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.
History
Main series
On April 1, 2009, PopCap released a music video for the song "Zombies on Your Lawn" by Laura Shigihara 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, by 2013 switching from a $2.99 gameplay cost to free-to-play on iOS and Android devices. Critics on mobile devices give the game an average of 4.3-4.8 star ratings.
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. Its release date would be set at late spring of 2013. However, the game's status was in doubt shortly after the announcement when the company went through a period of layoffs.
In May 2013, PopCap Games released a trailer revealing a sequel to the first game, titled Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time. The game was soft-launched for the iOS in Australia and New Zealand on July 10, 2013, and was officially released on August 14, 2013, as a freemium title. 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 acquired by defeating zombies that are glowing green. There are four other power-ups in the game, all of which are bought with coins, the in-game currency. Along with these new add ons, the game continues to make updates from time to time. According to EA News, the Arena and Penny's Pursuit updates, which are different game modes within the game, have been some of their latest major updates, aside from all the mini add ons.
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. The game soft-launched in February 2020 in the Philippines, Romania, and Ireland. 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. On September 7, 2021, Plants vs. Zombies 3 was soft-launched again with substantial changes, such as two-dimensional graphics and the return of the Sunflower as a plantable plant, having the same purpose in the previous iterations.
A film adaptation based on the franchise was pitched at DreamWorks Animation but cancelled.
Spin-offs
A spin-off called Plants vs. Zombies Adventures was announced in March 2013 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. In July 2014, it was announced that Plants vs. Zombies Adventures would close on October 12, 2014.
Since July 2013, Dark Horse Comics has published a Plants vs. Zombies ongoing comic book series, following teenagers Nate Timely and Patrice Blazing as they protect Neighborville from the zombie armies of Dr. Edgar Zomboss, with the help of Patrice's uncle, David "Crazy Dave" Blazing, and his own legion of genetically-modified sentient plants, accessible via the Plants vs. Zombies Comics app. Elements from the comic book series were later adapted to the franchise's video game instalments, and vice-versa.