Session Name: | Postmortem: Bejeweled Blitz, Cross-Platform Social Gaming in Practice |
Speaker(s): | Jason Kapalka |
Company Name(s): | PopCap Games |
Track / Format: | Game Design |
Overview: | Bejeweled, released in 2000, has long been a staple of the casual game scene in various formats, but bringing it to the world of social gaming presented a unique challenge. The solution was Bejeweled Blitz, a one-minute variant on Facebook that rejuvenated the game for a whole new audience, gaining over 10 million active players on the social network before going on to be adapted for the iPhone and as a PC-downloadable product. This session will go over the important design and technical challenges that PopCap's teams faced while adapting the hit casual game to social networks and establishing it as a cross-platform franchise, explain successes and failures, and discuss what lessons have been learned from the process. |