I have been thinking about PopCap Games recently. In 2009, they made one of the best games ever, Plants vs. Zombies. They have had a couple of new titles since then, but Steam does not list any since EA acquired them in 2011. The new economic model seems to be exploiting existing properties in as many variations as possible, on as many platforms as possible, using as many monetization streams as possible. And a couple rounds of layoffs.
With 5 versions of Bejeweled, PopCap might not have been entirely averse to this structure, but I mostly hear about their games in my Facebook feed these days. The dumbed-down version of solitaire is surprisingly popular.
: Zubon
Sadly, I can’t be at all surprised that after EA purchased PopCap they’ve pretty much died.
It’s too bad, they made really awesome, unique little games. Plants vs. Zombies was outstanding, but even their other major titles (Zuma, Bejewelled, Peggle, etc) were really great time-waster games.
Now… They’re just making cheap knockoffs of their own games. It’s depressing.