Fans of PopCap’s garden defence sensation were crushed late last month, when the eagerly-anticipated sequel slipped from its original July release window. The bad news? Game producer Allen Murray says we’ve still got at least four weeks before Plants Vs. Zombies 2: It’s About Time comes out. The good news is that Australians don’t have to wait.
“On Tuesday or Wednesday (of this week) we’ll be rolling it out in Australia and New Zealand so we can begin testing it for a few weeks before rolling it out globally,” Murray told Kotaku during an interview last week. “We want to have at least a four-week testing period, so that we can get the game out there, check how our systems are functioning, check how people are using it, and be able to make one or two patches to adjust if needed — and then check to make sure everything’s stable before rolling it out.”
So PopCap will be spending the next several weeks testing, patching, submitting and resubmitting the new game until it’s just right. “It’s not as nimble as I would hope, but it’s not too bad.”
While the idea is that eventually Plants Vs. Zombies 2 will make it to every platform people want to play it on, it’s initially launching as a free-to-play game for iOS devices. Players will be able to download the entire game for free, purchasing supplemental items or new plants as they see fit. The game will be playable offline, but it will also support cloud saves, so no more starting a new game on every iDevice in your house.
The new free-to-play format is a major factor in the delay. It’s one thing to release a self-contained product for a set price — free-to-play requires systems and servers and all sorts of complicated things that only a crack team of Australians and Kiwi testers can help ferret out.
Comments
18 responses to “Plants Vs Zombies 2 Is Weeks Away, But Aussies Get To Play Today”
We truely live in the lucky country.
Has anyone been able to access it yet?
meh, crashes on ios7 Beta 3.. :/
Please tell me you’re not being real right now. You’re either a troll with a cute picture or an idiot. I’m pulling for the former
No troll, just statement of fact. I downloaded it, and can’t play it because it crashes on the iOS 7 Beta.
ooooooh yeaaaaaah this is good. Well it’s more of the same for now, not through the tutorial yet :S
Goodbye week, it was nice knowing you!
Downloading now. Been waiting ages for this game but knowing it’s ftp with filthy EA taint I’m more wary than excited.
First thing I see when I boot it up is the EA logo. Makes me throw up in my mouth a little.
Whoo! I can just go grab… Damn, no iOS devices.
Guess I’ll just have to wait like the rest of the world…
It’s really a fail that it’s launching as an iOS exclusive first.
Is it? Touchscreen control go hand-in-hand with the style of gameplay that PvZ is famous for. The reason it is launching as an iOS exclusive is because of the stable hardware that the OS runs on. Rather than having to worry about how every android device on the market can run the game they can choose one generation of device that will be the minimum supported and anything above that can also play it. iOS devices are the consoles of the mobile world while Android phones are the PC’s, massive variety in system spec makes it hard to develop for
I have to agree with you on the controls. This is one of the few games where touchscreen is FAR better than other controls.
As for the IOS … I have and Android so I’ll agree with you on that after i stop sulking.
Touch screen is in no way better than just using my mouse to click.
Really? PvZ 1 was perfectly fine on PC… where by the way it originally started not iOS.
Yeah it was fine and its where I first played it. I still think its better on a touch screen.
… yet many developers seem to be able to develop games and apps that work across many handsets/tablets without problem.
Either those developers are a lot more talented, or the differences between the different devices are nowhere near as significant as you suggest.
not as hard as you’re making it out to be, and if it can run on a phone your minimum system specs are gonna be pretty low anyway, so you’re mainly working against software and hardware that has problems running features if your game, but that’s not too common and until it’s fixed a simple disclaimer works well.
and you realize touch screens are exactly the same as a mouse except you don’t have to move between points right?
not to mention the non-IOS fanbase they’ve built up that will be left unable to play their new game.
Touchscreen controls is a moot point if you’re comparing it to Android devices. Also, PvZ first launched on PC before being ported to other devices anyway.
They don’t need to worry about “every Android device”. They all share a common API and so you set a minimum spec and go from there. It’s really not that hard.
Totes fail, you should write them a letter and tell them how much of a fail they are……
I know… like…. iOS was like totes 2011… But I liked it in 2010 before it became mainstream…
I got all excited for a second then I read “initially launching as a free-to-play game for iOS devices”… bummer…
Seeing this I grabbed my phone and went to download it. Unfortunately it is not compatible with anything less than an iphone 4. Apparently it needs a Front Facing Camera to be able to function. :/
Is this on PC or what?
or only on phones
I will cry if its only on mobile gear
After a quick play I have two words that can sum up the most useful change nicely: Plant food
Now when you are in desperate times you have a desperate measure to call on!
Plants vs Zombies 2 is out for NZ and AU. Search AppsGoer to get a full review.
This is the review I provided on the App Store; have since deleted the game after about and hour or two of play; too goddam freeimum
“I freaking loved the first PvZ played it across multiple platforms and had a great time.
This experience is completely ruined by a free to play mentality; plants are $1.99 to unlock, keys (to access areas with New plants) rarely drop; multiples of which are required; and are $1.99 to bypass; new special powers cost 1000 in game coins to use, which don’t drop often, and you guessed it, cost $1.99 (or more for bigger values) to buy… Honestly I wanted to really love this game; by the time I got the the third pay gate I had enough; given this is a ‘server stress test’ (beta?) for the love of god please release a non freemium version of this game; I and many others would pay $1-$5 for an actual game; not this pretender to the PvZ throne.
Also fix the issues with the battery draining; with this app running in the background my phones battery ticked down from 40% to 0 very quickly without being in use…”
^This. I was insanely happy about Aus/NZ getting to try this out first before the US. I mean, how many times do we get that? And then, the freemium-ness of this game quickly turned my happiness to annoyance.
Paying cash to unlock everything *quickly* (a la the first PvZ) is one thing. Having to pay to access everything without a more tedious, money-free option is another matter altogether. Keys are somewhat rare. Coins seem to be easier to farm though. That said, it seems to only be used for Power-Ups (though I never actually needed them but that’s beside the point). Correct me if I am wrong here.
Luckily for me, I didn’t encounter the server issue though it did drain my battery like there is no tomorrow.
I’ll just wait and see if Popcap will change anything later. :\
this game drain battery very fast compare to asphalt 8 racing game with my note 8, going to remove it… so bad.