most of that 14% of online revenue came from Facebook, which leaves us to wonder what the future holds for one of the industry's most polished companies. Could more "blitz" versions of popular PopCap games be in the works? Bookworm Blitz? Peggle Blitz? A reworked version of Plants vs Zombies where users help outfit each other's armies? I could make cases for all of these games and more, but for right now, we'll just have to be satisfied breaking marbles or matching gems, as PopCap works out what they'll do with their Facebook revenue, and how to expand on it in the future.

[Via Inside Social Games]

Which of PopCap's games would you most like to see given a social game spin on Facebook? Were you part of PopCap's Facebook earnings last year?