PopCap, Square Enix Bring Casual Games To Japan

Major publisher and developer Square Enix and casual game publisher and developer PopCap Games (Bookworm, Zuma) today announced a new agreement that will bring PopCap's catalog of PC and web games to the Japanese market. As part of the agreement, Square Enix will distribute PopCap’s titles via its new casual games download service, available now through the Gyao Japanese portal. Square Enix’s download service will initially provide four PopCap games, all available for free trial play as well as for purchase over the download service. Additional PopCap titles will be added to the service in the coming months. The companies have not announced which four titles will make up this initial offering. PopCap, with 95 employees based in Seattle, Washington, San Francisco, California and Dublin, Ireland, is the largest and most successful independent developer and publisher of casual games in the world. This move marks the company's latest attempt to widen its user base, following August's news that the company entered into an agreement with Valve to make seventeen of its games available on Steam. “We know that our games are ideally suited for the global consumer audience and this agreement with Square Enix will enable us to reach the Japanese market in a major way,” stated James Gwertzman, Director of Business Development for PopCap Games. “There’s simply no better partner in Japan for PopCap than Square Enix, in terms of industry presence, distribution channels, passion for quality games of all kinds and overall expertise. This is an ideal match for PopCap.”