All About Popcap Games
Humble Origins
Set your time machine to the year 2000. Three upstart twenty-somethings have honed their game-development skills at online game companies like pogo.com and Sierra's Won.net. They ultimately meet while colluding on a game called ARC, then start their own company to develop games that can provide fun for everyone.
Like most early casual games ventures, they focus on cool little Java Web titles that people play online for free and that are funded by online advertising.
Then the Internet bubble pops, ad income goes bust, and the three energetic founder--Brian Fiete, Jason Kapalka and John Vechey - are left holding their first great online hit, Bejeweled® (nee Diamond Mine), and no way to really start profiting from it. (In fact, prospective buyers and partners declare "it's not even really a game" and extend only nominal offers.)
That's when the radical idea strikes: "Why not let people try out a basic version of Bejeweled® online for free, and entice them to buy a deluxe version with better graphics, more levels and some bells and whistles?"
Peers think this "try before you buy" idea is cracked, but the trio forges ahead anyway. Soon after posting their first downloadable game, Bejeweled Deluxe, in 2001, orders begin to roll in by the hundreds per hour. The rest is... well, PopCap's top franchise, casual games' history, and the world's greatest gain in the land of relaxing fun.
“The 'try before you buy' sales model means we have virtually no dissatisfied customers. If they can play the game in all its deluxe glory for an hour, they have a far better idea how much that game really appeals to them. This may sound hackneyed, but these products really do have to sell themselves.”
— Dave Roberts, CEO PopCap
