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PopCap™’s Bejeweled®2 and Zuma® Featured on New Ultra-Mobile PCs

Top Casual Game Provider’s Biggest Hits Come Pre-Installed On New Handheld Device Launching Today at CeBIT

SEATTLE, Wash. March 9, 2006 - PopCap Games®, the leading developer and publisher of casual games for the Web, PC, mobile phones and other digital entertainment platforms, today announced that several of its most popular games, including Bejeweled® 2, Zuma®, and Bookworm®, have been optimized for the new Ultra-Mobile PCs announced today by Microsoft®, Intel®, and other industry partners. Two of PopCap's Ultra-Mobile PC-optimized titles will also be showcased in the Microsoft and Intel booths (#A38 Hall 4 and #C46 Hall 2, respectively) at CeBIT, the world's largest IT and technology trade show being held this week in Hannover, Germany. Trial versions of these games will be preinstalled on Ultra-Mobile PCs from several leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs); customers will be able to purchase the full version of these games directly from Microsoft via its MSN Games online portal. Future Ultra-Mobile PC-enhanced games will be available for download directly from PopCap Games at www.popcap.com.

"We're very pleased to have PopCap Games among the flagship software providers for this new category of Ultra-Mobile PCs," said Otto Berkes, general manager of the Mobile Platforms Division at Microsoft Corp. "PopCap's casual games are ideally suited to the anytime, anywhere nature of Ultra-Mobile PCs and will give users a great outlet to relax and have fun."

"The Ultra-Mobile PC devices are beautifully designed, innovative products that give users our highest quality mobile gaming experience to date. We're very pleased to have our most popular titles available for the Ultra-Mobile PC at launch," said David Roberts, CEO of PopCap Games. "Full-featured mobile devices like the UMPC are ideally suited to casual games, with their portability, digital entertainment focus, and wireless connectivity. Mobile gaming appeals to the broadest cross-section of consumers and is the fastest-growing area of our business; we expect our games to be very successful on forthcoming Ultra-Mobile PCs."

The availability of PopCap's hit games on the Ultra-Mobile PC further establishes PopCap as the leading provider of casual games, anytime, anywhere. PopCap's flagship title, Bejeweled, has been installed on more than 50 million mobile phones in the US alone in the past two years, and now the Ultra-Mobile PC delivers a brand new platform that combines the versatility of the PC with the connectivity of a mobile phone in a very small, completely portable form. PopCap's casual games are also available for play on PCs and Macs, the Web, the Xbox video game system from Microsoft, seat-back in-flight entertainment devices on leading airlines, and more.

Bejeweled 2 and Zuma, which have collectively been played by more than 75 million consumers for more than 1 billion hours, are two of the most popular casual games of all time, and have dominated the Top 10 lists of Web, downloadable/PC and mobile games since being introduced in early 2004. The Bejeweled franchise alone has captured approximately 2 billion hours of consumer leisure time, and Bejeweled was recently inducted into Computer Gaming World's Hall of Fame - the first puzzle game to be so honored since Tetris nearly 20 years ago.

Game descriptors:

  • Bejeweled 2:

Bejeweled 2 is the latest version of the classic "match-3" gem puzzler, in which players manipulate jewels of different colors to create horizontal or vertical rows of three more identical jewels. Solve handcrafted brain teasers in puzzle mode while up against the clock or kick back, relax and enjoy endless mode. With awe-inspiring planetary backdrops, explosive new gems and dazzling special effects, Bejeweled 2 is more wildly addictive than ever before!

  • Bookworm:

Part cross-word, part word jumble, part arcade puzzler, and all fun, Bookworm has something for everyone. Link letters to form words that keep Lex, the hungry bookworm, well-fed. Longer words earn bonuses and Lex's gratitude. But don't take too long, as the letters keep piling up - and watch out for the fiery red letters that will burn down your library!

  • Zuma:

Do you have what it takes to unearth the secrets of this fast-paced action puzzler that is sweeping the gaming world? Quick reflexes and pattern-solving strategy will serve you well as you rotate the stone frog to shoot colored balls into place. Make sets of three or more balls to succeed - and don't let the chain of balls reach the golden skull!

The casual games sector - composed of family-friendly puzzle, word, trivia and arcade-style games - has experienced tremendous growth, with more than 100 million consumers worldwide now playing such games on a regular basis. PopCap has helped create the PC casual games market, pioneering the "try-before-you-buy" business model (now an industry standard) and consistently creating the most popular games in the category since the company's inception in 2000. PopCap's games are simple to learn and easy to play, yet are difficult to master and provide limitless enjoyment.

About PopCap

PopCap Games (www.popcap.com) is the leading provider of casual games in the world. Based in Seattle, Washington, PopCap was founded in 2000 by three friends from the online games industry, and has grown tremendously while maintaining its "grassroots" idealism and design philosophy. PopCap's games have been downloaded more than 175 million times, and its flagship title Bejeweled has sold more than 5 million units across all major platforms. PopCap games are available for Web, PC and Mac, videogame consoles, cell-phones, PDAs and other mobile devices, on-demand TV, in-flight on leading airlines, and more.

PR Contact:

Garth Chouteau

garth@popcap.com

415-602-8147

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