A video games company with offices in Dublin has revealed that over 25 million copies of its flagship game have been downloaded from the web, via mobile, on flights and by other channels.
PopCap Games, which has offices in Dublin, Vancouver, San Francisco and Seattle, revealed that games from its top franchise Bejeweledand Bejeweled 2 are downloaded every 10 seconds.
The Bejeweled franchise can be played on the web, on desktop computers, virtually every mobile phone, on consoles like the Xbox and on in-flight entertainment systems.
The game has also garnered for its founders tens of millions of dollars of online advertising.
The game is also sold in retail stores including Borders, Currys, Game and PC World.
More than 350 million copies of the Bejeweled franchise have been downloaded from the web and account for a third of the one billion downloads of PopCap titles.
The 25 million units sold amount to over US$300m in consumer spending over the history of the game.
“Considering we tried to sell Bejeweled outright to more than one industry giant back in the early days of our company, and got no takers even after reducing our asking price to US$60,000, this little game has done all right for itself,” said Jason Kapalka, chief creative officer and co-founder of PopCap, and the original designer of Bejeweled and its sequel.
“I vividly recall prospective buyers telling us ‘It’s not even a game’, while showing us the door,” Kapalka laughed.
By John Kennedy
Pictured: gaming action from Bejeweled
