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EA and PopCap just announced Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted, a full-on remaster of the beloved tower defense game that pioneered the genre. While that might sound like good news for casual fans, it doesn’t change the fact that the series has declined in quality with its sequels, and fans want nothing more than for EA and PopCap to finally fix the issues that have been lingering for years.
The original Plants vs. Zombies was nothing short of influential. It arrived at just the right moment and struck a perfect balance between accessibility and charm, adding it to the zeitgeist of the late 2000s. It was easy to learn but packed with personality — from Crazy Dave’s wild antics to Dr. Zomboss’ relentless villainy. The game had everything it needed to become a classic.
When the first game launched in 2010, it sold over a million copies, becoming PopCap’s fastest-selling title ever. It was so successful that EA stepped in and acquired PopCap on July 12, 2011. That’s when the problems started.
PopCap and EA’s approach to the next Plants vs. Zombies titles was polarizing. The Garden Warfare games had their own kind of success, but they weren’t the mainline PvZ experience fans were hoping for. Then came Plants vs. Zombies 2, and that’s where things really started to go wrong.
The microtransactions in PvZ2 were aggressive. Players had to buy the strongest plants just to get through the game’s grueling endgame. Worse, essential features like extra plant slots were locked behind paywalls, things that should’ve been free from the beginning. Over time, PvZ2 turned into a semi-live-service game with ongoing updates, new worlds, and fresh plants, but it wasn’t the same.
Things got even worse when Plants vs. Zombies 3 launched. It was received so poorly that EA and PopCap eventually pulled it offline in 2024. The monetization was egregious, and the gameplay didn’t feel like a PvZ game anymore. Rumors even suggest the game has been quietly canceled, according to a 3D artist who worked on it.
And that was the last we heard from the mainline series… until now.
Sure, remastering the first Plants vs. Zombies is a great move. It’s still a fantastic game. But the series has been in limbo for years, and bringing back the first game won’t restore the goodwill that’s been lost.
Maybe EA’s business practices dragged PopCap down. Or maybe PopCap made poor decisions on its own. Either way, the future of Plants vs. Zombies feels uncertain. And Replanted, as good as it might be, isn’t enough to grow that future back.
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