DUBLIN, September 29 /PRNewswire/ --

- Founding Father of Casual Games to Become a Granddad With the October Launch of Bejeweled Twist

PopCap Games, the leading developer and publisher of casual games, has announced that it will launch in October, an all-new installment of PopCap's flagship franchise Bejeweled - the most popular casual game of the 21st century. Titled Bejeweled Twist, the new game has been in development for more than three years and will bring a completely new perspective to the "Match-3" genre of puzzle games that the original Bejeweled pioneered eight years ago.

Though PopCap refuses to be drawn on the details of the game, they have announced plans to formally unveil the game at a gala event at Seattle's Experience Music Project Sci-Fi Museum and Hall of Fame on the evening of Monday, October 27, 2008 - the most spectacular launch event in casual games history. The game will initially be available exclusively via Web download from http://www.popcap.com and PopCap has confirmed that local language versions of the game will also follow.

From PCs and Macs, PlayStation and Xbox consoles to mobile phones, PDAs, iPods and iPhones, Bejeweled is available for more than a dozen devices and platforms and is the most popular casual game of the 21st century. More than 350 million copies of Bejeweled/Bejeweled 2 have been downloaded from the Web, accounting for nearly a third of the 1 billion-plus downloads of all PopCap titles. Tens of millions of copies of Bejeweled have been installed on mobile phones worldwide, and more than 25 million units of the game have been sold across all platforms, amounting to over $300 million in consumer spending over the history of the game.

"As our first and most popular game, we're particularly dedicated to Bejeweled and wanted to make sure that our next offering in the lineup delivered as much innovation, polish, and sheer pleasure as possible," explained Jason Kapalka, co-founder and chief creative officer at PopCap. "We spent a long time conceiving and prototyping a totally new direction for Bejeweled Twist. The game will be immediately recognizable to Bejeweled fans, and as accessible as earlier titles in the series, but with far more depth and flexibility. Previous versions of Bejeweled appealed to a pretty broad audience, but we're confident Bejeweled Twist will offer a compelling experience for everyone, from the novice gamer to the seriously hardcore player."

All other details of Bejeweled Twist are currently under wraps and will be disclosed at the game's gala launch event in Seattle on October 27. Credentialed journalists interested in attending the event should contact PopCap PR (above).

About PopCap

PopCap Games (http://www.popcap.com) is the leading multi-platform provider of "casual games" - fun, easy-to-learn, captivating computer games that appeal to everyone from age 6 to 106. Based in Seattle, Washington, PopCap was founded in 2000 and has a worldwide staff of over 200 people in Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Vancouver, B.C., Dublin, Ireland and Shanghai. Its games have been downloaded more than 1 billion times by consumers worldwide, and its flagship title, Bejeweled(R), has sold more than 25 million units across all platforms. Constantly acclaimed by consumers and critics, PopCap's games are played on the Web, desktop computers, myriad mobile devices (cell phones, smartphones, PDAs, Pocket PCs, iPod, iPhone and more), popular game consoles (such as Xbox), and in-flight entertainment systems. PopCap is the only casual games developer with leading market share across all major sales channels, including Web portals, retail stores, consoles, mobile phones and MP3 players.

The PopCap logo and all other trademarks used herein that are listed at http://www.popcap.com/trademarks are owned by PopCap Games, Inc. or its licensors and may be registered in some countries. Other company and product names used herein may be trademarks of their respective owners and are used for the benefit of those owners.

International: Cathy Orr corr@popcap.com +353-1-646-8107

International: Cathy Orr, corr@popcap.com, +353-1-646-8107