PopCap Releases Zuma Blitz On Facebook

Five months after announcing the social game adaptation, PopCap Games has launched Zuma Blitz on Facebook, its second release on the platform after Bejeweled Blitz. The company says it spent over a year working on the title, which is unusual in a market where developers usually build a project for two to three months before launching it with a public beta, releasing daily (sometimes hourly) updates to address bugs and player feedback. PopCap likely wanted to ensure the game made a good first impression and to replicate the success its seen with Bejeweled Blitz -- that puzzler is currently the tenth most popular game on Facebook with 11.8 million monthly active users and 4.1 million daily players. The developer adds that Bejeweled Blitz has attracted almost 40 million users, and claims it's "consistently the most engaging game on Facebook, as measured by the ratio of daily to monthly active users." Outside of Facebook, the Zuma series has sold over 20 million units. Zuma Blitz compresses the franchise's ball-exploding concept into a one-minute experience, adding weekly tournaments and new level releases, leaderboards, an experience points system, the ability to compare medals and achievements with friends, and more.