In a bid to maintain proximity with the gaming community, developers and publishers around the world have been crafting varied services. Taking a step forward in this direction, PopCap Games has entered into an agreement with NCsoft to launch the former’s first online multiplayer social game service in Korea. Dubbed as PopCap World, this platform will bring home to gamers a world infused with fresh titles and other elements.
“When Disneyland first opened, it revolutionized the amusement park industry and ushered in the era of the modern theme park. 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,” explained James Gwertzman, PopCap’s Vice President for Asia/Pacific. “Our announcement today is just the beginning. We are very excited about our partnership with NCsoft – their formidable presence in the online market combined with PopCap’s leadership in the casual and social spaces makes for an interesting recipe that we look forward to serving up to players in Korea – and beyond.”
“We are thrilled to be collaborating with PopCap Games on this new project. PopCap is famous not only for the high quality of their games – they are a very talented developer – but also for appealing to an extremely wide audience. We look forward to a successful launch, and to opening up this new world of fun to both our existing Korean users, as well as a whole new audience for whom this may well be their first online game,” commented Whang, NCsoft’s Vice President for Web Business Center.
This new service has been said to be a major milestone in the company’s path of global online and social strategies. Initially, the service will feature 13 games including Bejeweled, Plants vs. Zombies, Zuma and the all-new multiplayer, Super Zuma. The latter has been built exclusively for players located across Korea. Gamers can access these titles without paying any charges while optional, premium paid content will soon be introduced to the hub.
PopCap World will be operated by NCsoft following its Korean debut later this year. With over 1.5 billion downloads, titles from PopCap Games seem ready to offer an enriching experience to players on this platform.