PopCap Splits Mobile Bejeweled Blitz Into Separate Products.

PopCap is moving to unbundle 2 completely different mobile branches of its incredibly popular gem-matching game franchise Bejeweled, splitting the quick-to-play Bejeweled Blitz into a free download separate from the more freeform core game, which can remain pay-to-play.

It shows that, while below the new possession of Electronic Arts, PopCap is adjusting to the changing popularity of business models. Additional games are moving toward free-to-play, where users play for free and pay real money in little amounts for virtual merchandise.

The 2 games were previously offered as different modes during a unified “Bejeweled a pair of + Blitz” download on Apple’s iOS app Store, which was typically sold for ninety nine cents. The separation, being rolled out these days, brings Blitz’s mobile business model additional in line with the free-to-play Facebook version, which makes cash by selling optional in-game “boost” items to over two.five million daily players blitzing through the game’s trademark sixty second bursts.

The mobile version of Blitz, PopCap’s 1st mobile freemium title, uses Facebook Connect to let players compare scores with friends, and offers a new interface and tutorial system over the previous mobile offering. EA offered the same split strategy last week with The Sims. The Sims 3 will remain a premium purchase game, whereas EA can launch The Sims FreePlay with a free-to-play model.

Meanwhile, PopCap can be retiring the most effective-selling iOS version of Bejeweled a pair of in favor of a replacement version, selling for 99 cents, that features improved graphics, game modes and achievements.

PopCap says it's sold forty million copies of the Bejeweled franchise on mobile platforms, putting it second only to the mobile version of Tetris, that is additionally controlled by PopCap parent EA.

Article By: Venturebeat