Plants vs. Zombies coming to Facebook soon

Here’s something that could be good or bad news for Plants vs. Zombies junkies. PopCap Games is bringing the tower defense game to Facebook as a social game.

Called Plants vs. Zombies Adventures, the game will adapt itself to the social platform. “Plants vs. Zombies is taking root on Facebook. The fun-dead world of Plants vs. Zombies is expanding with endless waves of new characters, strategies, territories, and community challenges,” wrote PopCap Games on the game’s Facebook page.

The company stated that the game is being tested in a closed beta release targeted at a limited number of Facebook users. This is the first phase of the game’s roll-out and PopCap Games plans to make it available more widely later in spring.

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Moving beyond the backyard

The company clarified that Plants vs. Zombies Adventures is not the same as the much-awaited Plants vs. Zombies 2, the sequel to the widely popular original. Part two of Plants vs. Zombies was announced in August last year.

PopCap Games says Plants vs. Zombies Adventures will be the first of several new adaptations of the franchise coming to fans next year that will “take players beyond the confines of the backyard.” The Facebook version of the game will take users on a humorous series of road trips, traveling to thwart zombie invasion in a variety of settings. You will be able to send hordes of zombies to your Facebook friends. New zombie and plant types, new ways of obtaining, cultivating and deploying plant defenses, and leaderboards are among the other new features in PvZ Adventures.

“Plants vs. Zombies Adventures is a highly accessible, zombie-zapping adaptation of the original game designed specifically for Facebook,” said Curt Bererton, head of PopCap’s San Francisco studio where Plants vs. Zombies Adventures was designed and developed. “The game not only offers up exclusive new plants and zombies along with old favorites, it features all-new forms of zombie combat that will open PvZ to a whole new world. We like to think we’re creating a brand new twist on the classic Plants vs. Zombies that is the most social, shareable and expansive Plants vs. Zombies experience ever.”

Plants vs. Zombies was initially released for Windows and Mac in 2009 and developed a massive fan following. The game essentially sees a homeowner using a variety of plants to thwart a zombie attack. The plants hit back at zombies using pellets, dismembering them. In the following years, the game was made available to a variety of different platforms like Android, iOS, Xbox and PlayStation 3. A social angle to the famous game was the only missing link in the successful franchise and PopCap Games has that covered before the launch of the sequel too.