Plants vs. Zombies fans have reason to be happy today: The second installment of PopCap’s popular game is officially arriving next month and it won’t leave any dents on your wallet.
PopCap today announced that Plants vs. Zombies 2 will arrive on iOS devices on July 18 and unlike its predecessor, will be available to download for free.
Popcap said that while there will be upgrades and in-game items available for purchase, “players can face every zombie and access every level in every world at no cost.”
Here’s more from PopCap about what’s in store for the sequel:
Designed from the ground up as a live service, the ever-expanding universe of Plants vs. Zombies 2 continues the epic struggle of plants defending your brainz against zombies from your backyard through the vast reaches of time, both past and future. New worlds with new levels, plants, zombies and new ways to play will be released on an ongoing basis. Leveraging the touch interface of Apple’s popular mobile devices, Plants vs. Zombies 2 includes all-new touch-screen power-ups that enable players to “break the fourth wall” and interact with zombies directly, as well as via plant defenses.
The original, massively successful Plants vs. Zombies was originally released for PC and Mac in 2009 and is available across a variety of devices and platforms. Players use pea-shooting plants and other garden-related defenses to protect a home from an advancing wave of the undead.
The game was created by PopCap game designer George Fan. On the GeekWire podcast and radio show last year, PopCap co-founder John Vechey told the story behind Fan’s creation of the game.
“He wanted to make a tower-defense style game. First he needed something that was a tower. He was like, OK, what doesn’t move that has some personality? Plants! The second thing was, OK, what could attack the plants? Aliens. So he’s making this game, Plants vs. Aliens, essentially, and he was like, this stupid, these people have come to Earth in spaceships that can travel faster than light. They’ll destroy these plants. He was really bothered by this, because it felt stupid to have a slow-moving alien. Then he was like, what about zombies? And it just sprouted from there.”
Seattle-based PopCap, also known for titles including Bejeweled, Zuma and Peggle, was acquired last year by Electronic Arts for up to $1.3 billion. EA recently announced a round of layoffs and the closure of the PopCap Vancouver office.
Previously on GeekWire: Calling all zombologists: Plants vs. Zombies trading cards now available
