SEATTLE, Washington and DUBLIN, Ireland, March 3 /PRNewswire/ --

- Top Fan Submissions From U.S. and UK to be Incorporated Into Future Peggle Installment; Prizes Include Trips to Seattle, Retail Spending Sprees, iPhones, Xbox 360s and More

SEATTLE, Washington and DUBLIN, Ireland, March 3 /PRNewswire/ --

PopCap Games, the leading developer and publisher of casual games, today announced a first-of-its kind Peggle(TM) Art Contest, with the top submissions being immortalized in a future installment of the cult classic casual video game. The contest, which opens today and runs through June 3, 2009, is one element of Peggle Fever, a months-long celebration of all things Peggle. Peggle Fever will include other contests and sweepstakes while celebrating the arrival of new adaptations of Peggle for Nintendo DS (arriving today in the U.S.), Apple's iPhone, Microsoft's Xbox 360 and XBLA service, and more.

Available to residents of the 50 United States (and District of Columbia) and the United Kingdom, the Peggle Art Contest will award more than $10,000 in prizes, including trips for the top submitters to visit PopCap's Seattle headquarters, spending sprees at Best Buy, limited edition Peggle merchandise, and iPhones and Xbox 360s with Peggle pre-installed. Entries can involve any aspect of the game's artistic elements, from background scenes to drawn or written descriptions of new Peggle Masters and power-ups, to level designs (peg layouts). Full details of the contest, including entry forms and rules, can be found at http://www.popcap.com/promos/peggleart. Entries can be submitted electronically or by mail.

We get a lot of fan mail from Peggle devotees, including lots of suggestions for background art, new Peggle characters and power-ups, and level designs, and thought an art contest would be a fun way to foster and tap into that creativity and enthusiasm for the game, said Sukhbir Sidhu, co-creator of Peggle and studio director at PopCap. We're excited to see what the rabid Peggle community comes up with in the way of ideas!

Digital contest submissions must be no larger than 5 megabytes in size and analog submissions must arrive on a sheet of paper or other material no larger than 8.5 inches by 11 inches and be no thicker than 4 inches. Nearly any type of ink or paint can be used, from finger-paints or colored pencils to ballpoint pens and magic markers. Judging will be conducted by members of PopCap's art department and development studio, who will weigh creativity and feasibility of submissions along with artistic talent. No copyrighted or trademarked imagery - other than visual elements found in the Peggle games themselves - will be accepted. A sampling of submissions from each week of the contest may be posted to the contest microsite and prizes will be awarded to the top two dozen entries (twelve per age group). Both adult (age 18 and over) and youth (13 to 17) categories are available, with twelve winners being named from each age group.

About PopCap

PopCap Games (http://www.popcap.com) is the leading multi-platform provider of casual games - fun, easy-to-learn, irresistible 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, and Shanghai. Its timeless 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 360 and Nintendo DS), 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.

*Additional Peggle and Peggle Nights materials, including logos and screen shots, can be found at http://www.popcap.com/promos/pressresources/peggle/.

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.

PR Contacts: North America, Garth Chouteau, garth@popcap.com , +1-415-602-8147. International: Cathy Orr, corr@popcap.com , +353-1-480-6286.

PR Contacts: North America, Garth Chouteau, garth@popcap.com , +1-415-602-8147. International: Cathy Orr, corr@popcap.com , +353-1-480-6286.