PopCap's Bejeweled Twist(TM) Arriving on Retail Shelves Today in Historic Quantities

SEATTLE, Nov. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- PopCap Games, the leading developer and publisher of casual games, announced that its latest hit PC game Bejeweled Twist(TM) is arriving on store shelves today -- in quantities far greater than any previous PC casual game. Carrying a suggested retail price of US$19.95, Bejeweled Twist can be found nationwide on the shelves of Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target and Amazon.com, among other retail chains. With tremendous marketing and point-of-sales support from retail partners, packaging with production values unprecedented for a casual game title, and the game outperforming all previous PopCap titles in terms of first-month sales and downloads since its online debut three weeks ago, Bejeweled Twist is poised to quickly usurp its predecessor Bejeweled(R) 2 as America's top-selling "PC family entertainment" software product.

Bejeweled Twist will ship to retail in greater quantities and with wider distribution than any previous PC casual game. Tens of thousands of stores will carry the game, including nearly a thousand Best Buy locations nationwide. Featuring a revolutionary new style of play and the highest production values of any casual game in history, Bejeweled Twist will be also be localized for European markets and become available via PopCap's international websites later this month. Bejeweled is far and away the most popular casual game franchise of the 21st century, with more than 350 million copies downloaded and over 25 million units sold.

"Support for PopCap products at retail is at an all-time high and continues to grow, with our games currently being carried in over 20,000 retail locations in North America," stated Glenn Drover, Director of Retail Sales for North America. "The average customer will enjoy hundreds of hours of Bejeweled Twist, and at just twenty dollars it certainly represents the best value for the entertainment software dollar. We're looking forward to strong retail sales this holiday season."

From November 18 extending into the holiday season, Bejeweled Twist will see support in the form of advertising (Best Buy, Target), special online placement (Target, Amazon.com), exclusive offers (Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, Best Buy) and large in-store displays such as end caps, half-pallets and temporary corrugate fixtures (Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target, Fred Meyer). Additionally, Amazon.com will be partnering with PopCap.com to kick off a $100,000 give-away sweepstakes.

Bejeweled Twist removes the barriers of traditional match-3 games. Instead of swapping adjacent jewels to make a set, players rotate an entire 2x2 block of gems clockwise in an effort to create a line of three or more gems of the same type. Further, in Bejeweled Twist players don't have to make a match with every move -- instead they can freely rotate gems anywhere on the board, allowing far greater liberty of movement and vastly increased strategic freedom to plan combinations, cascades and chains. From the most stunning high-def visuals and widescreen play to half a dozen new types of bonus and power gems and four unique modes of play, Bejeweled Twist is light years ahead of earlier versions of the game in every respect.

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 Bejeweled Twist materials, including logos and screen shots, can be found at http://www.popcap.com/promos/pressresources/.

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