EA subsidiary PopCap Games has pulled Plants vs. Zombies 3 from soft launch after months of testing the garden warfare series.
As confirmed via a blog post, the Seattle-based studio has taken down the strategy and tower defence title to incorporate feedback from players and return with a “better reimagining” of the game. PopCap stated that the game has not been cancelled.
The third entry in the mainline Plants vs. Zombies series was soft-launched on iOS and Android in February earlier this year, with several fan-favourite plant and zombie characters making their come back. Players were tasked with defending their town in classic, lane-based tower defence combat, while also encountering new zombie bosses.
The game was available to download across Ireland, Indonesia, Romania and the Philippines, however will stop being playable sometime in November.
Grave new world
“We have had an amazing journey with you so far and hope you have gotten many hours of enjoyment out of this soft launch of Plants vs. Zombies 3,” wrote PopCap Games executive producer Bruce Maclean.
“We’ve gotten a lot of great feedback from all of you during this test and now it’s time to pull the game back to incorporate your thoughts and reimagine a few things.”
Maclean further confirmed that PopCap Seattle is not closing and the studio will continue to support Plants vs. Zombies 2 with new content in the meantime.
PocketGamer.biz has reached out to EA for additional information.
Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville was the latest edition to arrive from the franchise, releasing on October 18th, 2019 on console and PC.
Sticking with the topic of soft launch, EA has spoken about its intent to soft-launch Respawn’s battle royale giant Apex Legends by the end of 2020.
