Plants vs. Zombies

Plants vs. Zombies is a 2009 tower defense and strategy video game developed and originally published by PopCap Games for Windows and OS X on May 5, 2009. It has since been ported to consoles, handhelds, and mobile devices. The game was designed by George Fan, initially as a more defense-oriented sequel to the fish simulator game Insaniquarium, before developing into a tower defense game featuring plants fighting against zombies. Rich Werner helped with the art style of the game and Laura Shigihara was the composer for the game's music.

"PvZ" redirects here. For other uses, see PVZ.

Plants vs. Zombies
The cover of the PC version of Plants vs. Zombies with a main zombie from the game.
Developer(s)PopCap Games
Publisher(s)PopCap Games
Designer(s)George Fan
Programmer(s)Tod Semple
Artist(s)Rich Werner
Writer(s)Stephen Notley[1]
Composer(s)Laura Shigihara
SeriesPlants vs. Zombies
EnginePopCap Games Framework
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
OS X
iOS
Xbox 360
PlayStation 3
Nintendo DS
DSiWare
Android
Windows Phone
PlayStation Vita
BlackBerry Tablet OS
BlackBerry 10
Release
Genre(s)Tower defense, strategy
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

In Plants vs. Zombies, the player takes the role of a homeowner in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. To defend their home from zombies, the player places plants that fire projectiles at, or have other detrimental effects on, a horde of advancing zombies. The player collects a currency called "sun" with which plants can be bought. Zombies approach along several parallel lanes on the home's lawn, and the player must plant defenses in these lanes. If a zombie makes it to the house on any lane, the level is over.

The game received critical acclaim and was nominated for multiple awards. It won the "Download Game of the Year" and "Strategy Game of the Year" as part of Golden Joystick Awards 2010. Plants vs. Zombies received praise for its simplistic but engaging gameplay and humorous art style. It was followed by a range of further games, including two direct sequels (Plants vs. Zombies 2 and Plants vs. Zombies 3), three third-person shooters (Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2, and Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville) and two spin-offs (Plants vs. Zombies Adventures and Plants vs. Zombies Heroes).

Gameplay
Pool level in progress

Plants vs. Zombies is a tower defense and strategy video game[2][3] in which the player defend a house from zombies.[4] The playing field is divided into a grid[5] of five or six horizontal rows and nine columns, and is generally stylized as a lawn with a house at the left side.[1][6] The player places different types of plants and fungi on the individual squares of the grid.[6] Each plant has a different style of defense,[5] such as shooting or exploding.[6][5] Different types of zombies also have their own gimmicks, with certain plants being more effective against each one.[5][6] The player can only pick a limited number of plants through seed packets at the beginning of each level,[7] and must pay using a currency called "sun" to place them.[5][8] The player can gather sun by either clicking on the sun that randomly generate over the lawn,[1][8] or that is generated by certain plants, like Sunflowers, Twin Sunflowers, and Sunshrooms.[6][9] If zombies reach the right edge of the lane, they can be mowed down by a lawnmower at the end of each row, clearing all zombies in its path.[10] If the zombie reaches the end of the lane and the lawnmower has already been used, the player has to start the level over.[1]

In the Adventure Mode, there are five stages, each divided into ten levels.[1] Starting on the first level of stage two (level 2-1), zombies can sometimes drop money when killed. The money can be spent at Crazy Dave's TwiddyDinkies, which is unlocked after level 3-4.[6][1] Crazy Dave offers boosts that players use to upgrade already placed plants and gardening tools for the player's Zen Garden.[5][6] The Zen Garden is unlocked after the player beats level 5-4,[1] and has the player water and maintain a group of plants[5] that are randomly dropped after a zombie is killed.[1] In return, the plants give the player money.[5] The fifth level of every stage has a mini-game challenge of some sort, often utilizing a conveyor belt that gives different types of plants to the player, and are introduced by Crazy Dave, the proprietor of the in-game shop.[4] The tenth level of every stage has plants being given to the player through a conveyor belt without a mini-game type gimmick.[1] Stages one, three, and five take place in daytime, while stages two and four take place in nighttime.[1][9] The game has the player use the fungi plants during the nighttime stages due to their lower cost, sun not being generated during the night, and fungi plants sleeping during daytime stages.[1][9][4] Stages three and four take place in the backyard of the house, which has six lanes and features a pool that takes up the middle two lanes.[1][9] The pool requires the player to place the plants on lily pads; these can be placed directly on pool lanes, while most other plants cannot.[4] The lawnmowers are useless on the pool lanes. To make up for this, the player can buy pool cleaners from Crazy Dave's TwiddyDinkies as a replacement.[1] Stage five takes place on the roof of the house.[11] The roof has the player use catapult plants rather than the normal shooting plants due to the roof slanting upward in the middle. The roof has no lawnmowers with it, but the player can buy roof cleaners from Crazy Dave's TwiddyDinkies as a replacement.[1] The last level of the game has the player facing against Dr. Zomboss, an evil scientist and the "animator" of the zombies. He crushes the player's plants with his Zombot's feet and vans, and can place fire and ice balls that roll across a lane. The player can subdued these using by Jalapeños and Ice Shrooms.[12]

After beating the main game, Adventure mode, the player can choose to play through Adventure mode again, this time with the plants unlocked from the previous course of playing Adventure mode and with Crazy Dave randomly selecting three of the plants at the beginning of each level.[13][14] There are three game modes the player can also play after beating Adventure mode: Mini-Games mode, Puzzle mode, and Survival mode. In Mini-Games mode, the player selects from twenty levels known as mini-games.[5] The levels pose the player with many unique challenges that use some sort of gimmick,[15] often ultilzing variants of a conveyor belt to give the player certain plants.[16] Before beating Adventure mode, the player can play three levels from Mini-Games mode after collecting a gift box in level 3–2.[1] In Puzzle mode, the player can play two types of levels, Vasebreaker and I, Zombie.[5][17] In Vasebreaker, the player breaks open a set of vases that can contain either a plant or a zombie.[18] The game ends when all the vases are smashed and all the zombies have been killed.[1][5] In I, Zombie, the player places zombies to get past pre-placed cardboard cut-outs of plants to eat the brain at the other side of each lane.[5][7][1] Survival mode offers the player a selection of levels that have the player choose plants between each wave to fight increasingly harder waves of zombies.[5][19]

Development

Concept

Plants vs. Zombies was designed by George Fan. He was inspired to make the game a tower defense game after both thinking of a more defense-oriented version of a previous title of his, Insaniquarium, and playing some Warcraft III tower defense mods.[20] Fan had the idea of a sequel to Insaniquarium for the Nintendo DS, a hand-held games console with two screens. Aliens would come into top tank to fight defensive and stacked fish and the bottom tank would be resource manager that would function similar to original game.[21] But, inspired by the towers in Warcraft III, he felt that plants would make good defensive structures. He wanted to bring something new to the genre with his game, and he found common tower defense game-play elements such as mazing and juggling to be too awkward, causing him to use the five- and six-lane set-ups that were used in the final version.[22][17] Originally, enemies were going to be the aliens from Insaniquarium. But while sketching concept art, Fan drew a sketch of what he considered "the perfect zombie", and the theming was reworked.[23]

Some of the characteristics that defined Insaniquarium influenced the development of Plants vs. Zombies. Players advance at a similar pace by receiving new plants. Also, the way plants are chosen at the beginning of each level was derived from the way pets are chosen in Insaniquarium.[22] Another inspiration for the game's mechanics came from a scene in the film Swiss Family Robinson in which the family defends against pirates.[20][24] Fan included elements from the trading card game Magic: The Gathering, which he had played with his girlfriend, Laura Shigihara. Showing her how to customize their card decks inspired him to design Plants vs Zombies with seed packets rather than his original idea of using a conveyor belt that produced randomly selected plants, due to the greater complexity of the seed packet method. While the conveyor belt idea was dropped from the more common game mode, it remained as a special element in select levels.[17] The use of five lanes was influenced by the game Tapper.[22][17]

Design

Fan designed the tutorial to be simplistic and spread throughout the game to get casual gamers into the game.[25] During development, it was discovered that newcomers to the genre of real-time strategy may have a hard time learning the concept behind sun collection. So, the price of the income-generating sunflowers was dropped from 100 to 50 to encourage players to buy them over the attacking peashooter. As a result, the balance between plants and zombies had to be restructured—a move that Fan said was definitely worth the effort.[22] Programmers focused on Adventure mode for much of the first year of development. Upon finishing some items ahead of schedule, the main programmer, Tod Semple,[1] began working on ideas that would later be used for Mini-Games mode.[17] Some ideas for the Puzzle mode section would later be tweaked and moved into Adventure mode; "Vasebreaker" and "I, Zombie", for example, came from single-level concepts for mini-Games. During testing, Fan found that Mini-Games mode and Puzzle mode seemed to detract from the focus on Adventure mode, so the additional modes had most of their levels locked, requiring advancement within Adventure mode in order to become unlocked.[17]

The final designs of the zombies and the plants are similar to how they were initially. After searching for an artist, he discovered Rich Werner, who Fan thought clicked with what he intended for the design. He attributed the intrigue of the design to its animation scheme; Semple suggested that they animate it in Flash and export it into the game. Fan worried that this would look like it was cut out from paper, and would resemble South Park too much, but was satisfied in the end, attributing this to Semple and Werner's talents.[17]

Name

When the game featured aliens, its working title was Weedlings.[21][24] It was changed to Plants vs. Zombies after the enemies were changed to zombies. Plants vs. Zombies was initially a placeholder name.[26] The planned name for most of the development was Lawn of the Dead, a pun on the title of the George A. Romero zombie film Dawn of the Dead.[27] However, Romero did not allow Fan to use the name. Fan sent him a video of Fan dressed as a Zombie Temp Worker grunting and programming on a computer with the subtitles saying something about runtime errors. The video was a plead to let Fan use the name. Romero still did not allow usage of the name.[21][26] There were many other planned names including Bloom & Doom, which would later be used as the branding on the seed packets in-game, and Residential Evil.[26][28]

Characters

Crazy Dave was a parody of a person Fan knew in real life, but more insane.[27] In the final game, 49 plants can be unlocked.[1] Of the plants, Fan was most proud of the Tall-nut, Torchwood, and Cob Cannon plants. He explained that the Tall-nut has character, citing its "determined gaze" and how it sheds a single tear when hurt. Shigihara could not stand to see this and protected it with a protective plant called a Pumpkin, which can protect plants inside it. He felt that the Torchwood – which gives Peashooters flaming ammunition – required players to think of how plants interacted with each other.[22] Another favorite plant of Fan's was the Squash, due to how its name suggested its purpose; to squash things.[29] A plant was proposed that is similar to the defensive item Umbrella Leaf, which would be planted above other plants to protect them from Bungee Zombies and Catapult Zombies. However, it was difficult to visualize their positions.[17] The Umbrella Leaf that made into the final game did protect plants from Bungee Zombies and Catapult Zombies, but they had to be placed next to a plant.[30] Concept art of many of the plants were drawn for Plants vs. Zombies, but a lot of them did not make it into the final game.[20]

In the final game, 51 zombies were added in.[31] Fan's favorite zombie was the Pole Vaulting Zombie, due to the hilarity involved when a player encounters it for the first time, using a specific example where a player tries to block it with the Wall-Nut, only to have the zombie jump over it.[22] Newspaper Zombie was initially just a zombie reading a newspaper. However, Rich Werner drew Newspaper Zombie to make it look like the zombie was on the toilet before turning into a zombie. This led to Fan being asked by his brother, "Was Newspaper Zombie based on Dad?" as Fan's father would often read the newspaper, oftentimes on the toilet. Despite Fan claiming no such intention, Fan considers this his favorite story behind a zombie.[27] Originally, Dancing Zombie resembled Michael Jackson from the music video for "Thriller".[3] Though the Jackson-inspired zombie was present in the game before Jackson's death, the estate of Michael Jackson objected to its inclusion more than a year after his death; PopCap agreed to remove the Jackson-inspired zombie and replaced it with a more generic disco-dancing one for all future patches and releases of the game.[32] Many other zombies originally designed for Plants vs. Zombies, but a lot of them were cut during development.[27][21]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for Plants vs. Zombies was composed by Shigihara. It borrows elements from pop music as well as a console chiptunes.[33] Before the inception of Plants vs. Zombies, Fan asked his girlfriend, Shigihara,[17] if she would like to compose the music for his next title due to his admiration of Shigihara's music. She accepted, owing to his creativity. Shigihara described the music as "macabre, yet goofy". Using the night stage as an example, she used a combination of Big Band and swing beats with "several haunting and serious melodies". The songs "Loonboon" and "Brainiac Maniac" were written towards the end of production. She stated that these were reactionary songs that she wrote to fit the feel of Plants vs. Zombies after having played through it twice. She drew influence from Danny Elfman's soundtracks, drawing from a wide range of musical styles. For example, one song uses marching band percussion and swing beats; another utilizes techno beats with "organic" sounds.[33] Shigihara also composed and performed the music video shown during the credits of the game, titled "Zombies on your Lawn".[10][34]

Release

On April 1, 2009, PopCap released a music video for the song "Zombies on your Lawn" to promote Plants vs. Zombies.[35][36][37] While this was initially thought by many PC gamers to be an elaborate joke for April Fools' Day,[38] a PopCap spokesperson, Garth Chouteau, revealed in an IGN interview that Plants vs. Zombies would be released soon on PC and Mac.[39] On April 22, 2009, PopCap released an official game trailer of Plants vs. Zombies on YouTube.[40][41][42] During the promotion of Plants vs. Zombies, PopCap released a demo version of the game that allowed you to play the game for thirty minutes.[43] Plants vs. Zombies was officially released on May 5, 2009, for PC and Mac.[1][44] A free flash version of Plants vs. Zombies was released on September 23, 2009.[45]

A Game of the Year edition of Plants vs. Zombies was released on July 11, 2010.[46] It was made available on Steam on August 11, 2010,[47] and anyone who had already purchased a copy of Plants vs. Zombies could have the game update to the Game of the Year edition for free.[48] The Game of the Year edition adds in a Zombatar feature that allows the player to customize a zombie's face.[lower-alpha 1] The edition also has support for Steam Cloud, a feature that lets players access save data of a video game from different computers.[47]

Mobile phone versions

During the announcements for Plants vs. Zombies, PopCap Games revealed that after the release on PC, Plants vs. Zombies would be ported to other platforms.[39][41] On August 20, 2009, it was announced on IGN that Plants vs. Zombies would be ported onto the iPhone near the end of 2009.[49] The trailer was released onto YouTube on February 8, 2010, announcing the port's release date.[50][51] The iPhone port was officially released on February 15, 2010.[52][53][54] The port included a tweaked interface for iPhone users and a Quick Play mode that allowed the player to play any level in Adventure mode, but removed the Mini-Games mode, the Puzzle mode, and the Survival mode.[38][55]

On March 25, 2010, Emily Rose of PadGadget revealed that the updated iTunes interface included upcoming game titles including ports of iPhone games for the iPad, with Plants vs. Zombies being one of them. If the upcoming games are clicked, an error message will appear, saying "the item you've requested is not currently available in the US store".[56] [57][58] The iPad port of Plants vs. Zombies, named Plants vs. Zombies HD, was released on April 5, 2010.[59] The port utilized the iPad's 11 touch sensors,[60] and added back in the Survival mode and the Mini-Games mode,[61] which includes an iPad-exclusive mini-game called "Buttered Popcorn".[62][63]

On May 16, 2011, PopCap Games officially announced that Chuzzle would be available on the Amazon app store for Android devices for the next two weeks with Plants vs. Zombies becoming available later in the month. They would both be free on launch day and cost $2.99 afterwards.[64][65] On May 31, 2011, Plants vs. Zombies was released onto the Amazon app store.[66][67] On December 13, 2011, it was announced through a press release that PopCap Games would be releasing Plants vs. Zombies and Peggle through the Android Market.[68] It was officially made available on Google Play Store the following day.[69]

Plants vs. Zombies has been ported to other mobile devices. On June 23, 2011, the game was ported to the Windows Phone as part of Xbox Live.[70] On November 14, 2011, and January 30, 2013, Plants vs. Zombies was ported to the Kindle Fire[71][72] and Blackberry 10[73][74] respectively as a launch app. The game was later ported to another BlackBerry device, the BlackBerry Playbook.[75] Plants vs. Zombies was ported to Nook HD and Nook HD+ on November 14, 2012.[76]

Console versions

Plants vs. Zombies was announced for the Xbox 360 in July 2010.[77][78] It would be available as both a singular copy and bundle copy with Peggle and Zuma.[77] The game was ported to the Xbox 360 at Xbox Live on September 8, 2010.[79] To make the game feel natural when using the controller, the cursor was locked onto the lawn's grid pattern and sun could float towards the cursor.[80] A versus mode, a co-op mode, and new mini-game were added to the port.[78] The versus mode had one player play as the plants and another player as the zombies.[81] The goal of the zombies is to get past the plants to the house and the plants' goal is to kill three of the five target zombies at the right side of the lawn.[82] A PlayStation Network port of Plants vs. Zombies was announced on January 28, 2011[83] and was released on February 8, 2011.[84][85]

The DS port of Plants vs. Zombies was announced in August 2010.[86][87] The port was released on January 18, 2011, in North America[88] and May 6, 2011, in Europe and Australia.[89] The port included in the Zombatar feature and the versus mode from the Xbox Live version. It also added four new exclusive mini-games.[90][91] On March 14, 2011, the DSiWare port was released in North America. It was released on May 6, 2011, in Europe and Australia.[89][92] The main difference between the DS version and the DSiWare version is that the in the DSiWare version, with the exception of Adventure mode and Mini-Games mode, all the game modes were removed. The only levels in Mini-games mode were the exclusive mini-game levels in the original DS version and a new mini-game level called "Zombie Trap".[92]

The PlayStation Vita port was announced on December 22, 2011[93] and released on February 21, 2012, in North America, and in Europe as a launch title on February 22, 2012.[94][95] The port allows the player to play using either the touch screen or the controllers. It also introduces the ability to shake the PlayStation Vita in order to collect suns and money. The game does not have multiplayer, unlike other console versions.[96][97]

Reception

On May 20, 2009, it was reported that Plants vs. Zombies was the fastest-selling video game created by PopCap Games, though the amount of sales was not initially reported.[113][114] In a presentation at Game Developers Conference China 2010, James Gwertzman revealed that Plants vs. Zombies had sold 1.5 million copies internationally.[28] Fan estimated that half of the game's sales are from hardcore gamers.[114] Larry Hryb, director of programming for Xbox Live, reports that Plants vs. Zombies was the thirteenth most purchased 2011 game on Xbox Live Arcade.[115] Plants vs. Zombies was particularly successful when it was added to the iOS app store.[26] According to PopCap, the iOS release of Plants vs. Zombies sold more than 300,000 copies in the first nine days it was available on the App Store, generating more than $1M in gross sales, and considered it "the top-grossing iPhone launch".[116][117]

Plants vs. Zombies has received critical acclaim. According to Metacritic, all versions have received generally favorable reviews, with the exception of the iOS versions, which received universal acclaim,[99][100] and the DSiWare version, which received mixed or average reviews.[104] Some reviewers felt that while the game's core mechanic was easy to understand, the game itself was challenging[3][2][22][14] with GamesRadar+ author Tom Francis saying "...it's casual only in the sense that it's easy to understand. There's nothing casual about the 30 goddamn hours we've spent, effectively, gardening,"[6] Seth Schisel from The New York Times saying, "This is a game that an 8-year-old should be able to enjoy but also one that will keep awake adults..."[118] and Alice Liang from 1Up.com saying "Despite its initial approachability, PvZ gets surprisingly challenging toward the end of the game."[10] Not every reviewer agrees,[7] with GameSpot editor Chris Watters saying "Tower defense veterans will have to endure a lot of simple, familiar action in order to find a real challenge, and the wait may prove too long for some."[5] and Tae Kim from GamePro commenting "I won't say that the game is a cakewalk but it is not particularly challenging either; I never had to restart a level once and I'm pretty terrible at these sorts of games."[11] John Walker of Rock, Paper, Shotgun found that the difficulty at some moments felt artificial.[16]

Despite his criticism about the game's difficulty, Watters praised Plants vs. Zombies for its constant introduction of new units keeping the game fresh.[5] Eurogamer editor Christian Donlan agrees, saying "Every new enemy forces you out of your comfort zone, while each additional weapon promises a fresh strain of mischief, or a tactic you simply hadn't considered yet."[9] Many critics have commended Plants vs. Zombies for its minimalistic tutorial allowing for experimentation[2][111] with some believing that the entire Adventure mode is a long tutorial or a warmup for other game-modes.[18][19] Many critics praise the game for its additional game modes, which offer replay value,[5][16] with Francis saying "By the time you finish the Adventure, the obscene wealth of other things to do already outweighs it for entertainment value."[6]

The art style and music of Plants vs. Zombies has also been praised.[16] Susan Arendt from the Escapist said "The music is excellent, the art is charming and adorable, and the game's sense of humor will really have you grinning."[13] Many reviewers have called the graphics from Plants vs. Zombies adorable.[7][11][5] Watters said "All of the units are cleverly realized and adorably animated." He further clarified "From angry jalapenos to spacy wall-nuts, each unit has a great sense of personality".[5] Some have also noted its humor,[14] with Earnest Cavalli from Wired saying "You'd think that slaying hundreds of reanimated bodies would be somber or terrifying, but every level of the game offers something to laugh about"[3] and Marc Saltzman from Gamezebo finding humor in the many ways to kill the zombies.[110] IGN editor Daemon Hatfield praises the soundtrack of Plants vs. Zombies, calling it a "catchy, organic soundtrack that becomes more intense as your yard is flooded with enemies".[36] Saltzman also enjoyed the soundtrack, saying "The catchy music is also top-notch, with more than a dozen original pieces that change based on what's happening onscreen."[110] In contrast, Walker found the soundtrack "disappointing", saying "After the promise of the gorgeous music video, the hope of similarly catchy in-game tunes is not kept."[16]

Plants vs. Zombies has been ported to other platforms. The iPhone port of Plants vs. Zombies was commended for being faithful to the PC version and addition of quick play mode, but were disappointed by the lack of most of the game-modes.[38][112][55] Many critics praised the iPad port adding back the Mini-Games mode and the Survival mode along with a new exclusive mini-game called "Buttered Popcorn".[61][62][63] The Xbox 360 port of Plants vs. Zombies was praised for its addition of exclusive game-modes, including a Co-op mode and a Versus mode.[4][109][82] The Nintendo DS port was commended for the addition of four new mini-games and the Versus mode from the Xbox 360 version, but was considered inferior in its animation and graphics.[90] The port was criticized for its high price compared to other ports, the top screen of the DS only being used for the flag meter, and the frame rate dropping during events of zombies and plants filling the screen.[119][107]

Awards

The game has been nominated for various categories in the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards,[120] the 13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards,[121] the 10th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards,[122][123] and the 6th[124] and 7th British Academy Games Awards.[125] It has also won in the categories of "Download Game Of The Year" and "Strategy Game Of The Year" in the Golden Joysticks Awards 2010,[126] and in the category of "Best Casual Game" in the 7th International Mobile Gaming Awards.[127] Electronic Arts has claimed that Plants vs. Zombies has won more than 30 Game of the Year awards.[128]

Year Award ceremony Category Result Ref.
2009 2009 Spike Video Game Awards Best PC Game Nominated [120]
Best Downloadable Game
2010 13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards Casual Game of the Year [121]
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
10th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards Best Game Design [122][123]
Innovation Award
Best Downloadable Game
6th British Academy Games Awards Strategy in 2010 [124]
Golden Joystick Awards 2010 Download Game Of The Year Won [126]
Strategy Game Of The Year
Portable Game Of The Year Nominated
2011 7th International Mobile Gaming Awards Best Casual Game Won [127]
7th British Academy Games Awards Strategy in 2011 Nominated [125]

Legacy

George Fan's layoff and Octogeddon

PopCap Games and its assets were bought by EA on July 12, 2011, for 750 million dollars.[129] Fifty employees were laid off in the Seattle studio of PopCap Games on August 21, 2012, to mark a switch of focus to mobile and social gaming.[130] After a statement in a podcast, Roundtable Live, by Edmund McMillen, creator of The Binding of Isaac, rumors circulated around 2012 that Fan was fired by EA because he opposed the implementation of pay-to-win mechanics in Plants vs. Zombies 2. Fan did admit in a 2017 tweet that he was laid off and that he did oppose the freemium aspects of Plants vs. Zombies 2, but did not make a correlation between the two things. The suggestion that Fan was fired because of his concerns about Plants vs. Zombies 2 was later debunked by three former PopCap employees, including Allen Murray, a former producer of Plants vs. Zombies 2. They said that Fan was laid off as part of the systematic lay-offs in August 2012 and that Fan was not even part of the Plants vs. Zombies 2 team, as he was working on other ideas for games at the time, including a game called Full Contact Bingo. He had lost interest in Plants vs. Zombies when EA envisioned the game as a huge franchise.[131][132]

After getting laid off, Fan worked on the arcade action-strategy game, Octogeddon,[133] originally as part of a Ludum Dare contest.[134] After the idea was received positively, Fan formed a company along with Werner, the artist of Plants vs. Zombies, and Kurt Pfeiffer, the programmer of the Xbox 360 port. He further developed the game for several years.[135] The game was beta-tested in December 2017[136] and was officially released on February 8, 2018[137] to generally positive reviews, according to Metacritic.[138] The game was ported onto the Nintendo Switch on May 16, 2019.[139] The game had the player play as an octopus going through five levels, destroying structures and enemies with limbs that can be bought and upgraded.[133]

Sequels and spin-offs

On August 20, 2012, PopCap announced that they were working on a sequel to Plants vs. Zombies.[140] Its release date would be set at late spring of 2013.[141] However, the game's status was in doubt shortly after the announcement when the company went through a period of layoffs.[130] A spin-off called Plants vs. Zombies Adventures was announced in March 2013[142] and was released on May 20, 2013, on Facebook. The game added new locations and new plants. It also had a gameplay feature in which the player had a limited amount of plants and had to grow more plants at an in-game farm.[143] In July 2014, it was announced that Plants vs. Zombies Adventures would close down on October 12, 2014.[144]

In October 2012, PopCap Games purchased website domains that suggested that the sequel to Plants vs. Zombies was going to be called Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare.[145] However, in May 2013, PopCap Games released a trailer revealing that the game sequel would be called Plant vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time.[146][147] The game was soft-launched for the iOS in Australia and New Zealand on July 10, 2013[148] and was officially released on August 14, 2013, as a freemium title.[149] The game featured new locations and plants along with the addition of plant food, a power-up that can be used to enhance a plant for a short period and can either be bought using in-game currency or given by defeating certain zombies that are glowing green.[150]

Though it did not turn out to be the sequel to Plant vs. Zombies, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare was announced on E3 2013 as a multiplayer third-person shooter game.[151][152] Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare was released on February 25, 2014, in North America and on February 27, 2014, in Europe.[153] A sequel, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2, was teased in June 2015 and officially announced in E3 2015.[154][155] The game was released on February 23, 2016.[156] On March 10, 2016, PopCap announced Plants vs. Zombies Heroes, which was a digital collectible card game in the style of tower defense. It was soft released to certain countries on the same day,[157] and was fully released internationally on October 18, 2016.[158]

In August 2019, a closed beta of a follow-up to Plant vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 codenamed "Picnic" was made available to select players through invites.[159] On September 4, 2019, EA announced the game under the title Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville. It was released at an early access state that same date. The game was fully released on October 18, 2019.[160][161] In July 2019, EA announced Plants vs. Zombies 3, another free-to-play mobile title in the series. It was launched in a pre-alpha state for Android in July 2019.[162][163] The game soft-launched in February 2020 in the Philippines, Romania, and Ireland.[164] It was then made unavailable in October 2020, becoming unplayable in November 2020. EA has plans to release an improved version of the game in the future.[165]

According to Metacritic, with a few exceptions, all the sequels and spin-offs of Plants vs. Zombies received generally positive reviews,[166] Fan, despite his opposition to the freemium model that Plants vs. Zombies 2 took on,[24] has praised the series for deleving into different genres, particularly Plants vs. Zombies Heroes taking on the digital card collecting genre, and hopes that EA will continue branching the Plants vs. Zombies series into more genres, but still keeping the charm of the original.[27]

Other media

Zen Studios collaborated with PopCap to make a DLC interactive pinball table based on Plants vs. Zombies using official PopCap assets during development of Zen Pinball 2 and Pinball FX 2.[167][168] The DLC was released on September 4, 2012, in North America and September 5 in Europe.[169][170]

In 2013, Dark Horse Comics started publishing comics based on Plants vs. Zombies digitally, and then collecting them into graphic novels. Starting in 2015, Dark Horse Comics started releasing an issue of the comic series monthly, both in digital and print. Every three issues would be a separate miniseries. The first miniseries was called Bully for You.[171]

Cultural references

According to Christ Carter, editor-in-chief of Destructoid, Plants vs. Zombies has been a subject of many homages and references in pop-culture. Fan's favorite homage is the Magic: The Gathering card, "Grave Bramble",[27] which was created as part of the Innistrad expansion.[172] A recreation of Plants vs. Zombies was added as a mini-game quest known as "Peacebloom vs. Ghouls" to World of Warcraft as part of the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm expansion.[173][174] Shigihara provided some music for the mini-game quest.[175][176]

See also
  • List of most downloaded Android applications

Notes
  1. There were announcements of the original game before its release that showcased Zombatar,[41][42] but the feature was not included in the original game.

References
  1. "Plants vs. Zombies Readme". Popcap Games. Archived from the original on January 6, 2012. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
  2. "Review: Plants Vs Zombies". Edge. May 5, 2009. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  3. "Review: Masterful Plants vs. Zombies Proves Less Is More". Wired. May 5, 2009. Archived from the original on September 5, 2009. Retrieved September 5, 2009.
  4. Orry, Tom (September 10, 2010). "Plants vs. Zombies Review". Videogamer. Archived from the original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  5. Watters, Chris (May 5, 2009). "Plants vs. Zombies Review for PC". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 28, 2010. Retrieved March 16, 2010.
  6. Francis, Tom (May 11, 2009). "Plants vs. Zombies Review". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on March 10, 2020. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  7. Scott, Ryan (August 20, 2009). "The Consensus: Plants vs. Zombies Review". GameSpy. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  8. Mastrapa, Gus (May 11, 2009). "Plants Vs. Zombies". The AV Club. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  9. Donlan, Christain (May 5, 2009). "Plants vs. Zombies". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on March 21, 2020. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  10. "Plants vs Zombies Review for the PC from". 1Up.com. May 8, 2009. Archived from the original on March 16, 2015. Retrieved March 16, 2010.
  11. Kim, Tae K. (May 5, 2009). "Plants vs. Zombies". GamePro. Archived from the original on May 11, 2009. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  12. Macgregor, Jody (June 14, 2020). "Great moments in PC gaming: Bowling in Plants vs. Zombies". PC Gamer. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  13. Arendt, Susan (May 5, 2009). "Review: Plants vs. Zombies". The Escapist. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  14. Bennett, Collete; Nicolson, Brad (May 5, 2009). "Destructoid review: Plants vs. Zombies". Destructoid. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  15. Buffa, Chris (May 11, 2009). "Plants vs Zombies Review (PC)". GameDaily. Archived from the original on May 14, 2009. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  16. Walker, John (May 5, 2009). "The Plants Vs. Zombies Review". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  17. "Flower Defence". Edge. May 5, 2009. Archived from the original on August 21, 2010. Retrieved September 5, 2009.
  18. Pavlov (June 29, 2009). "A Review of Plants vs. Zombies". Absolute Games (in Russian). Archived from the original on May 13, 2019. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  19. Bergervoet, Erwin (May 14, 2009). "Plants vs. Zombies". Gamer.nl (in Dutch). Archived from the original on July 19, 2009. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  20. Thompson, Michael (March 19, 2010). "Aliens in the garden: the secret origin of Plants vs. Zombies". Ars Technica (Interview). Archived from the original on March 22, 2010. Retrieved March 20, 2010.
  21. Smith, Graham (November 2, 2010). "George Fan and his cat on the making of Plants vs. Zombies". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on March 25, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  22. "Interview with Plants vs. Zombies creator George Fan". Gamezebo (Interview). May 22, 2009. Archived from the original on December 23, 2011. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  23. "Take a look at some of the earliest designs for Plants vs. Zombies". Gamasutra. May 6, 2019. Archived from the original on May 6, 2019. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  24. Takahashi, Dean (May 10, 2019). "How George Fan created the wacky Plants vs. Zombies a decade ago". VentureBeat (Interview). Archived from the original on January 11, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  25. Curtis, Tom (March 9, 2012). "GDC 2012: 10 tutorial tips from Plants vs. Zombies creator George Fan". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  26. Walker, James (July 12, 2020). "From Bejeweled to Plants Vs Zombies: How PopCap Got Just About Everyone To Play Their Games". Kotaku. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  27. Carter, Chris (May 4, 2019). "It's the 10th anniversary of Plants vs. Zombies: We talked to the creator about the past, present, and future of the series". Destructoid. Archived from the original on September 28, 2020. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  28. Gwertzman, James (August 1, 2010). "The Making of PopCap's Plants vs Zombies". Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved January 17, 2021 – via Slideshare.
  29. "GameArena Interviews George Fan, Plants vs Zombies Man". GameArena (Interview). June 5, 2009. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2009.
  30. PopCap Games (May 5, 2009). Plants vs. Zombies. Level/area: Suburben Almanac. Umbrella Leaf entry: 'Special: protects adjacent plants from bungees and catapults.'
  31. PopCap Games (May 5, 2009). Plants vs. Zombies. Level/area: Suburben Almanac.
  32. Frustick, Russ (July 27, 2010). "Michael Jackson Estate Forces 'Plants vs. Zombies' Update". MTV. Archived from the original on July 28, 2010. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
  33. "Interview: The Terrifying True Story of The Plants vs. Zombies Soundtrack". Gamasutra (Interview). May 19, 2009. Archived from the original on November 10, 2009. Retrieved September 5, 2009.
  34. Shigihara, Laura. "Zombie on your Lawn – Lyrics". Laura Shigihara's Blog. Archived from the original on September 1, 2010. Retrieved August 18, 2010 – via Wordpress.
  35. Plants vs Zombies Music Video. Plant vs. Zombies Official Channel (PopCap Games). Archived from the original on July 7, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2010 – via YouTube.
  36. Hatfield, Daemon (May 5, 2009). "Plants vs. Zombies Review – PC Review at IGN". IGN. Archived from the original on June 11, 2010. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
  37. NG, Keane (April 1, 2009). "PopCap Reveals Plants vs. Zombies". The Escapist. Archived from the original on February 1, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  38. Hodapp, Eli (February 14, 2010). "'Plants vs. Zombies' – The Zombies... Are Here!". TouchArcade. Archived from the original on July 5, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  39. Ocampo, Jason (April 4, 2009). "No Joke — PopCap Reveals Plants vs. Zombies". IGN (Interview). Archived from the original on April 5, 2009. Retrieved August 11, 2010. PC and Mac initially, with other platforms under consideration.
  40. Plants vs. Zombies Game Trailer. Plants vs. Zombies Official Channel (PopCap). April 22, 2009. Retrieved December 3, 2020 – via YouTube.
  41. NG, Keane (April 24, 2009). "Battle Plants With Your Own Zombies". The Escapist. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  42. Walker, John (April 24, 2009). "SPUDOW! Plants Vs Zombies Trailer, Zombie Maker". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  43. Chester, Nick (May 4, 2009). "Plants vs. Zombies demo eating brains right now". Destructoid. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  44. "PopCap Launches Plants vs. Zombies Game for PC and Mac". IGN. May 5, 2009. Archived from the original on September 13, 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  45. "PopCap Launches Free Flash Version of Plants vs. Zombies". IGN. September 23, 2009. Archived from the original on November 9, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  46. Devore, Jordan (July 11, 2010). "Plants vs. Zombies Game of the Year Edition out now". Destructoid. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  47. "Announcing Plants vs. Zombies Game of the Year Edition". IGN. August 11, 2010. Archived from the original on November 7, 2018. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  48. Leahy, Brian (August 10, 2010). "Plants vs. Zombies Gets GOTY Edition on Steam; New Features for Free Alongside Mac Version". Shacknews. Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  49. "Plants Vs. Zombies to iPhone". IGN. August 20, 2009. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  50. Plants vs. Zombies for iPhone Game Trailer - Game Launches 2/15!. Plants vs. Zombies Official Channel (PopCap). February 8, 2010. Retrieved December 5, 2020 – via YouTube.
  51. Buchanan, Levi (February 8, 2010). "Plants vs Zombies Coming to iPhone Soon". IGN. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  52. Kuchera, Ben (February 15, 2010). "Plants vs. Zombies on the iPhone: Nut up or shut up". Ars Technia. Archived from the original on October 23, 2016. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  53. Chester, Nick (February 15, 2010). "Must buy: Plants vs. Zombies hits App Store, only $2.99". Destructoid. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  54. Bailey, Kat (February 15, 2010). "Plants vs. Zombies Now Available on iTunes". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on April 5, 2012. Retrieved February 15, 2010.
  55. Hatfield, Daemon (February 13, 2010). "Plants vs. Zombies Review – iPhone Review at IGN". IGN. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  56. Rose, Emily (March 25, 2010). "Apple Leaks Approved iPad Apps". Padgadget. Archived from the original on August 8, 2020. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  57. Buchanan, Levi (March 26, 2010). "Apple Mistakenly Reveals iPad Games". IGN. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  58. Schramm, Mike (March 26, 2010). "App Store leak hints at iPad versions of Plants vs. Zombies, Worms". Engadget. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  59. "Plants vs. Zombies HD for iPad Available Now". IGN. April 5, 2010. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  60. Schroeder, Stan (April 26, 2010). "Playing Games on the iPad... with 11 Fingers". Mashable. Archived from the original on October 20, 2020. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  61. Leonard, Shaw (April 19, 2010). "Plants vs. Zombies HD Review". Slide to Play. Archived from the original on November 21, 2012. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  62. Erickson, Tracey (April 8, 2010). "Plants vs. Zombies HD". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  63. Hatfield, Daemon (April 5, 2010). "Plants vs. Zombies HD Review – iPad Review at IGN". IGN. Archived from the original on December 7, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  64. "PopCap Games Signs Exclusive Agreement with Amazon.com to Bring Android Games to Market" (Press release). PopCap Games. May 16, 2011. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved December 6, 2020 – via PR Newswire.
  65. Gallegos, Anthony (May 16, 2010). "PopCap Finally Bringing Games to Android". IGN. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
  66. Kincaid, Jason (May 31, 2011). "Amazon's Android Appstore Gets Another Huge Exclusive: Plants vs Zombies". Techcrunch. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
  67. Osborne, Joe (May 31, 2011). "PopCap's Plants vs. Zombies for Android is free on Amazon today". AOL. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
  68. "PopCap Games Launches Bejeweled® for Google Chrome; Plants vs. Zombies™ and Peggle® for Android Marketplace" (Press release). PopCap Games. December 13, 2011. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved December 6, 2020 – via Business Wire.
  69. "Plants vs. Zombies Is Now Available For Android". EA Games. December 14, 2011. Archived from the original on June 12, 2013. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
  70. "PopCap Games Launches Plants vs. Zombies for Xbox LIVE on Windows Phone". IGN. June 23, 2011. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  71. "PopCap Games Launches Plants vs. Zombies™ for Kindle Fire" (Press release). PopCap Games. November 14, 2011. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved December 6, 2020 – via Business Wire.
  72. Ludwig, Sean (November 9, 2011). "Kindle Fire will launch with apps for Netflix, Facebook, Angry Birds and more". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on December 16, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  73. "BlackBerry shows off some of its 70,000 new third-party apps, including Skype, Rdio, Kindle, and Whatsapp". The Verge. Archived from the original on January 30, 2013. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
  74. Spoonauer, Mark (November 12, 2012). "BlackBerry 10 launches Jan. 30 with two new phones". NBC News. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  75. "Plants vs. Zombies for Blackberry Playbook". BlackBerry App World. Research In Motion Limited. February 16, 2012. Archived from the original on February 19, 2012. Retrieved February 16, 2012.
  76. Alvarez, Edgar (November 14, 2012). "EA bringing more games to Barnes & Noble's Nook HD and Nook HD+". Engadget. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  77. Makuch, Eddie (July 19, 2010). "Plants vs. Zombies XBLA priced and dated". GameSpot. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  78. Robinson, Martin (July 19, 2010). "Plants vs. Zombies Getting Co-op & Versus". IGN. Archived from the original on March 3, 2013. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  79. "Plants vs. Zombies XBLA Dated, Awesome". IGN. Archived from the original on August 6, 2010. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  80. Orland, Kyle (September 27, 2010). "Interview: Popcap's Johnston on Plants vs. Zombies' Tricky XBLA Shift". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on November 15, 2013. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  81. "Xbox Live snags Plants vs. Zombies but with new element: versus, co-op modes". San Francisco Chronicle. February 9, 2012. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  82. Hatfield, Daemon (September 7, 2010). "Plants vs. Zombies Review – Xbox-360 Review at IGN". IGN. Archived from the original on December 7, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  83. Green, Jeff (January 28, 2011). "Plants Vs Zombies Coming Soon to PSN!". Playstation Blog. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  84. Green, Jeff (February 8, 2011). "Plants vs Zombies hits PSN Today With All The Trimmings". Playstation Blog. Archived from the original on October 25, 2020. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  85. "PopCap Launches Plants vs. Zombies for the Playstation Network". IGN. February 8, 2011. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
  86. Webster, Andrew (August 23, 2010). "Plants vs Zombies coming to DS, bringing exclusive content". Ars Technia. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  87. Newton, James (August 23, 2010). "Plants vs. Zombies Eyes Up DS, Licks Rotting Lips". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on September 27, 2017. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  88. "PopCap Launches Plants vs. Zombies for Nintendo DS". IGN. January 18, 2011. Archived from the original on February 20, 2019. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  89. "Plants vs. Zombies(TM) Launched for Nintendo DS(TM) and Nintendo DSiWare(TM) in Europe and Australia" (Press release). PopCap Games. May 6, 2011. Archived from the original on May 20, 2011. Retrieved December 22, 2020 – via PR Newswire.
  90. Hatfield, Daemon (January 9, 2011). "Plants vs. Zombies Review – DS Review at IGN". IGN. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  91. Langshaw, Mark (February 5, 2011). "'Plants Vs. Zombies' (DS)". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  92. Dillard, Corbie (March 16, 2011). "Plants vs. Zombies Review (DSiWare)". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  93. Goldfarb, Andrew (December 22, 2011). "PlayStation Vita Launch Line Up Announced for U.S." IGN. Archived from the original on August 29, 2012. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  94. Green, Jeff (February 21, 2012). "Plants vs Zombies for PS Vita Shambles to PSN Today". Playstation Blog. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  95. Koller, John (October 27, 2011). "Get Your Hands on PS Vita Early with the First Edition Bundle". Playstation Blog. Archived from the original on November 13, 2020. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  96. Hatfield, Daemon (February 25, 2012). "Plants vs. Zombies Review – PS-Vita Review at IGN". IGN. Archived from the original on December 10, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  97. Meunier, Nathan (February 24, 2011). "Plants Vs. Zombies PS Vita Review". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  98. "Plants vs. Zombies for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 26, 2017. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  99. "Plants vs. Zombies for iPhone/iPad Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 24, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  100. "Plants vs. Zombies HD for iPhone/iPad Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on August 19, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  101. "Plants vs. Zombies for Xbox 360 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 19, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  102. "Plants vs. Zombies for DS Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 20, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  103. "Plants vs. Zombies for PlayStation 3 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on July 12, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  104. "Plants vs. Zombies (DSiWare) for DS Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  105. "Plants vs. Zombies for PlayStation Vita Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  106. Calvert, Justin (September 13, 2010). "Plants vs. Zombies Review for Xbox 360". GameSpot. Archived from the original on November 3, 2016. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  107. Calvert, Justin (January 21, 2011). "Plants vs. Zombies Review for DS". GameSpot. Archived from the original on September 16, 2015. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  108. PC: Hatfield, Daemon (May 5, 2009). "Plants vs. Zombies Review – PC Review at IGN". IGN. Archived from the original on June 11, 2010. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
    iPhone: Hatfield, Daemon (February 13, 2010). "Plants vs. Zombies Review – iPhone Review at IGN". IGN. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
    iPad: Hatfield, Daemon (April 5, 2010). "Plants vs. Zombies HD Review – iPad Review at IGN". IGN. Archived from the original on December 7, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
    X360: Hatfield, Daemon (September 7, 2010). "Plants vs. Zombies Review – Xbox-360 Review at IGN". IGN. Archived from the original on December 7, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
    PS3: Hatfield, Daemon (February 8, 2011). "Plants vs. Zombies Review – PS3 Review at IGN". IGN. Archived from the original on December 10, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
    PS-Vita: Hatfield, Daemon (February 25, 2012). "Plants vs. Zombies Review – PS-Vita Review at IGN". IGN. Archived from the original on December 10, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  109. Arendt, Susan (September 22, 2010). "Review: Plants vs Zombies XBLA". The Escapist. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  110. Saltzman, Marc (May 5, 2009). "Plants vs Zombies Review". Gamezebo. Archived from the original on October 30, 2017. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  111. Moioli, Umberto (May 5, 2009). "Plants vs. Zombies - Review". Multiplayer.it (in Italian). Archived from the original on May 9, 2009. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  112. Vanhemert, Kyle (November 8, 2011). "Review: Popcap Plants Vs. Zombies". Wired. Archived from the original on December 22, 2016. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  113. "Plants vs. Zombies is PopCap's fastest-selling game". Joystiq. May 20, 2009. Archived from the original on May 28, 2009. Retrieved September 5, 2009.
  114. "Analysis: The Universal (Brain-Eating) Appeal Of Plants Vs. Zombies". Gamasutra. May 20, 2009. Archived from the original on November 8, 2009. Retrieved September 5, 2009.
  115. Hyrb, Larry (January 6, 2012). "Top Games of 2011". Major Nelson. Microsoft. Archived from the original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  116. Snider, Mike (February 25, 2010). "'Plants vs. Zombies' makes an iPhone killing". USA Today's Game Hunters. Archived from the original on December 4, 2010. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  117. Crecente, Brian (February 25, 2010). "Plants vs. Zombies Rakes In $1M". Kotaku. Archived from the original on December 7, 2020. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  118. Schisel, Seth (June 13, 2009). "If You Lose Your Mind, You Risk Having It Eaten". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 7, 2020. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  119. Cowen, Nicj (May 6, 2011). "Plants vs Zombies – review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  120. "Spike TV Video Game Awards Nominees Missing One Big Thing: Social Games". AOL. November 18, 2009. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  121. "13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards Finalists" (PDF). Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. January 21, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 15, 2010. Retrieved January 24, 2010.
  122. "Uncharted 2, Flower, Assassin's Creed II Lead Finalists for the Tenth Annual Game Developers Choice Awards" (Press release). January 19, 2010. Archived from the original on January 22, 2010. Retrieved January 24, 2010 – via PR Newswire.
  123. "10th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards". Game Developers Choice Awards. March 11, 2010. Archived from the original on October 5, 2020. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  124. "6th British Academy Games Awards". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. March 19, 2010. Archived from the original on April 6, 2015. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  125. "7th British Academy Games Awards". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. March 16, 2011. Archived from the original on November 2, 2016. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  126. Pakinkis, Tom (October 29, 2010). "Golden Joysticks Awards 2010 round-up". Computer and Video Games. Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  127. "Plants vs. Zombies". International Mobile Gaming Awards. 2011. Archived from the original on September 8, 2018. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  128. "Plants vs. Zombies". Electronic Arts. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  129. Takahashi, Dean; Lynley, Matthew (July 12, 2011). "Electronic Arts buys PopCap for $750M". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on November 4, 2020. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  130. Goldfarb, Andrew (August 21, 2012). "Report: Layoffs Hit PopCap, International Studios Shuttered". IGN. Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  131. Schreler, Jason (November 11, 2017). "Widespread Rumor About EA Firing Plants vs. Zombies Creator Isn't Quite True". Kotaku. Archived from the original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  132. O'Brien, Lucy (November 21, 2017). "Update: Plants vs. Zombies Creator's EA Departure Clarified". IGN. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  133. Takahashi, Dean (February 8, 2018). "Octogeddon review — who knew that fighting as a giant octopus could be this fun?". VentureBeat. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  134. Takahashi, Dean (February 7, 2018). "Octogeddon: How Plants vs. Zombies creator spent four years on zany octopus game". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  135. Bradley, Alan (October 10, 2016). "Plants vs. Zombies designer turns his game jam concept into Octogeddon". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  136. "Free games: Win a beta key for the Plants vs. Zombies creator's world-smashing mutant game, Octogeddon!". PCGamesN. December 12, 2017. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  137. "Octogeddon". Steam. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  138. "Octogeddon for PC". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 15, 2020. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  139. Craddock, Ryan (May 1, 2019). "Destroy Everything As An Angry Mutant Octopus When Octogeddon Smashes Onto Switch". Nintendo Life. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  140. Tom, Senior (August 20, 2012). "Plants vs. Zombies 2 announced: 'hordes of new plant and zombie types'". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  141. Krupa, Daniel (August 20, 2012). "Plants VS. Zombies Sequel out Late Spring 2013". IGN. Archived from the original on May 26, 2016. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  142. Grubb, Jeff (March 26, 2013). "Plants vs. Zombies shuffles to Facebook; sequel due in summer". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on September 16, 2016. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  143. Webster, Andrew (May 20, 2013). "'Plants vs. Zombies Adventures' is a Facebook game you'll actually want to play". The Verge. Archived from the original on December 6, 2016. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  144. Shaul, Brandon (July 24, 2014). "EA Announces Closure of Plants vs Zombies Adventures on Facebook". AdWeek. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  145. Goldfarb, Andrew (October 18, 2012). "Plants Vs. Zombies Sequel Called Garden Warfare?". IGN. Archived from the original on January 12, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  146. Yannick, LeJacq (May 6, 2013). "'Plants vs. Zombies' sequel shambling toward release in July". NBC News. Archived from the original on May 12, 2013. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  147. Goldfarp, Andrew (May 6, 2013). "Plants Vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time Coming in July". IGN. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  148. Fahey, Mike (July 10, 2013). "Plants Vs Zombies 2 Is Weeks Away, But Aussies Get To Play Today". Kotaku. Archived from the original on December 25, 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  149. Davis, Justin (August 14, 2013). "Plants vs. Zombies 2 Launching Worldwide Tonight". IGN. Archived from the original on January 11, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  150. Shea, Cam (July 17, 2013). "Plants vs. Zombies 2 Review". IGN. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  151. Yoan, Andrew (June 9, 2013). "Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare coming to E3". Shacknews. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  152. Goldfarb, Andrew (June 10, 2013). "E3 2013: Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare Announced". IGN. Archived from the original on January 11, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  153. Karmali, Luke (January 16, 2014). "Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare Delayed". IGN. Archived from the original on January 17, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  154. Phillips, Tom (June 8, 2015). "Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 teased ahead of E3 reveal". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  155. Savage, Phil. "Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 announced". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on June 17, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  156. "Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2". IGN. Archived from the original on January 11, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  157. Dornbush, Jonathon (March 10, 2016). "Collectible card game 'Plants vs. Zombies Heroes' in the works". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on November 8, 2016. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  158. Minotti, Mike (October 18, 2016). "Plants vs. Zombies Heroes enters the mobile digital card game arena". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  159. McWhertor, Mike (July 22, 2019). "EA sending out alpha invites for new Plants vs. Zombies shooter". Polygon. Archived from the original on January 11, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  160. Fahey, Mike (April 9, 2019). "New Plants Vs. Zombies Shooter Announced, Goes Live Today". Kotaku. Archived from the original on September 15, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  161. Nelson, Xavier (September 11, 2019). "How EA and Plants vs. Zombies are battling binge culture". Polygon. Archived from the original on September 14, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  162. Holt, Kris (July 18, 2019). "'Plants vs. Zombies 3' is on the way and you can test it now". Engadget. Archived from the original on July 18, 2019. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
  163. Webster, Andrew (July 18, 2019). "EA announces Plants vs. Zombies 3". The Verge. Archived from the original on July 18, 2019. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
  164. Madnani, Mikhail (February 28, 2020). "'Plants Vs. Zombies 3' from PopCap and EA Has Soft Launched in Philippines, Romania, and Ireland". Touch Arcade. Archived from the original on January 11, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  165. Forde, Matthew (October 19, 2020). "EA pulls Plants vs. Zombies 3 from soft launch". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  166. Plants vs. Zombies Adventures:
    PC:"Plants vs Zombies Adventure for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 20, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
    Plants vs. Zombies 2:
    iOS: "Plants vs Zombies 2: It's About Time for iPhone/iPad Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on July 20, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
    Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare:
    PC: "Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
    X360:"Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare for Xbox 360 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 30, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
    XONE: "Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
    PS4: "Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 21, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
    Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2:
    PC: "Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on September 12, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
    PS4: "Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
    XONE: "Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on September 12, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
    Plants vs. Zombies Heroes:
    iOS: "Plants vs. Zombies Heroes for iOS Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 8, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
    Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville:
    PC: "Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 6, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
    PS4: "Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville for PS4 reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
    XONE: "Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville for Xbox One reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 6, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  167. Tach, David (September 4, 2012). "How 'Plants vs. Zombies' pinball table was built from authentic zombie parts". Polygon. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  168. Davis, Justin (August 31, 2012). "PAX: Plants vs. Zombies Pinball Revealed". IGN. Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  169. Barsanti, Sam (August 31, 2012). "Plants vs. Zombies shambling to Zen Pinball 2 and Pinball FX2 next week". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on December 9, 2017. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  170. Martin, Liam (August 8, 2012). "'Zen Pinball 2' PS3 release date announced, PopCap table teased". GameSpy. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  171. Yehl, Joshua (March 11, 2015). "Plants vs. Zombies Monthly Comic Series Coming". IGN. Archived from the original on October 12, 2015. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  172. "Scary Stories, Part 2". Wizards of the Coast. September 26, 2011. Archived from the original on April 11, 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
  173. Smith, Quentin (September 20, 2010). "Plants Vs. Zombies Quest In WoW: Cataclysm". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on September 22, 2010. Retrieved September 20, 2010.
  174. Funk, John (September 20, 2010). "Cataclysm Adds Plants vs. Zombies Minigame to WoW". The Escapist. Archived from the original on November 21, 2018. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  175. Ivan, Tom (September 22, 2010). "PopCap 'Delighted' With WOW's Plants Vs Zombies Homage". Edge. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  176. Westbrook, Logan (September 22, 2010). "PopCap Delighted With WoW's Plants vs. Zombies Tribute". The Escapist. Archived from the original on September 25, 2010. Retrieved September 22, 2010.

Media related to Plants vs. Zombies at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.