The company's trademark Popcap Games is the world's leading developer and publisher of casual games. It was founded in 2000 by John Vechey, Brian Fiete and Jason Kapalka*** and is headquartered in Seattle, USA. In 2009, it has grown to more than 180 employees. Popcap's first game was Bejeweled, a gem-converting elimination game. It was loved by players all over the world when it was first released. It has sold more than 25 million copies. It was also popular because of the game's popularity in 2002. Won the CGW Hall of Fame award.

Company name: Popcap Games

Founder: John Vechey; Brian Fiete

Foundation date: 2000

Business scope: Games Development and Release

Table of Contents

Introduction

Development

Basic Information

Popcap Game List

History of development

The impact of Popcap casual games on people

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Introduction

Popcap Games, Popcap Games is a leading casual game developer and publisher in the United States, headquartered in Seattle and Washington. It was founded in 2000 by John Vechey, Brian Fiete and Jason Kapalka. It currently employs more than 200 people and has R&D bases in Shanghai, San Francisco, Chicago, Vancouver and Dublin. Most versions of the game are available in free form for free. Pokai Games’ Bejeweled has sold over 250,000 units. Zuma is also its original heavyweight. Baokai game support covers browsers, touch and mobile devices such as Windows PC and Mac, Xbox, Xbox360, PlayStation 3, mobile phones, handheld computers, iPod nano, iPhone and iPod touch.

It is the world's leading developer and publisher of casual games. It was founded in 2000 by John Vechey, Brian Fiete and Jason Kapalka*** and is headquartered in Seattle, USA. It has grown to more than 200 employees. Popcap's first game was Bejewled, a gem-converting elimination game. It was loved by players all over the world when it was first released. So far, it has sold more than 25 million copies. It was also popular because of the game's popularity in 2002. Won the CGW Hall of Fame award.

Popcap's game creativity is unique, the operation is excellent, the game graphics are beautiful and cute, and the sound effects are coordinated. The rich game modes greatly improve the playability of mini-games. "Plants vs. Zombies", "Fluffy", "Weird Aquarium" and "Peg Ball" are excellent leisure works in this category. Popcap Games spans PC, Mac, Xbox, PS3, mobile phones, handheld computers, DSi, Wii and other platforms. I believe that people of different ages, regions and beliefs will feel relaxed and happy.

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Development

Its architecture Baokai is a community-based open software framework - SexyApp Framework, a software development tool kit Use C. TuxCap derived from this supports Linux and Mac OS X, is basically compatible with Baokai and provides additional python bindings, physics engines and other functions.

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Basic information

Name Popcap Games (Popcap Games)

Company type Private company

Established 2000 (Seattle)

Headquarters: 2401 4th Ave, Suite 810, Seattle, WA 98121, United States

Important figures John Vechey, Brian Fiete and Jason Kapalka

Industrial online games/video game software development/publishers/distributors

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Popcap game list

Commonly used translation types of names Platform

Paid Games (PC) Paid Games (Mac) Online Games Mobile NDS XBOX Live PS3 (PSN) iPhone OS iPad

Alchemy Character Alchemy

Amazing Adventures - Around the World

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Amazing Adventures - The Caribbean Secret

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Amazing Adventures - The Lost Tomb Amazing Adventures of the Lost Tomb

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AstroPop Space Arkanoid

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Atomica

Bejeweled Bejeweled

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Bejeweled Blitz Bejeweled Lightning Storm

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Bejeweled 2 Bejeweled Twist

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Bejeweled Twist Bejeweled Twist

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Big Money! Super Money Tycoon

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Bonnie's Bookstore Bonnie's Bookstore

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Bookworm Bookworm

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Bookworm Adventures Bookworm Adventures

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Bookworm Adventures Volume 2 Bookworm Adventures: Special Volume 2

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Chuzzle Maomao Ball

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Cosmic Bugs

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Dynomite! Jurassic Bubble Bobble

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Escape Rosecliff Island

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Feeding Frenzy Swallowing Fish

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Feeding Frenzy2 Swallowing Fish 2

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Hammer Heads Hammer Dwarf

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Heavy Weapon Heavy Weapon

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Hidden Identity - Chicago Blackout

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Iggle Pop! Elf Baby

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Insaniquarium Monster Aquarium Box

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Mahjong Escape: Ancient

China Mahjong China Tour

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Mahjong Escape: Ancient Japan Mahjong Japan Tour

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Mystery P.I.: Lost in L.A. Criminal Investigation Los Angeles Mystery

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Mystery P.I.: The London Caper

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Mystery P.I.: New York Fortune Criminal Investigation New York Heritage○

Mystery P.I.: The Lottery Ticket criminal investigation to find the lost lottery ticket○

Mystery P.I.: The Vegas Heist criminal investigation code name Las Vegas○

Mystery P.I. : The London Caper Criminal Investigation London Conspiracy○

Mummy Maze Mummy Maze Mummy Yin Horror

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Mystery Solitaire Mystery Solitaire

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NingPo MahJong Ningbo Mahjong

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Noah's Ark Noah's Ark

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Peggle Peggle

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Peggle Nights Peggle Nights

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Pixelus Pixel Island

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Pizza Frenzy Crazy Pizza

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Plants vs Zombie Tower Defense○ ○ ○ ×

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Rocket Mania! Crazy Rocket

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Seven Seas

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Talismania Golden Legend

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The Wizard's Pen

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TipTop

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Typer Shark! Deep Sea Shark Hunting Typing Game○

Venice

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Waterbugs

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Word Harmony Vocabulary Master

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Zuma Zuma Puzzle○ ○ ○ ○

Zuma's Revenge! Zuma's Revenge Puzzle○

Alchemy Alchemist

Amazing Adventures Around the World *

Amazing Adventures The Lost Tomb *

AstroPop Arkanoid

Atomica Atomic Energy

Bejeweled Bejeweled 3: Spin

Bejeweled2 Bejeweled 2

Bejeweled Twist Bejeweled 3: Spin

Big Money

Bonnie's Bookstore Bonnie's Bookstore

Bookworm Glutinous Worm

Bookworm Adventures Gluttonous Worm Adventures

Bookworm

Adventures Volume 2 Gluttonous Bugs Adventure 2

Chuzzle Maomao

Cosmic Bugs *

Dynomite

Escape Rosecliff Island * Escape Rosecliff Island

Feeding Frenzy Swallowing Fish

Feeding Frenzy 2 Swallowing Fish 2

Hammer Heads Hammer Heads

Heavy Weapon Heavy Weapon

Iggle Pop * elves

Insaniquarium

Mahjong Escape: Ancient China *

Mahjong Escape: Ancient Japan *

Mummy Maze Mummy

Mystery PI: Lost in Los Angeles *

Mystery PI: New York Fortune *

Mystery PI: The Lottery Ticket *

Mystery PI: The Vegas Heist *

Mystery Solitaire *

NingPo MahJong

Noah's Ark Noah's Ark

Peggle Peggle

Peggle Nights Peggle Night

Pixelus Pixel Island

Pizza Frenzy * Crazy Pizza

Plants vs Zombies Plants vs Zombies

Plants vs Zombies RELEASE Plants vs Zombies Anniversary Edition

Rocket Mania Crazy Rocket

Seven Seas Pirate Ship

Talismania Golden Legend

The Wizard's Pen Wizard's Pen

TipTop Fruit Pie

Typer Shark Hunting Shark Typist

Venice Venice

Waterbugs *

Word Harmony *

Zuma Zuma

Zuma's Revenge Zuma's Revenge

Note: Add * The game is not a pop product, only a publisher

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Development History

Genesis

Currently has more than 180 employees In the first two years of Baokai, there were only three young men in their 20s.

The three dads of popcap

In the 1990s, two students at Purdue University in the United States were planning how to make their first pot of gold. . John Vechey, who dreamed of becoming a film producer, found his friend Brian Fiete, who was taking a computer course. At that time, the Internet was in a period of rapid growth, and they wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to develop a small online game and sell it to wealthy game websites.

In the process of making this action game called "ARC", they recruited Jason Kapalka, who is studying for a master's degree in English literature at the University of Alberta. The three people worked together to complete their first game and successfully promoted "ARC" to game companies. However, the three people did not continue to cooperate after that. After graduating from college, they went their separate ways: Jason, who successfully obtained a master's degree, first wrote a column for Computer Gaming World, the oldest computer game magazine in the United States, and later entered Pogo, an online game website owned by EA. As a producer, he created dozens of mini-games for the well-known website. According to himself, the works he participated in have been played by more than 6 million people. A pair of good friends from Purdue University, Brian and John, joined WON to work. This is an online gaming website owned by Sierra Entertainment. Brian is creating an English crossword puzzle called Wordox. John didn't even give up on his movie dream. In his spare time, he completed the production of 7 short films.

In 2000, the Internet truly ushered in a golden age of opportunities. The rapidly expanding Internet is weaving beautiful bubbles. As long as you have an idea, you can dig your own wealth in them. This almost crazy environment made the three young people start to think about how to seize the great opportunity in front of them. Since graduating from college, the three of them got together again. At that time, both Pogo and WON were online gaming websites with major backgrounds. In the view of EA and Xueleshan, online games on the Internet will be a huge market, but it is not yet large-scale. But the three people who came from online game websites began to carefully and cautiously look for entry points. They found that the people who were willing to play games on the web were not the traditional computer gamers in the past. Those who try online games may only be curious about games with crude graphics. Once you find that these games are the same, or are too difficult and have complicated rules, you will easily give up and be unwilling to invest more money and time. Although the scale of the Internet is growing exponentially, the development of the online game market is far from keeping up with this speed, let alone compared with the traditional game market. Those people outside the traditional game market are vast areas of land in urgent need of development. Three old friends decided to give up their respective jobs and form a company specializing in making casual games for all people. The first problem faced by the three people was neither from the market nor from technology, but how to give this "new baby" a resounding name. The first name that comes to mind for these three young and powerful guys is unexpected. It was inspired by the movie advertisement on the bus - "Sexy Action Cool", which was originally used to describe the movie "Desperado" (1995) starring Antonio Banderas. )of. Of course, the name was immediately shot down because it was too easy for people to think of T- or M-rated content, which was too far removed from their target consumer group. Finally they came up with the word "Popular", thus leaving "Pop" in the company's name. Then they started looking through the dictionary, trying to find words related to Pop, and then stopped in front of "Pop Cap". Cap actually means "bottle cap". This word evoked the memory of when they were playing and playing when they were children, so they were determined. If you don’t know what Baokai’s trademark pattern is, the answer is: a magical soda bottle cap.

The success of Bejeweled

In 2000, PopCap Games was officially established. From the boss to the employees, there are only the above three people. Just like when they worked at WON and Pogo, the three people wanted to make some simple web casual games based on Java.

The first work of the three people was the famous "Bejeweled" (Bejeweled, also known as "Diamond Mine"). This is a typical puzzle game

Baokai Game

[1]. By moving two adjacent gems and connecting 3 identical gems in a horizontal and vertical line, they can be eliminated. , players must think carefully so that after the gems are eliminated, the falling gems can form new connections. There is no tight time limit in the game, but you need to think carefully about every move, which is very challenging. Brian Fiete, the game's programmer, is pleased with his work and hopes to get an equally encouraging response from Pokai's partners and investors.

But the news from investors is discouraging. "This can't be considered a game at all!" Those investors said. In their eyes, "Bejeweled" has no appeal. It is neither popular nor exciting, and it also lacks commercial "gimmicks." New games and new companies only won disappointment. After Pokai completed "Bejeweled", it only received some token financial sponsorship. At that time, the profit model of casual games was very similar: the games were all free, and all revenue came from web advertisements erected next to the game interface. Most online game websites do this because big companies like EA and Sierra do not believe that anyone will spend money to buy these small games with rough graphics and simple content. Now, advertisers aren't even willing to invest in Bejeweled. The webpage that was supposed to be filled with advertisements next to the game now has a big skylight.

After cutting off the path of advertisers, how to sell the game has become a top priority for the three people. They can only turn their attention to players who should not spend money. But compared with those video games with gorgeous graphics and well-made production, "Bejeweled" seems to be more difficult to get players to pay obediently. If an online game can attract players to keep playing, will they be willing to spend money on the game? A crazy idea came up among the three people: "Why not let people try the simple version for free online first, and then attract them to spend money to buy the full version with better graphics, more levels and the ability to save progress?" They and their partners thought the idea of ??"play now and buy later" was a joke, but the three of them decided to carry out this "ridiculous" plan. In 2001, Pokai launched the web version of "Bejeweled". The success or failure of Baokai, three partners and a new way of selling games is all focused on this one shot.

Even though they are quite satisfied with the quality of their game, the three young people still conservatively estimate the sales performance of "Bejeweled". Brian had previously written a small program. Every time a copy of "Bejeweled" was sold, their computer would make the sound of a typewriter breaking a new line. Every time you hear a "click", it means that their game has been recognized by another consumer. At first they would hear a "click" every few hours, which made the three of them very excited. But not long after, they were no longer happy - the program began to "go out of control", and the intrusion of "clicking" sounds rapidly increased from once every 15 minutes until it could no longer stop. Brian had to turn this damn program off, otherwise all three of them would go crazy.

There is no doubt that "Bejeweled" succeeded.

"'Play first, buy later' means that we have no dissatisfied consumers." Dave Roberts, CEO of Baokai, commented. Similarly, "Bejeweled", Pokai's pioneering work, has also become the company's most successful work. Simple rules, easy-to-use operations, and rich options make people who sit in offices for a long time immediately be crazy about it. It has brought Baokai the most lucrative casual game revenue in the world, with 25 million copies sold so far, based on a huge user base where the trial version has been downloaded 150 million times.

The success of "Bejeweled" not only brought financial benefits, but also won recognition from game critics. In 2002, it was successfully selected into the Hall of Game Masterpieces selected by "Computer Game World". This is the second puzzle game to win this award since the selection was founded.

The previous puzzle game to be selected into the hall dates back to 1987, and the shortlisted game was called "Tetris".

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The impact of Popcap casual games on people

The question of whether brainstorming training games can really improve players' abilities is being debated by experts. Controversial, a recent study from PopCap believes that casual games can help improve players’ cognitive abilities. Although the study looked at PopCap games like Bejeweled or Peggle, the study was conducted by the Psychophysiology Laboratory at East Carolina University. The research has been ongoing for 6 months and will continue to be studied in depth this year. In total, more than 40 people aged 50 or above participated in the program.

The conclusion drawn so far is that casual games do have a certain auxiliary effect on short-term cognition. This research can assist the medical and health sector in making some rehabilitation contributions in areas such as Alzheimer's disease.

Dr. Carmen Russoniello, head of the Psychophysiology Laboratory at East Carolina University, said that casual games can indeed improve the cognitive level of test subjects to a certain extent, which is something that television cannot do. of.