• May 27, 2008

PopCap Games, developer and publisher of casual games like Peggle and Bejeweled, has turned over its ad sales business to WildTangent. The deal will expand the reach of WildTangent's gaming network to more than 50 million uniques per month.

While the two companies have had a long-standing partnership that enabled the distribution of Seattle-based PopCap's games on WildTangent's Web-based game portal and its PC-based gaming console, the new deal allows advertisers to purchase packages that combine PopCap games with other properties from the network.

The deal also strengthens WildTangent's reach into the 25- to-54-year-old female casual gamer segment. For example, Bejeweled--PopCap's flagship game--has been downloaded 250 million times by women alone since its introduction in 2001. PopCap has also recently announced a number of iPhone-based game initiatives, which will now be available to WildTangent advertisers.

"By partnering with WildTangent, we keep our focus on developing great games while still reaping the benefits of the enormous amount of ad dollars marketers are spending in online games," said John Vechey, co-founder and director of PC and online operations at PopCap Games.

--Tameka Kee