Plants vs. Zombies is a video game franchise developed by PopCap Games, a subsidiary of Electronic Arts (EA). The series follows the affiliates of David "Crazy Dave" Blazing as they use his plants to defend against a zombie invasion, led by Dr. Edgar George Zomboss. The first game, Plants vs. Zombies (2009), was developed and released by PopCap before its acquisition by EA. After PopCap Games's acquisition, EA expanded the game into a franchise with games on many different platforms.
On April 1, 2009, PopCap released a music video for the song "Zombies on Your Lawn" to promote Plants vs. Zombies. A PopCap spokesperson, Garth Chouteau, revealed in an IGN interview that Plants vs. Zombies would be released soon on PC and Mac. On April 22, 2009, PopCap released an official game trailer of Plants vs. Zombies on YouTube. During the promotion of Plants vs. Zombies, PopCap released a demo version of the game that could be played for thirty minutes. Plants vs. Zombies was officially released on May 5, 2009, for PC and Mac. As of 2013, Plants Vs Zombies, refraining from a $2.99 gameplay, is now free to play on both IOS and Android devices. Critics on mobile devices give the game an average of 4.3-4.8 star rating.
PopCap Games and its assets were bought by EA on July 12, 2011, for 750 million US dollars. 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.
On August 20, 2012, PopCap announced that they were working on a sequel to Plants vs. Zombies.[10] Its release date would be set at late spring of 2013.[11] However, the game's status was in doubt shortly after the announcement when the company went through a period of layoffs.
