4 ms·

IPhone Plants vs Zombies Earns $1M in First Nine Days

41 points by od 17y ago

JunkDNA 17y ago
This is not surprising given that the game is made by the creators of Bejeweled. It's pretty clear that they have lots of experience in what makes a highly addictive casual game.
- mildweed 17y ago
  What is surprising is that they got so much traction so fast. Does anybody know what tactics they used? Or do they have a buddy in the App Store?
  - pxlpshr 17y ago
    Plants vs. Zombies was very popular before it ever hit the AppStore. And, PopCaps already had a massive fan base from Peggle and Bejeweled before P vs Z ever came out; they've been cranking out great stuff for a while now.
  - khafra 17y ago
    Plants vs. Zombies has been the most popular flash game on popcap.com, which is the #804 website in the US(1), for a while. iPhone gamers must have a large overlap with flash gamers. http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/popcap.com http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/popcap.com
  - deleted 17y ago
    [deleted]
  - Luc 17y ago
    I have published a couple of games with PopCap. I think we were very fortunate to work with them. They have immense attention to detail and don't stop working on a game until it's perfect (at least for their in-house games - my own games were not as great). So, PvZ is an awesome game to begin with, and the game-buying public knows they won't be disappointed by a PopCap game. Add to that a huge fan-base for the existing PC version...
  - steveklabnik 17y ago
    PopCap is not afraid to throw away a game that's simply not excellent. They've developed a real reputation for quality, and they guard it really carefully. I've heard stories of games being developed in-house for months, only to end up entirely scrapping them in the end.
tmountain 17y ago
My seven year old daughter adores this game. I'm glad to see they've found success with a game that all ages can enjoy.
j_baker 17y ago
I believe I have all of popcap's games that are available on the iPhone, and I haven't played one I didn't like! They certainly deserve to be successful.
olegk 17y ago
I don't get it. It's a nice Tower Defense clone, but a clone nonetheless. There are hundreds of them out there.
- spoiledtechie 17y ago
  Its the keyword that has sold the game. ZOMBIES....
  - fdb 17y ago
    As someone from Europe, I never really quite understood America's fascination with zombies: endless zombie movie films, semi-serious discussion about what to do when the "Zombie Apocalypse" hits, .... Care to enlighten me?
    - xsmasher 17y ago
      I could speculate wildly. Zombie films play on fear of death/disease, and the fear of someone you know trying to kill you -- or you having to kill them. I don't see anything peculiarly American about those themes though; I'd imagine they're pretty universal. Zombies also represent the fear of something that looks almost human, but is not, and which outnumber you. That resonates with xenophobia (we're outnumbered, they're not human, and they work for $3 a day!) or pure selfish narcissism (I am the only "real" person, everyone else is an automaton / homunculus.) There are also market forces at play - you can shoot dozens of them in the head and still get a "teen" rating for your movie or video game. I'd love to hear other theories. EDIT: Thought of another one. The "zombie apocalypse" shows the breakdown of civilization, and makes us realize that it's only goodwill that keeps society running. Our picture windows, screen doors, and windshields are only "polite" barriers that anyone could break through in an instant if they discarded civilized values. Maybe we (America) fear the end of empire, and are obsessed with what it might look like?
- 83457 17y ago
  ...and Super Mario Brothers was just Pitfall with mushrooms? It is a fun, quirky game. What's not to like?
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
talbina 17y ago
I hate to poop into this thread (i dont want to make a new one), but can someone please tell me the link to a blog post the title of which is something to this effect: "Customer Development: this shit really works" ? thanks

41 points by od 17y ago

This is not surprising given that the game is made by the creators of Bejeweled. It's pretty clear that they have lots of experience in what makes a highly addictive casual game.

mildweed 17y ago
What is surprising is that they got so much traction so fast. Does anybody know what tactics they used? Or do they have a buddy in the App Store?
- pxlpshr 17y ago
  Plants vs. Zombies was very popular before it ever hit the AppStore. And, PopCaps already had a massive fan base from Peggle and Bejeweled before P vs Z ever came out; they've been cranking out great stuff for a while now.
- khafra 17y ago
  Plants vs. Zombies has been the most popular flash game on popcap.com, which is the #804 website in the US(1), for a while. iPhone gamers must have a large overlap with flash gamers. http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/popcap.com http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/popcap.com
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
- Luc 17y ago
  I have published a couple of games with PopCap. I think we were very fortunate to work with them. They have immense attention to detail and don't stop working on a game until it's perfect (at least for their in-house games - my own games were not as great). So, PvZ is an awesome game to begin with, and the game-buying public knows they won't be disappointed by a PopCap game. Add to that a huge fan-base for the existing PC version...
- steveklabnik 17y ago
  PopCap is not afraid to throw away a game that's simply not excellent. They've developed a real reputation for quality, and they guard it really carefully. I've heard stories of games being developed in-house for months, only to end up entirely scrapping them in the end.

tmountain 17y ago

My seven year old daughter adores this game. I'm glad to see they've found success with a game that all ages can enjoy.

j_baker 17y ago

I believe I have all of popcap's games that are available on the iPhone, and I haven't played one I didn't like! They certainly deserve to be successful.

olegk 17y ago

I don't get it. It's a nice Tower Defense clone, but a clone nonetheless. There are hundreds of them out there.

spoiledtechie 17y ago
Its the keyword that has sold the game. ZOMBIES....
- fdb 17y ago
  As someone from Europe, I never really quite understood America's fascination with zombies: endless zombie movie films, semi-serious discussion about what to do when the "Zombie Apocalypse" hits, .... Care to enlighten me?
  - xsmasher 17y ago
    I could speculate wildly. Zombie films play on fear of death/disease, and the fear of someone you know trying to kill you -- or you having to kill them. I don't see anything peculiarly American about those themes though; I'd imagine they're pretty universal. Zombies also represent the fear of something that looks almost human, but is not, and which outnumber you. That resonates with xenophobia (we're outnumbered, they're not human, and they work for $3 a day!) or pure selfish narcissism (I am the only "real" person, everyone else is an automaton / homunculus.) There are also market forces at play - you can shoot dozens of them in the head and still get a "teen" rating for your movie or video game. I'd love to hear other theories. EDIT: Thought of another one. The "zombie apocalypse" shows the breakdown of civilization, and makes us realize that it's only goodwill that keeps society running. Our picture windows, screen doors, and windshields are only "polite" barriers that anyone could break through in an instant if they discarded civilized values. Maybe we (America) fear the end of empire, and are obsessed with what it might look like?
83457 17y ago
...and Super Mario Brothers was just Pitfall with mushrooms? It is a fun, quirky game. What's not to like?

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

talbina 17y ago

I hate to poop into this thread (i dont want to make a new one), but can someone please tell me the link to a blog post the title of which is something to this effect: "Customer Development: this shit really works" ? thanks