The Oral History Of PopCap Games

MinnMax's Ben Hanson interviews key figures throughout the history of PopCap Games to tell the complete story of the studio behind massive successes like Bejeweled, Peggle, Plants vs Zombies, and more. From PopCap's cancelled games, to EA spending buying the studio for hundreds of millions of dollars, this is the most thorough look at the beloved studio yet. Thanks to our interviews Jason Kapalka, John Vechey, Laura Shigihara, Garth Chouteau, Anthony Coleman, Riana McKeith, Jeff Green, Matt Johnston, and Ellen Marett.

To jump to a particular section of PopCap's history, check out the timecodes below...

00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:54 - Opening montage
00:02:32 - How PopCap started
00:10:50 - The origins of Bejeweled
00:27:28 - The "glory years"
00:47:15 - PopCap's greatest press
00:55:23 - The origins of Peggle
01:04:10 - Valve, Blizzard, and PopCap's collaborations
01:10:03 - Creating Plants vs. Zombies
01:21:12 - PopCap and Apple's iPhone
01:26:22 - Prototypes and cancelled games
01:40:03 - Gyromancer and "Final Fantasy Bejeweled"
01:42:29 - The problems with "Burrito"
01:49:27 - Introducing Jeff Green
01:51:35 - The rise of Facebook and social gaming
01:59:14 - Introducing PopCap Dublin
02:03:35 - PopCap's legendary parties
02:14:04 - Bookworm/PAX
02:18:05 - Creating 4th and Battery
02:22:47 - The PopCap podcast
02:24:37 - The EA acquisition
02:33:47 - What to do with hundreds of millions of dollars
02:53:43 - Bejeweled Blitz and the push for "monetization"
03:00:08 - The struggle of Plants vs Zombies 2
03:20:30 - Studio closures
03:23:10 - PopCap's life as an EA studio
03:38:47 - Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare
03:41:50 - Peggle 2 and "the jump"
03:44:00 - Thoughts on modern PopCap
03:50:12 - In conclusion
03:56:15 - The final performance

iam8bit
Another Eden on Steam
Mirko Arico-Torreno
MoonFaceNick
Zachary Pligge
BeatenDownBrian
Jawarhello
mark seliga
Ludwig Roque
Andrew Uerkwitz
IanTClark
Andrew vala
Cameron Wardlaw
Yarrow
Alex Payne
Clint Farley
SpiralInYourEyes
Richard Smuts
Spider_Dan
Preetham Yarlagadda
Steve Bamdad
Starkiller
Clayton Myers
SlyckNic
jesse vitelli
SuperSeriousSam

[blackqweenmars]

Did anyone else fall asleep on another video and wake up at the end of this wondering wtf you were watching?

[ia]

Hey, thanks for interviewing these folks and putting this together! As someone who worked at PopCap from 2004 to 2012, it was an incredibly special journey and these interviews capture a lot of what we were all feeling and thinking. Many of us still talk and hang out and even work together at different companies, but the PopCap years were the most special time. So thanks also for creating something that will help us remember that and reflect on all flavors of it as the years go by. Very much appreciated! ~ Isaac.

[garthchouteau]

Just to add to the story about "don't do it Joe" at the 2:08:01 mark: I was at that party, it was the Dublin xmas party of 2010. First, it should be noted that Joe led the U.S. team to its first-ever victory over the Irish team in the drinking games that kicked off most PopCap parties. I recall him drinking three or four pints of beer in about 15 seconds at one point. Secondly, my understanding at the time was that Joe was invited to the party because he had in fact been offered a job. By the following morning, he was hungover, incredibly remorseful -- and fired, before ever working a single hour at PopCap. Shortest tenure ever !

[IIxIxIv]

Man the pvz 2 story is so heartbreaking. I knew it was going to go bad but it still broke my heart to hear the producer say it :(

[vincentfiestada]

Every single PopCap game I ever played was extremely fun and *satisfying*. They're one of the best game studios ever imho. I wish they still made non-mobile games.

[hprpm]

4 hours! Now I have to choose this or The Snyder Cut? I love early Popcap, so I think this is my choice. 😉

[waspswarm]

That was great! I’m glad I watched the whole thing. Thanks! I was there from 2008-2015 so it was nice to see old friends and reminisce about those great times and all those talented and passionate game makers.

[petrikhorr]

3:00:09 literally disproves everyone saying that ea "ruined the franchise" and yet basically everybody still thinks it. i'm exaggerating a bit everywhere but still.

[Joes_Z-Music]

I’ll be listening to the podcast over the next couple of days, but just wanted to say thanks! This looks awesome!

[marcuzzi]

I thought it might be a little long for me initially, but I'm actually surprised at how interested I was all the way through. This is great and I would love to see more "deep dives" on developers like this. Great work!

[Da.Liar-Pig]

Some "fans" of pvz 1: EA RUIN PVZ 2 WITH MICROTRANSACTIONS

Popcap employees at 3:00:19:

[srqsoccer]

I wasn't sure if I'd be interested in a 4 hr long "history of.." but this was fantastic! I love that you asked the questions that others may not be comfortable asking and got the full scoop of what went down at PopCap. I would love more "Deepest Dives" into other game industry mysteries. MinnMax has quickly become my favorite gaming focus content creators.

[daavpuke]

To this day, PopCap Dublin are still the best studio I've ever worked with, by some margin. Everyone I've ever talked to there had such a personal, amicable approach about games. It did so much to destigmatize the position their games were in. You could tell that they just really cared about games, above all. It's the reason I've still held on to their promotional gear. I was heartbroken when it closed. Thanks for this interview series.

[Notester]

This was a great dive into PopCap and various members' experiences at the company! :D Felt nice to hear about familiar tales (but with more details/perspectives that weren't mentioned elsewhere), and stuff that was new to me! It was especially interesting to learn about stuff like the Bejeweled & Peggle addons for World of Warcraft that started as unofficial but later became official after PopCap approached them, as well as the existence of a roguelike they had in development at some point! Also, Garth hoping that the main three founders of PopCap would band back together with him (and others) at 3:52:31 was nice to hear! 💙

[dmtgallardo]

You guys are amazing. Congratulations on this achievement. Please, keep it going, keep it rolling, keep pushing! MINNMAX!

[NeonGSP]

That PvZ2 story is heartbreaking ngl. To hear that development struggle and the forcement of the producing being kicked out the project.

[Moonsbro]

now this is that good shit i fork up money every month for

[ratak]

I hope this blows up I'm so excited to watch this!

[legolassanimelover]

came here through jacob geller's nebula video on peggle- what a fantastic history! my mom and I used to be obsessed with zuma and plants vs zombies- i had no idea they were made by the same people. a really illuminating look at a company i didnt even know i loved <3

[raulg]

I just finished listening to the whole thing.
Amazing work like always Ben, congrats.