PopCap retail sales jump 85.3%

PopCap Games has announced that retail sales of its PC titles nearly doubled in the last calendar year, according to data released by NPD.

The Bejeweled and Peggle developer saw its retail revenues grow by 85.3 per cent during the 12 month period, making PopCap one of the top 20 highest earning videogame companies.

The company's growth came in the latter part of the year, fuelled partially by the release of Bejeweled Twist.

"Our family-friendly casual games appeal to the broadest consumer audience – literally anyone over the age of five or six – making our products extremely reliable sellers at retail," explained Dennis Ryan, executive vice president of global business development.

"And the games themselves represent a markedly different value proposition to that enormous target audience, compared to traditional 'hardcore' video games."

"From Bejeweled Twist to Zuma, our games offer hundreds of hours of entertainment for multiple members of the family at USD 20 or less – as opposed to a hardcore game that lists for two to three times as much and has far narrower appeal. We're excited to move forward in the new year as we expand our retail line-up to include world class console titles."