It looks like we’ll have to wait a little longer for Plants vs. Zombies 2: It’s About Time. PopCap Games have delayed the sequel from its July 18th release date, while the company reviews server stability and the functionality of the game’s new free to play pricing model. Plants vs. Zombies 2 will have a soft launch in the relatively small markets of Australia and New Zealand first, to test out the strain on PopCap’s servers and smoothness of monetary transactions.
In an interview with gaming journalism site, Polygon, Senior Producer Allen Murray outlined the PvZ team’s plans:
“The first Plants vs. Zombies can be played offline, but with Plants vs. Zombies 2we’re taking advantage of a lot of newer technologies,” Murray said. “If you’re connected to the internet, you can save your progress and share accounts across multiple devices — and we need to make sure those systems, along with our ability to stream that content to players, works.”
As we recently reported, the free to play model – using micro transactions within the game instead of charging for the game itself – has proven to be very profitable for games such as Candy Crush Saga. The free to play title charges players small amounts to keep playing or purchase in-game items, and is making approximately $633,000 a day. Popcap hopes its latest Plants vs. Zombies title can find comparable profits.
At this point, PopCap is aiming for a late summer release but no specific date was given. Let us know what you think about the delay and the change in pricing and offline play in the comments!
[Via: Polygon]