EL33TONLINE: News tag archive: bejeweled

In what must have been a very proud moment, PopCap has announced that their premiere match-3 casual game series, Bejeweled 1 and 2, have collectively sold 25 million units since 2000, through a variety of channels including web, mobile, retail and in-flight.

Jason Kapalka, chief creative officer and co-founder of PopCap, said of the franchise, “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 $60,000, this little game has done all right for itself. I vividly recall prospective buyers telling us ‘It’s not even a game,’ while showing us the door.”

To put this in perspective, EA announced earlier this year that the Sims series, including the original Sims, the Sims 2 as well expansion packs for both, hit 100 million, while any given Pokemon release (those that come in pairs) have been known to hit just under 20 million copies sold combined. Halo 1 and 2 combined haven’t yet sold 25 million. Despite its ‘lower-than-retail’ price, Bejeweled hitting 25 million is is still something to get excited about!