14 DAY TRIAL // It's funny how developers can always come up with ways to turn addicting games into even more addicting ones. Such is the case with Bejeweled developer, PopCap Games, which will launch a version of the hit puzzle game for the biggest MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role playing game) out there, World of Warcraft.
For those unaware of the two titles, Bejeweled is a small puzzle game that took the world by storm with its first version, launched in 2001, and broke all the records in 2004 with its sequel. Achieving over 25 million units sold and over 150 million downloads over the Internet, the game put its developer, PopCap Games, on the map of puzzle games. The other title, the most popular MMORPG out there, was developed by Blizzard and has currently 10 million subscribers, holding the supremacy in the MMO market, with over 62%.
Sounds like a smart move on behalf of PopCap, bringing their already popular game to WoW, but it wasn't their original idea. Tired of waiting for other friends to login for raids or quests in the game, Michael Fromwiller, which is a student at the San Jose State University in California, thought to modify the game a bit, in order to play some minigames.
"Players frequently find themselves staring slack-jawed at the screen, watching the trade channel for hot deals on virtual items or waiting for friends to log in so a raid can begin. Thinking about all the add-ons that I used and what they could do, I decided that there was potential in a mini-game to play within World of Warcraft," said Fromwiller about his motivation.
After tinkering with a couple of games, he thought to make a clone after Bejeweled and use it to escape the boredom. That brought the attention of PopCap, which saw big potential in this area and hired Fromwiller to develop a fully working version, using the original game.
Although Blizzard didn't issue any official comment, the game is set to be launched in the WoW universe next Thursday. So keep your eyes opened and you could also escape the sometimes boring aspects of the popular MMO by playing Bejeweled.