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90-591: PopCap Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Seattle , and a subsidiary of Electronic Arts . The company was founded in 2000 by John Vechey, Brian Fiete and Jason Kapalka. Originally founded under the name "Sexy Action Cool" , their first title was a strip poker game that served as a revenue stream for future titles. PopCap has developed several games for computers, consoles and mobile devices, with their most popular games being Bejeweled , Peggle , Zuma and Plants vs. Zombies games. PopCap

180-593: A database , Voice over IP , or add-in interface software; this is also known as middleware . Examples of this include SpeedTree and Havoc . Independents are software developers which are not owned by (or dependent on) a single publisher. Some of these developers self-publish their games, relying on the Internet and word of mouth for publicity. Without the large marketing budgets of mainstream publishers, their products may receive less recognition than those of larger publishers such as Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo. With

270-483: A minigame inside World of Warcraft in the form of a free, downloadable addon. It features levels based on the game, though including a limited set of Peggle Masters to use. Warcraft players can also use Peggle to decide how to distribute loot from successful raids or dungeons. Subsequently, in July 2009, a free standalone, ten-level edition of Peggle themed around Warcraft in a similar manner as Peggle Extreme

360-426: A computer AI on the same board in attempting to reach the highest score. Since the player typically cannot predict patterns, Duel mode requires a lot of skill to master. Thus, Duel is the only mode in which players earn ranking points. The Xbox Live and PlayStation Network versions add a "Peg Party" mode, in which up to four players compete on their separate boards using a limited number of balls, each attempting to get

450-452: A culture of "toxic geek masculinity" within the workplace. In addition, the conditions behind crunch time are far more discriminating towards women as this requires them to commit time exclusively to the company or to more personal activities like raising a family. These factors established conditions within some larger development studios where female developers have found themselves discriminated in workplace hiring and promotion, as well as

540-414: A distance apart or getting lucky bounces off the ball catcher. When the player clears the board of orange pegs, as announced by the song " Ode To Joy " and the message "Extreme Fever", the bottom of the level is replaced with five bins of different point values for the ball to fall into them. The player is awarded this score, including any unused balls remaining to get their final score for the level. If all

630-571: A first-party company. As a balance to not being able to release their game for other platforms, second-party developers are usually offered higher royalty rates than third-party developers. These studios may have exclusive publishing agreements (or other business relationships) with the platform holder, but maintain independence so that upon completion or termination of their contracts, they are able to continue developing games for other publishers if they choose to. For example, while HAL Laboratory initially began developing games on personal computers like

720-410: A fixed period and generally work similar hours as full-time staff members, assisting across all areas of video game development, but as contractors, do not get any benefits such as paid time-off or health care from the employer; they also are typically not credited on games that they work on for this reason. The practice itself is legal and common in other engineering and technology areas, and generally it

810-403: A game on schedule. The complexity of workflow, reliance on third-party deliverables, and the intangibles of artistic and aesthetic demands in video game creation create difficulty in predicting milestones. The use of crunch time is also seen to be exploitative of the younger male-dominated workforce in video games, who have not had the time to establish a family and who were eager to advance within

900-406: A game's profits. Current examples of first-party studios include PlayStation Studios for Sony, and Xbox Game Studios for Microsoft Gaming . Second-party developer is a colloquial term often used by gaming enthusiasts and media to describe game studios that take development contracts from platform holders and develop games exclusive to that platform, i.e. a non-owned developer making games for

990-617: A list compiled by the IGN staff in September 2010, Peggle was listed as the 10th best Xbox Live Arcade of all time. The release of Peggle on iOS was extremely popular, placing in the top ten applications purchased through the App Store for the first two weeks it was available. During a weekend in June 2009, the title was put on sale for $ 1 (normally $ 5); the sale caused the game to become

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1080-437: A position in a medium to large video game company. An experienced game-development employee, depending on their expertise and experience, averaged roughly $ 73,000 in 2007. Indie game developers may only earn between $ 10,000 and $ 50,000 a year depending on how financially successful their titles are. In addition to being part of the software industry, game development is also within the entertainment industry; most sectors of

1170-592: A roundtable discussion with the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), the professional association for developers. Statements made by the IGDA's current executive director Jen MacLean relating to IGDA's activities had been seen by as anti-union, and Game Workers Unite desired to start a conversation to lay out the need for developers to unionize. In the wake of the sudden near-closure of Telltale Games in September 2018,

1260-524: A sequel to the game, Feeding Frenzy 2: Shipwreck Showdown , with Gwertzman becoming the Director of Business Development at PopCap. In early 2006, PopCap International was opened, based in Dublin, Ireland, working on product localization, mobile games development, marketing, sales and business development. PopCap began another round of expansion in July 2007 by buying other casual game developers including

1350-407: A single publisher; one canceled game may devastate a small developer. Because of this, many small development companies are short-lived. A common exit strategy for a successful video game developer is to sell the company to a publisher, becoming an in-house developer. In-house development teams tend to have more freedom in game design and content than third-party developers. One reason is that since

1440-418: A single shot and clearing orange pegs, which builds up a scoring multiplier up to 10x when all but a few orange pegs have been cleared. Additionally, one random blue peg will be marked purple and revert to blue after the shot if it is not struck for each turn; striking this peg will further boost the player's score. Style points are awarded for making difficult shots, such as striking two orange pegs consecutively

1530-403: A strong STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) background for women at the secondary education level, but there are issues with tertiary education such as at colleges and universities, where game development programs tend to reflect the male-dominated demographics of the industry, a factor that may lead women with strong STEM backgrounds to choose other career goals. There

1620-454: A study at East Carolina University which found that Peggle players experienced a "45% decrease in depression " in individuals under the age of 25. Rock Paper Shotgun interpreted the same study more imaginatively, reporting: "Peggle was clear champ, improving the total ‘mood’ by 573% across all study subjects". Peggle along with other PopCap games were also found to help children with ADHD improve their attention span and memory recall, in

1710-556: A survey done by Information Solutions Group on behalf of PopCap. Peggle was nominated for the 2007 Game Developers Choice Awards for "Best Downloadable Game", "Best Handheld Game" (for the iPod port), and "Innovation" awards. The game was also nominated for the " Downloadable Game of the Year " category during the 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . Peggle appeared as #40 on

1800-646: A unique case where nearly all parts of its labor force, including white-collar jobs such as video game development, may engage with labor unions under the Employment Protection Act often through collective bargaining agreements. Developer DICE had reached its union agreements in 2004. Paradox Interactive became one of the first major publishers to support unionization efforts in June 2020 with its own agreements to cover its Swedish employees within two labor unions Unionen and SACO . In Australia, video game developers could join other unions, but

1890-457: Is a Nintendo DS port of the game, developed by Q Entertainment ; the game includes content from both Peggle and Peggle Nights . This version of the game awards the player a star each time a purple bonus peg is hit, activating a new bonus minigame upon collecting five stars. The minigame requires that the player continually bounce a ball with pinball-like bumpers to collect diamonds and extra balls. In 2013, PopCap Games announced Peggle 2 at

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1980-1167: Is a tower defense and strategy video game developed and originally published by PopCap Games for Windows and OS X in May 2009, and ported to consoles, handhelds, mobile devices and remastered versions for personal computers. Peggle is a series of casual puzzle video games created by PopCap Games. Peggle was released initially for desktop in 2007, followed by three sequels: Peggle Nights (2008), Peggle 2 (2013) and Peggle Blast (2014). Video game developer A developer may specialize in specific game engines or specific video game consoles , or may develop for several systems (including personal computers and mobile devices ). Some focus on porting games from one system to another, or translating games from one language to another. Less commonly, some do software development work in addition to games. Most video game publishers maintain development studios (such as Electronic Arts 's EA Canada , Square Enix 's studios, Activision 's Radical Entertainment , Nintendo EPD and Sony's Polyphony Digital and Naughty Dog ). However, since publishing

2070-482: Is also a significant gap in racial minorities within the video game industry; a 2019 IGDA survey found only 2% of developers considered themselves to be of African descent and 7% Hispanic, while 81% were Caucasian; in contrast, 2018 estimates from the United States Census estimate the U.S. population to be 13% of African descent and 18% Hispanic. In a 2014 and 2015 survey of job positions and salaries,

2160-449: Is expected that this is meant to lead into a full-time position, or otherwise the end of the contract. But more recently, its use in the video game industry has been compared to Microsoft 's past use of " permatemp ", contract workers that were continually renewed and treated for all purposes as employees but received no benefits. While Microsoft has waned from the practice, the video game industry has adapted it more frequently. Around 10% of

2250-533: Is generally illegal, companies often target their oldest workers first during layoffs or other periods of reduction. Older developers with experience may find themselves too qualified for the types of positions that other game development companies seek given the salaries and compensations offered. Some of the larger video game developers and publishers have also engaged contract workers through agencies to help add manpower in game development in part to alleviate crunch time from employees. Contractors are brought on for

2340-494: Is still their primary activity they are generally described as "publishers" rather than "developers". Developers may be private as well. In the video game industry , a first-party developer is part of a company that manufactures a video game console and develops mainly for it. First-party developers may use the name of the company itself (such as Nintendo ), have a specific division name (such as Sony's Polyphony Digital ) or have been an independent studio before being acquired by

2430-474: Is usually conducted in a casual business environment, with t-shirts and sandals as common work attire. Many workers find this type of environment rewarding and pleasant professionally and personally. However, the industry also requires long working hours from its employees (sometimes to an extent seen as unsustainable). Employee burnout is not uncommon. An entry-level programmer can make, on average, over $ 66,000 annually only if they are successful in obtaining

2520-659: The AFL–CIO writing an open letter to video game developers encouraging them to unionize. In January 2020, Game Workers Unite and the Communications Workers of America established a new campaign to push for unionization of video game developers, the Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE), in January 2020. Initial efforts for CODE were aimed to determine what approach to unionization would be best suited for

2610-456: The International Game Developers Association (IGDA), are conducting increasing discussions about the problem; they are concerned that working conditions in the industry cause a significant deterioration in employees' quality of life. Some video game developers and publishers have been accused of the excessive invocation of "crunch time". "Crunch time" is the point at which the team is thought to be failing to achieve milestones needed to launch

2700-516: The MSX , they became one of the earliest second-party developers for Nintendo, developing exclusively for Nintendo's consoles starting with the Famicom, though they would self-publish their mobile games. A third-party developer may also publish games, or work for a video game publisher to develop a title. Both publisher and developer have considerable input in the game's design and content. However,

2790-528: The Me Too movement and have tried to address the symptoms of these problems industry-wide, the video game industry has yet to have its Me Too-moment, even as late as 2021. There also tends to be pay-related discrimination against women in the industry. According to Gamasutra 's Game Developer Salary Survey 2014, women in the United States made 86 cents for every dollar men made. Game designing women had

PopCap Games - Misplaced Pages Continue

2880-547: The Nintendo DS (with the help of Q Entertainment ), Windows Mobile , iOS , Zeebo , and Android ; the game has also been ported as a Java application, and an extended minigame incorporated into the massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft . A sequel was released in September 2008, titled Peggle Nights . PopCap, a subsidiary of Electronic Arts , announced Peggle 2 at E3 2013. Inspired by pachinko and bagatelle , each level of Peggle challenges

2970-504: The Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) union doing work for video games struck several major publishers, demanding better royalty payments and provisions related to the safety of their vocal performances, when their union's standard contract was up for renewal. The voice actor strike lasted for over 300 days into 2017 before a new deal was made between SAG-AFTRA and

3060-603: The video game industry . He told the Los Angeles Times : "Someone who was part of the co-creation of that world and those characters isn't getting a credit or a nickel for the work they put into it. Maybe we need unions in the video game industry to be able to protect creators." Peggle Peggle is a casual puzzle video game developed by PopCap Games . Initially released for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X systems in 2007, it has since had versions released for Xbox Live Arcade , PlayStation Network ,

3150-629: The E3 2013 expo. A year later, Peggle Blast was announced for mobile devices. Peggle was well received by critics. Alec Meer of Eurogamer found the game to be a "constant series of rewards" in gameplay, graphics, and audio that would continue to satisfy the player. Gus Mastrapa of The A.V. Club considered the game "comfort food for the omnivorous gamer" with its ability to draw even hardcore gamers into its fantasy visuals. IGN 's Erik Brudvig cited Peggle as being "simple enough for anybody to pick up and instantly start having fun". The Xbox Live version

3240-446: The IGDA found that people of color were both underrepresented in senior management roles as well as underpaid in comparison to white developers. Further, because video game developers typically draw from personal experiences in building game characters, this diversity gap has led to few characters of racial minority to be featured as main characters within video games. Minority developers have also been harassed from external groups due to

3330-533: The US for the gameplay of Peggle as an "Electronic game, such as a computer game involving removing pegs" in 2014. Peggle was first released for Windows on February 27, 2007. Peggle Extreme was packaged with the Windows version of The Orange Box , featuring levels inspired by Half-Life 2 , Team Fortress 2 , and Portal . It includes ten levels with one Peggle Master and five Challenges. Peggle Extreme

3420-484: The acquisition of Activision Blizzard , stated it supported these unionization efforts. After this acquisition, the employees of Bethesda Game Studios , part of Zenimax under Microsoft, unionized under the Communications Workers of America (CWA) in July 2024. Over 500 employees within Blizzard Entertainment 's World of Warcraft division also unionized with CWA that same month. Sweden presents

3510-572: The advent of digital distribution of inexpensive games on game consoles, it is now possible for indie game developers to forge agreements with console manufacturers for broad distribution of their games. Other indie game developers create game software for a number of video-game publishers on several gaming platforms. In recent years this model has been in decline; larger publishers, such as Electronic Arts and Activision, increasingly turn to internal studios (usually former independent developers acquired for their development needs). Video game development

3600-431: The closest equity, making 96 cents for every dollar men made in the same job, while audio professional women had the largest gap, making 68% of what men in the same position made. Increasing the representation of women in the video game industry required breaking a feedback loop of the apparent lack of female representation in the production of video games and in the content of video games. Efforts have been made to provide

3690-416: The console manufacturer (such as Rare or Naughty Dog ). Whether by purchasing an independent studio or by founding a new team, the acquisition of a first-party developer involves a huge financial investment on the part of the console manufacturer, which is wasted if the developer fails to produce a hit game on time. However, using first-party developers saves the cost of having to make royalty payments on

PopCap Games - Misplaced Pages Continue

3780-508: The console. This established the use of licensing fees as a model for third-party development that persists into the present. The licensing fee approach was further enforced by Nintendo when it decided to allow other third-party developers to make games for the Famicom console, setting a 30% licensing fee that covered game cartridge manufacturing costs and development fees. The 30% licensing fee for third-party developers has also persisted to

3870-548: The creation of a new subsidiary, 4th and Battery, started in order to create "edgier" games. Their first creation was the game Unpleasant Horse . On July 12, 2011, Electronic Arts announced it was acquiring PopCap for $ 650 million with an additional $ 100 million stock option. On August 21, 2012, PopCap laid off 50 employees in North America in a move to address a shift to mobile and free-to-play games and evaluated ceasing operations of its Dublin studio. The Dublin studio

3960-722: The creators of an online consumer portal, SpinTop Games. One week prior, the company acquired the Chicago-based development house Retro64, founded by Mike Boeh, which is best known for their retro-arcade action and puzzle titles. After these acquisitions, the PopCap logo was rebranded, dropping the "Games" portion. PopCap's premium games list on their website are mixed with other games from other developers/distributors. PopCap hosted several games on PopCap.com and other websites, online and premium, until 2014, when they stopped offering games from their site. On April 5, 2011, PopCap announced

4050-444: The developer if the game is not meeting expectations. When each milestone is completed (and accepted), the publisher pays the developer an advance on royalties . Successful developers may maintain several teams working on different games for different publishers. Generally, however, third-party developers tend to be small, close-knit teams. Third-party game development is a volatile sector, since small developers may depend on income from

4140-417: The developers are the publisher's employees, their interests align with those of the publisher; the publisher may spend less effort ensuring that the developer's decisions do not enrich the developer at the publisher's expense. Activision in 1979 became the first third-party video game developer. When four Atari, Inc. programmers left the company following its sale to Warner Communications , partially over

4230-467: The entertainment industry (such as films and television ) require long working hours and dedication from their employees, such as willingness to relocate and/or required to develop games that do not appeal to their personal taste. The creative rewards of work in the entertainment business attracts labor to the industry, creating a competitive labor market that demands a high level of commitment and performance from employees. Industry communities, such as

4320-572: The first video game-specific union, Game Workers Unite Australia, was formed in December 2021 under Professionals Australia to become active in 2022. In Canada, in a historic move, video game workers in Edmonton unanimously voted to unionize for the first time in June 2022. In January 2023, after not being credited in The Last of Us HBO adaptation, Bruce Straley called for unionization of

4410-566: The game took off following the release of Peggle Extreme as part of The Orange Box ; Sidhu stated that the special version of the game helped to bring in video game players that would "never be caught dead playing a game with unicorns and rainbows". Peggle (both trial and full versions) has been downloaded more than 50 million times from the Internet as of early 2009. Although, PopCap has not released how many of these downloads were for full sales. Upon its release on Xbox Live Arcade, Peggle

4500-434: The game's main "Adventure" mode, Peggle is divided into fifty-five levels. Each level features an arrangement of approximately one hundred blue "pegs" positioned to correspond with the level's background picture, inside of three walls on the top and sides (leaving the bottom opened), along with other fixed and moving features. The goal of each level is to clear the board of the twenty-five random pegs that are turned orange at

4590-404: The gaming industry, while a 2017 IGDA survey found that the female demographic in game development had risen to about 20%. Taking into account that a 2017 ESA survey found 41% of video game players were female, this represented a significant gender gap in game development. The male-dominated industry, most who have grown up playing video games and are part of the video game culture , can create

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4680-458: The highest score. In each of these modes, the game generally offers the ability for players to select which Peggle Master they wish to use. Peggle was originally envisioned by PopCap's studio director, Sukhbir Sidhu, who was inspired by pachinko machines. However, he recognized that pachinko was mostly luck-based, and would not translate well into a video game. After seeing a 2D game engine created by PopCap programmer Brian Rothstein, Sidhu

4770-457: The industry by working long hours. Because crunch time tends to come from a combination of corporate practices as well as peer influence, the term "crunch culture" is often used to discuss video game development settings where crunch time may be seen as the norm rather than the exception. The use of crunch time as a workplace standard gained attention first in 2004, when Erin Hoffman exposed

4860-431: The lack of respect that the new management gave to programmers, they used their knowledge of how Atari VCS game cartridges were programmed to create their own games for the system, founding Activision in 1979 to sell these. Atari took legal action to try to block the sale of these games, but the companies ultimately settled, with Activision agreeing to pay a portion of their sales as a license fee to Atari for developing for

4950-543: The length of the ball catcher. In the final five levels of the Adventure mode, called "Master" levels, the player can select which of the Peggle Masters they want to use. In addition to clearing the board, the player is challenged to get high scores with each shot. Points come from two main sources: striking pegs and style points. Each struck peg earns points, with further bonuses gained by hitting numerous pegs on

5040-400: The level of interactivity with the game, but the two defended their vision of the game. The design team struggled with a theme for the game, and for a while, the game was based around the mythological god Thor . During this time, the game was called Thunderball and much darker in theme than the final product. Eventually, the game changed themes to be more lighthearted. The team realized that

5130-564: The most purchased application in the App Store. A PopCap representative stated they made as many sales during these four days as they had in the three weeks prior, after the game's launch in the Store. Peggle is considered by some critics to be an addictive game, with Forbes noting that it entices the user to play "just a few more minutes". MSNBC named Peggle one of the "Top 5 most addictive computer games of all time.". PopCap funded

5220-559: The movement again called out for the industry to unionize. The movement argued that Telltale had not given any warning to its 250 employees let go, having hired additional staff as recently as a week prior, and left them without pensions or health-care options; it was further argued that the studio considered this a closure rather than layoffs, as to get around failure to notify required by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 preceding layoffs. The situation

5310-411: The music of " Ode to Joy " as a placeholder. Sidhu wanted to recreate the "wild sounds and visuals" present in winning pachinko games. However, the team found that the players reacted well to the simpler placeholder elements. The team focused on improving the presentation of these, including adding a zoom on the current ball as it neared the last orange peg to be cleared. PopCap was granted a patent in

5400-415: The name no longer fit the game. From there, the designers came up with calling the game "Pego" and then "Pogo". The team later discovered that, since Pogo was already the name of EA's Flash portal , they would not be able to use it. Though the game was technically completed within a year, PopCap opted to spend more time polishing it, improving the visuals and background images. The team worked on refining

5490-448: The nature of the video game culture. The industry also is recognized to have an ageism issue, discriminating against the hiring and retention of older developers. A 2016 IGDA survey found only 3% of developers were over 50 years old, while at least two-thirds were between 20 and 34; these numbers show a far lower average age compared to the U.S. national average of about 41.9 that same year. While discrimination by age in hiring practices

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5580-540: The news, there have typically been followup discussions towards the potential to form a union. A survey performed by the International Game Developers Association in 2014 found that more than half of the 2,200 developers surveyed favored unionization. A similar survey of over 4,000 game developers run by the Game Developers Conference in early 2019 found that 47% of respondents felt the video game industry should unionize. In 2016, voice actors in

5670-468: The non-Touch iPod version) to clear the orange pegs but may earn more by landing the ball in the ball catcher or earning high scores on single shots. Failure to clear the board with the allotted number of balls will require the player to restart the level while completing this objective will allow the player to progress to the next board. Every five levels in the Adventure mode correspond to playing with one of ten "Peggle Masters" cartoon characters that help

5760-432: The pegs on a level are cleared, a bonus is awarded, all the bins turn to the maximum value, and the message "Ultra Extreme Fever" is displayed. In addition to the Adventure mode, the game features a series of challenges requiring the player to complete boards under stricter requirements, such as clearing more orange pegs or removing every peg from the board. A "Duel" mode allows the player to compete against another person or

5850-555: The player to shoot a limited supply of balls at a field of colored pegs to clear out specifically marked pegs while attempting to achieve a high score through skilled shot planning. Special powers associated with a diverse cast of cartoon "Peggle Masters" can be activated to aid the player in this task. Peggle initially sold slowly but was boosted by the inclusion of a specially designed demonstration in Valve 's The Orange Box , and has since been downloaded over 50 million times. Within

5940-423: The player. Each of the Peggle Masters has a unique special ability that is activated when the player strikes one of the two randomly selected green pegs on the board. Some activate immediately; one causes a second ball to be generated from the green peg when struck. Others will have effects that activate on the next shot or for several more shots; one shows the ball's path, including rebounds, while another will extend

6030-606: The player. They found over time that a static field of pegs provided a more enjoyable experience for the player; the path of the ball would be more predictable, leading to the gameplay mechanic requiring only a random subset of orange pegs to be cleared. Once the team had established the core mechanics of the game, they brought on character artist Walter Wilson, background artist Marcia Broderick and an additional coder, Eric Tams, to help complete Peggle within its two-year development period. Even with their game established, Sidhu and Rothstein faced internal challenges at PopCap to increase

6120-694: The present, being a de facto rate used for most digital storefronts for third-party developers to offer their games on the platform. In recent years, larger publishers have acquired several third-party developers. While these development teams are now technically "in-house", they often continue to operate in an autonomous manner (with their own culture and work practices). For example, Activision acquired Raven (1997); Neversoft (1999), which merged with Infinity Ward in 2014; Z-Axis (2001); Treyarch (2001); Luxoflux (2002); Shaba (2002); Infinity Ward (2003) and Vicarious Visions (2005). All these developers continue operating much as they did before acquisition,

6210-414: The primary differences being exclusivity and financial details. Publishers tend to be more forgiving of their own development teams going over budget (or missing deadlines) than third-party developers. A developer may not be the primary entity creating a piece of software, usually providing an external software tool which helps organize (or use) information for the primary software product. Such tools may be

6300-429: The publisher's wishes generally override those of the developer. Work for hire studios solely execute the publishers vision. The business arrangement between the developer and publisher is governed by a contract, which specifies a list of milestones intended to be delivered over a period of time. By updating its milestones, the publisher verifies that work is progressing quickly enough to meet its deadline and can direct

6390-467: The publishers. While this had some effects on a few games within the industry, it brought to the forefront the question of whether video game developers should unionize. A grassroots movement, Game Workers Unite , was established around 2017 to discuss and debate issues related to unionization of game developers. The group came to the forefront during the March 2018 Game Developers Conference by holding

6480-446: The start of the level, by using a ball launcher located at the top center of the screen to strike one or more of the pegs. Pegs light up when hit, and once the ball either falls through the bottom of the screen or is caught by the ball catcher that moves back and forth along the bottom in a fixed manner, the pegs will be removed. Struck pegs are also removed if the ball is stuck on them. The player begins each level with ten balls (twelve on

6570-545: The target of sexual harassment. This can be coupled from similar harassment from external groups, such as during the 2014 Gamergate controversy . Major investigations into allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct that went unchecked by management, as well as discrimination by employers, have been brought up against Riot Games , Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard in the late 2010s and early 2020s, alongside smaller studios and individual developers. However, while other entertainment industries have had similar exposure through

6660-484: The toxic nature of the video game culture. This racial diversity issue has similar ties to the gender one, and similar methods to result both have been suggested, such as improving grade school education, developing games that appeal beyond the white, male gamer stereotype, and identifying toxic behavior in both video game workplaces and online communities that perpetuate discrimination against gender and race. In regards to LGBT and other gender or sexual orientations,

6750-487: The use of crunch time at Electronic Arts , a situation known as the "EA Spouses" case. A similar "Rockstar Spouses" case gained further attention in 2010 over working conditions at Rockstar San Diego . Since then, there has generally been negative perception of crunch time from most of the industry as well as from its consumers and other media. Game development had generally been a predominately male workforce. In 1989, according to Variety , women constituted only 3% of

6840-400: The various sound effects used in the game to provide an appropriate atmosphere. In some cases, they found the desired sound quickly; the sound of the ball hitting a peg was borrowed from another game in development at PopCap but was considered perfect for Peggle . Other cases required iteration; the sound of the ball shooter was originally closer to that of a cannon, while a "plunk" sound effect

6930-508: The video game industry typically shares the same demographics as with the larger population based on a 2005 IGDA survey. Those in the LGBT community do not find workplace issues with their identity, though work to improve the representation of LGBT themes within video games in the same manner as with racial minorities. However, LGBT developers have also come under the same type of harassment from external groups like women and racial minorities due to

7020-678: The video game industry. Whereas some video game employees believe they should follow the craft-based model used by SAG-AFTRA which would unionize based on job function, others feel an industry-wide union, regardless of job position, would be better. Starting in 2021, several smaller game studios in the United States began efforts to unionize. These mostly involved teams doing quality assurance rather than developers. These studios included three QA studios under Blizzard Entertainment : Raven Software , Blizzard Albany , and Proletariat; and Zenimax Media 's QA team. Microsoft , which had previously acquired Zenimax and announced plans to acquire Blizzard via

7110-504: The workforce in video games is estimated to be from contract labor. Similar to other tech industries, video game developers are typically not unionized . This is a result of the industry being driven more by creativity and innovation rather than production, the lack of distinction between management and employees in the white-collar area, and the pace at which the industry moves that makes union actions difficult to plan out. However, when situations related to crunch time become prevalent in

7200-402: Was Bejeweled , a gem-swapping game, which was supported on all major platforms and awarded by Computer Gaming World Hall Of Fame in 2002. The company expanded in 2005 with the acquisition of Sprout Games, a Seattle -based casual games developer company like PopCap Games, founded by James Gwertzman. Sprout Games is the creator of the game Feeding Frenzy . The Sprout team helped PopCap to make

7290-421: Was able to realize his game and worked with Rothstein for the first five months of its development before bringing in additional programmers. Initial designs focused on bringing together elements of pachinko with Breakout . The team initially incorporated a "rapid-fire" mechanic used in pachinko, along with numerous moving targets; however, they found this made the levels either too fast-paced or too demanding of

7380-417: Was acquired and became a subsidiary of Electronic Arts on July 12, 2011. PopCap Games was founded by John Vechey, Brian Fiete and Jason Kapalka in 2000. They originally incorporated as "Sexy Action Cool", a phrase taken from a poster of Desperado . Their first title was a strip poker game called "Foxy Poker" and was supposed to serve as a revenue stream for their future titles. Their first game as PopCap

7470-724: Was argued to be "exploitive", as Telltale had been known to force its employees to frequently work under "crunch time" to deliver its games. By the end of 2018, a United Kingdom trade union, Game Workers Unite UK, an affiliate of the Game Workers Unite movement, had been legally established. Following Activision Blizzard 's financial report for the previous quarter in February 2019, the company said that they would be laying off around 775 employees (about 8% of their workforce) despite having record profits for that quarter. Further calls for unionization came from this news, including

7560-593: Was closed on September 24, 2012. PopCap has developed over 50 games over the past 20 years. Games developed by PopCap include Bejeweled , Plants vs. Zombies , Peggle , and Bookworm . Bejeweled is a series of tile-matching puzzle video games created by PopCap Games. Bejeweled was released initially for browsers in 2000, followed by five sequels: Bejeweled 2 (2004), Bejeweled Twist (2008), Bejeweled Blitz (2009), Bejeweled 3 (2010), Bejeweled Stars (2016) and more, all by PopCap Games and its parent, Electronic Arts . Plants vs. Zombies

7650-463: Was eventually made free to download for anyone with a Steam account. The game was developed in conjunction with Valve after PopCap's Teams learned that Peggle was played often at Valve's offices and that the company had helped to promote the game on Steam. PopCap proposed a version that would pay tribute to Valve's games, which Valve readily warmed up to, helping PopCap with its development, including providing graphical assets and artwork. Peggle

7740-487: Was ported to Xbox Live Arcade , the PlayStation Network , the iPod , and iOS . The Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network versions includes the "Peg Party" mode in which up to four players can compete simultaneously. The Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and iOS versions include the "Duel" mode, with the iOS version having the players share the iPhone between turns. Peggle has also been ported as

7830-453: Was released. PopCap released a sequel to the original game, Peggle Nights , in September 2008 for Windows. The sequel expands upon Peggle by adding one new Peggle Master, adding new levels and challenges. The Xbox Live and PlayStation Network versions of Peggle received Nights as a downloadable expansion to the game on November 19, 2009. Peggle Nights was made available as an in-app purchase for iOS devices. Peggle: Dual Shot

7920-551: Was seen as truthful to the PC version, and while the Peggle Party mode was considered an interesting addition, Dan Whitehead of Eurogamer felt it was a "curiously remote approach" that did not fully integrate a multiplayer experience into the game, a point also stated by Mastrapa who lamented the lack of online leaderboards. The game did not initially perform well in sales when released for Windows, but according to Sidhu, sales of

8010-713: Was the top-selling game on the service for two weeks and remained in the top ten applications for several weeks afterward. Within a month, over 100,000 players were listed on the Xbox leaderboards for Peggle . Although, this number also includes players who purchased the game through the PopCap Arcade Volume 2 retail package, which contained the game as well. IGN editor Cam Shea ranked it eighth on his top ten list of Xbox Live Arcade games. He stated that while its theme could easily turn players off, they should not let it, as "It's infectious, and most importantly, fun". In

8100-412: Was used when the ball catcher caught a ball. These were changed to more airy sounds (an air cannon and a brief angelic chorus) to make the elements sound as if part of the game's music. The team found that it helped to create a defining moment at the end of each level when the player is moments from clearing the final peg. This feature initially was programmed as a simple message stating "Extreme Fever" and

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