I love PopCap Games, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

While some deeply entrenched veteran gamers consider them a mainstream harbinger of doom, the fact is they have produced some of the most purely addictive games of this, or any, generation with titles like the hall of fame “Bejeweled,” “Plants vs Zombies,” “Bookworm,” and the glorious “Peggle.” They toe a fine line between “mainstream” (in the dirty word sense) and merely accessible, and their constant goal of gameplay over graphics and fun over flash is inspiring.

Which is why it’s sad to see that they have become the victim of some massive layoffs, as EA (who bought them out for around $750 million last year) announced the shuttering of the team’s Dublin studio. While the move has been long rumored, that’s certainly no condolence for the 96 employees who were laid off due to this move as they join the initial fired employees who lost their jobs when EA took over last year.

EA has been clear on their reason for this move, saying that they are trying to trim down aspects of PopCap that are similar to services they already offer, and the Dublin studio’s efforts apparently did not fit the need of EA in accordance to their plans moving forward. Both EA and PopCap have announced that many of the employees from the shuttered branch will have employment opportunities available at other PopCap locations and at EA operations, which include call center positions.

There’s far too many EA is the evil empire articles out there to still have any effect, and I don’t wish to contribute to them here. I will say this though. You may recall that PopCap gained a reputation early on for offering their games for free trial before purchase to help promote them. Even when they featured their games on Steam, they insisted the free demo still remain an option, as they were that confident in their products, and couldn’t wait to share them with the masses.

It’s just a shame then that such a company that held that philosophy had to fall to something like budget cuts and corporate strategy. Good luck to all of the employees of the former Dublin studio, and to PopCap itself who I hope can recover from this round of bad news and continue to produce at a high level.

I’ve had to make a conscious effort not to get Plants vs. Zombies for the iPhone, simply because I know I’ll spend too much of my life playing it. That game is insanely addictive, to a point I think is fair to consider unhealthy. A couple hundred thousand people have been bitten by this brainless monster, putting the total sales figures for just 9 days at a million bucks.

As PopCap has it, the game sold more than 300,000 units in just 9 days, which set an App Store record.

“There’s always a concern when bringing a computer game to a mobile, pocket-sized device that something will get lost in the process, but in this case the overwhelming consensus is that Plants vs. Zombies is even more fun on the smaller touch screen!” That’s Andrew Stein, PopCap’s director of mobile business development. The company is also responsible for Bejeweled, a game that never leaves the top downloads page it seems. Apparently Bejeweled is now the first paid app to reach 3 million dollars.

Source: Kotaku

You might not be a believer in the iPad. I understand that. I respect that. As it stands, the device is pretty lackluster, and it’s certainly lacking in the gaming department. PopCap believes in it, though, or at least one of the co-founder’s does.

John Vechey recently talked with Eurogamer about the future of Apple’s newest gadget and the role it would play in PopCap’s development. “The iPad’s important,” he said, “but I think it’s going to be more important in three years … it’s probably going to take the second generation to make it really, like, ‘Wow!'” I’d say at least the second. Unless Apple’s initial release was the worst tease of all time, the iPad has a long way to go before it becomes a must-have item.

It’s not just the device Vechey is attracted to, it’s the accessibility to new content. “Here’s this new device that gets to more people with a really great e-commerce model attached to it … it’s really easy to buy on the iPhone — that’s part of what makes it successful.”

Read the full interview at Eurogamer.

So you’re unwilling to spend the money on Steam for a version of Plants vs. Zombies you can’t take on the go. For a hot minute it looked like you might be in luck, set to enjoy PopCap’s great little tower defense game on the iPhone by the end of the month. Sadly, the game has been delayed, pushed back until mid-February.

The news was delivered via a tweet from the company that included the adjective “*confident*” – stars included – to describe the new launch window. If I were you, I’d save the last couple bucks you have in your iTunes account until next month. You know you want this.

Oh, and until then, consider the League of Legends: Turret Defense game. It’s surprisingly addictive, particularly for a game that has very little to do with its inspiration.