PopCap's Peggle Hits Shelves Causing 'Extreme Fever'

Focus Multimedia and casual games pioneer, PopCap Games today announced a partnership that sees the long-awaited arrival of PopCap’s critically acclaimed masterpiece, Peggle, at retail.

From the makers of Bejeweled, Peggle combines elements of pinball, pachinko and pool to create a completely different kind of casual game. Players fire a silver ball from the top of the screen, relying on the laws of physics to propel the ball downwards while ricocheting off orange and blue ‘pegs’.

Using a mixture of luck and skill the goal is to clear all the orange pegs before running out of balls. A moving “bucket” at the bottom of the screen offers the chance of free balls, while green pegs give the player one of ten amazing power-ups to help them complete the level.

Since its web launch, Peggle has taken the industry by storm - and both casual and hardcore gamers by surprise. A feast of colour and fun - with rainbows and unicorns and an ‘Ode To Joy’ soundtrack - Peggle has proved an unlikely hardcore hero and is causing ‘Extreme Fever’ wherever - and whenever - it pops up.

Key features of Peggle include:
• Four different modes representing hundreds of levels:
1. Adventure Mode takes players through 55 unique hand-painted levels on a quest to become a Peggle Master
2. Duel Mode allows for head-to-head battles against friends or computer opponents
3. Challenge Mode features increasingly difficult goals across 75 levels
4. Quick Play mode lets players choose their favourite level and power-up combinations, or play a random set of levels and/or power-ups.
• Ten “Peggle Masters” – they teach you how to play but later serve as tricky opponents
• Stunning sound FX and themed music
• “Style Points” reward players for shots that display great skill or just incredible luck!

Craig Johnson, managing director of Focus Multimedia, commented: "We're very excited about launching Peggle because it's so unique, charming and loveable. PopCap's titles really are a breath of fresh air in the PC games space," added Johnson. "Thanks to their massive popularity online, games like Bejeweled 2 and Mystery P.I. The Lottery Ticket have quickly established themselves as best-sellers at retail. With Peggle's excellent pedigree and superb price point, we're forecasting that there will soon be a whole lot more Peggle Masters out there!"

Mark Cochrane, European Director of Business Development at PopCap Games said: “Everyone - from teenagers to pensioners, to female gamers and hardcore ones - raves about Peggle but struggles to ‘peg’ down exactly what it is that makes the game so fun. We, at PopCap, have concluded that nobody can really be told what Peggle is like - you just have to play it for yourself. With that in mind, we are delighted to bring it to retail to give even more people the opportunity to experience the power of Peggle.”

PopCap Games is already a leading developer and publisher of casual games for platforms including Web, PC, Mac, mobile, Xbox, PS2 and iPod and many more. PopCap games have been downloaded more than 1 billion times by consumers worldwide. Flagship title, Bejeweled, has sold more than 10 million units across all platforms and PopCap estimates the Bejeweled franchise has consumed roughly 6 billion hours of consumers’ leisure time since 2001.