PopCap Releases Pop Tower Social Platform In Japan

Casual game developer PopCap Games and Japanese publisher Taito today launched a new game service called Pop Tower, via major Japanese networking provider GREE. The new service has launched with a custom-built version of PopCap's flagship title Bejeweled, adding a number of social features to the classic title. Other PopCap titles, such as Chuzzle and Zuma, are also set to be added to the service. Each Pop Tower enhanced game will feature new game modes and social elements, allowing users to interact with their friends on the GREE network. Pop Tower itself is a metagame with RPG elements in which players have the chance to rescue PopCap characters around their tower by playing well in individual games. Pop Tower is the first product to be released by PopCap's Tokyo office, and comes in the same week that the company announced an exclusive partnership with Chinese social networking site Renren that will see the company release a social adaptation of Plants vs Zombies. The social games developer also announced earlier in the month that it had signed an agreement with Amazon, noting that it will release its first two Android games exclusively on the Amazon Appstore in two-week slots.